Anne Thompson had a first glimpse at the memo, which, as death warrants go, comes nowhere near the humane, chummy poignancy achieved in May by the executioners at Warner Bros. We guess they really are cutting back on everything, but at least they managed to promote their 2008-09 slate while they were at it. Stay classy, 'Mount. Follow jump for the full text.

TO: Paramount Pictures Employees
FR: Rob Moore and John Lesher
RE: Announcement
DT: July 24, 2008

As you know, we announced last month that we would be reorganizing the Paramount and Vantage marketing, distribution and physical production departments to maximize efficiencies. As part of that process, we analyzed areas of redundancies and today, we announced we would be eliminating about 60 positions across the company. Many of the changes were a direct result of the consolidation of these departments and some were the result of identifying additional opportunities to streamline the organization. The goal is to be strategic and disciplined about how we manage the business for the long term, and to take into account the dynamic nature of the challenging marketplace.

As we have rebuilt and grown the organization, Paramount has consistently looked to evolve in a way that best serves our filmmakers, their creativity and our consumers. We are so grateful for the immense contributions by so many Paramount and Vantage professionals who have been instrumental in our successes so far.

Moving forward, this new structure provides us with a solid foundation as we prepare for our upcoming slate of diverse films, including The Duchess, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road, G.I. Joe, Star Trek and Transformers 2, to name a few.

None of our successes are possible without your continued support and hard work – we really appreciate it.

Best, Rob and John

###

UPDATE: An astute reader points out that the Paramount terminations are across the board, not solely at Paramount Vantage. This PR-massaged studio bloodletting can be so complicated!

Her replacement, reports Variety? Guy Stodel, the New Line alumnus who brought us two Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes. Not quite Into the Wild, we suppose, but welcome to the new Paramount:

"I'm proud of having been a part of building Paramount Vantage from the ground up under John Lesher, making great films," Israel said. "I love the company we built. It's not the same company. (It) is evolving in a different direction. I wish Vantage the best."

Although the moves signal that Vantage is moving more in the genre direction, (Vantage president Nick) Meyer insists the studio is pursuing a more "eclectic and elastic" slate. "We are not abandoning the specialty business. We are too committed to it," Meyer said. "As the company evolves, we need to morph and mutate in order to survive in a challenging environment."

Now watching from the cockpit as Brad Grey flails at the mothership's controls, Lesher had also worked with Israel on Vantage's immediately forthcoming slate of projects including the Sundance doc American Teen, the Keira Knightley period flick The Duchess and the DiCaprio/Winslet reunion Revoutionary Road — a robust calendar for which the main studio is now responsible for getting over the Oscar hump. Failing that, though (and times are tough!) there's always Stodel's big 2009, with New Line/P-Mount's Friday the 13th franchise reboot set to establish Jason Voorhees as the dynamic, hockey-masked Anton Chigurh of the tween set. Sky's the limit.

• Amy Israel exits Paramount Vantage [Variety]

[Year of the Dog writer/director Mike] White said that when Lesher first saw a cut of his movie, the executive surprisingly "leapt from his seat and laughed and cried." Earlier, at a "Nacho Libre" production meeting with White and his former production partner, actor Jack Black, Lesher dropped to his knees for effect.

"He threw himself at Jack's feet," begging the actor to stay involved in one of Vantage's films," said White, referring to the untitled Baumbach project. "It worked."

Writer-director Adam McKay, a production partner with actor Will Ferrell in a company signed by Vantage to make low-budget comedies, said he loved that Lesher could converse about the artistic merits of films and still "giggle like a giddy 9-year-old."

In other cases, like in his successful attempt to secure of the rights to Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, Lesher can abandon these showier skills and fall back on the gift for intimate physical contact that made him Hollywood's undisputed Master of Hugs. As depicted here in photos from an April screening of the film, sometimes all Lesher needs to put a prospective partner at ease is to throw his arm around them, rock some mutual devil horns, and then close the deal by ceremonially activating their Wonder Twin powers.

[Photo: Getty Images]

• With 'Babel,' exec proves new Vantage label is an indie force [LAT]

[Photo: Getty Images]