Yesterday goes down in history as “Black Tuesday” at New Line Home Video. The company was handing out pink slips for most of the day, letting go 100 of its 600 staffers. All division of the company were affected and it was not a move to rid the studio of selected departments.

The move is said to be a result of the AOL – Time Warner merger – New Line is owned by Time Warner – and is most likely a restructuring of assets and slimming down costs in order to make a good impression on Wall Street. All rumors that New Line will be entirely disintegrated are highly exaggerated and immediate effects on the studio’s DVD activities are not expected.

Interestingly however, Warner Home Video was apparently spared, and no layoffs are planned. As a matter of fact, Warner Home Video added more than a dozen staffers in late December, mostly in the marketing, finance and DVD production departments.