To eliminate duplication of staff and improve coordination between Corbis and Veer, Corbis will reduce its workforce by about 175 employees between now and the end of the year. Today, a year after Corbis’ acquisition of Veer, the combined staff of the two companies is approximately 1070.
Third-party media partners will now have the same contact person for both brands. There will be a combined image editing team for partners represented by both brands, but contractual arrangements will continue to be handled separately. Corbis and Veer will also retain their separate identities; the plan is to better coordinate the marketing.
Nairn Nerland, formerly with Veer, has been named senior vice president of networks. Nerland will be in charge of general marketing for Corbis, Veer and SnapVillage. Adam Brotman, senior vice president of Corbis and SnapVillage, is departing.
Corbis’ Ivan Purdie has been named senior vice president of sales. His team will be responsible for both brands’ high-volume customers that require regular contact.
Veer’s Don Wieshlow has been named senior vice president of products, with responsibility for both editorial and commercial sides of the business.
Edie Tobias, previously responsible for Corbis’ editorial brand Outline, now reports to Wieshlow as vice president of editorial media products. Tobias’ team includes Anil Ramchand, who will be the principal contact for editorial partners.
Also reporting directly to Wieshlow is Aaron Booth, leader of the commercial division for both Corbis and Veer. Suppliers will have direct contact with Jason Brown for commercial photography and Rachel Wright for illustration; both report to Booth. A separate person will handle Veer’s type suppliers.
Vivian Farris, who handled human resources for Veer, has been named senior vice president. She assumes responsibility for human resources for both companies.
Wieshlow, Nerland and Farris have joined Corbis’ nine-person executive team. Headed by CEO Gary Shenk, this group includes Purdie, senior vice president of GreenLight Mark Sherman, chief financial office Barry Allen, senior vice president and general counsel Jim Mitchell and Erik Arnold, the interim vice president of technology.
Brad Zumwalt, president of Veer at the time of its acquisition, has been a member of the Corbis executive team for a year. He will now be leaving that post.
Corbis claims that cash flow is better than it has ever been. The company continues “getting closer to profitability,” but is not there yet.