Lionsgate Re-Ups VP Michael Burns and COO Brian Goldsmith with Starz Trade on the lookout

As plans emerged for the likely breakup between Starz and the Lionsgate film and television studio, Lionsgate reshuffled two key members of its management team: Vice Chairman Michael Burns and Chief Operating Officer Brian Goldsmith.

Burns extended his contract through October 2024, according to an SEC filing, while Goldsmith agreed to a new employment contract through September 2025.

Burns, like CEO Jon Feltheimer, wrote a one-year extension into his previous deal and the Lionsgate board exercised that option, the filing said. Feltheimer’s contract was extended to 2025 last year. The two executives led Lionsgate for more than two decades as it grew through a series of acquisitions and innovative financial deals.

A 20-year veteran of the business, Goldsmith also played an important role in the company’s history. The new contract guarantees him a base salary of $1.25 million and includes a performance bonus to be determined by the board in consultation with Feltheimer.

The senior management moves come in the same month that the company announced it was finalizing plans to separate Starz from the studio, though that schedule was self-imposed. Starz was acquired for $4.4 billion in 2016 just as its premium TV network business came under increasing pressure from cable disruptions and the rise of direct-to-consumer streaming. Lionsgate reported that by the end of 2022 it had 35 million subscribers across the linear and streaming space, including Starz and Lionsgate+, the rebranded assets formerly known as Starzplay. Lionsgate took a $1.48 billion write-down on Starz last November, citing difficult economic and industrial conditions.

Starting in 2021, executives said they are considering a spinoff of Starz or the studio, or possibly a deal aimed at bolstering financial resources through another maneuver. A difficult business environment in 2022, with rising inflation and other macroeconomic concerns, has made M&A deals extremely difficult to complete. Lionsgate shares also fell to $5.46 per share by the end of 2022. In 2023, however, the share has nearly doubled so far — though it remains well below where it was in 2021, or for most of the previous decade.