Funko Has Laid Off Mondo Staff, But Its Movie Poster Business Will Continue

It’s the end of an era for movie fans, as Mondo will reportedly no longer produce unique and stylish movie posters. Mondo’s parent company, Funko, has apparently laid off most of the staff at the Austin-based company and killing off its poster division. [Update: While the layoffs have been confirmed, a representative also told GameSpot that Mondo’s poster business will continue.]

According to sources who spoke to TheWrap, Mondo co-founders Rob Jones and Mitch Putnam were also laid off and the company’s division for cutting-edge experiences and products, The Lab, has been shut down. Only the toys and records divisions remain, but as the sources explained, it’s not clear how long they’ll be around for. Senior creative director Eric Garza has also been let go.

Funko purchased Mondo less than a year ago from Alamo Drafthouse, adding a brand to its portfolio that had built a cult following over the years by producing cinematic fine art across limited-edition movie posters, vinyl records, and licensed action figures. Some of Mondo’s movie posters have become highly sought-after in the collector’s community, and the company’s recent venture into records saw it put an artistic spin on famous movie soundtracks, packing these discs in beautifully designed slipcases.

Mondo’s popularity grew over the years, to the point where it even hosted its own convention, MondoCon, and its vinyl record sales have been a big hit with fans. Funko has had a rough start to 2023 in comparison, and after it posted a loss in the fourth quarter of 2022, the company announced that it would be laying off 10% of its staff and dumping between $30 million to $36 million worth of its collectibles inventory.

With its Arizona warehouse overflowing with unsold stock of just about anything that was vaguely famous enough to warrant a figure, Funko determined that it was cheaper to throw out its unsold merchandise instead of renting space to store it in.