COO John Edwards ankles Relativity

After under six several weeks at work, John Edwards leaves his publish as Chief Operating Officer at Relativity Media, the 5th high-level professional to ankle Ryan Kavanaugh's fledgling studio in under annually. The lengthy string of departures started in The month of january, when CFO Bill Sutman quit, then marketing and distribution prexy Peter Adee in April leader Michael Joe in May and senior Vice president of acqusitions Joe Matukewicz, news of whose exit broke Monday. And also the exodus might not be over: Current prexy Steve Bertram, marketed from COO when Joe left the organization, apparently stated he's weighing whether or not to remain at Relativity, where his contract expires in the finish of the season. The turnover also may come as the studio's talks with JP Morgan, that was being courted like a alternative for primary investor Elliot Management, have ground to some halt, as Variety first reported November. 10. Elliot, the NY-based hedge fund that assisted get Relativity off the floor by backing its co-financing handles Universal, is incorporated in the procedure for cutting its ties towards the studio, departing Kavanaugh around the search for any new backer. Edwards became a member of the organization in May from Mark Burnett Prods. and left Relativity in October, the studio confirmed Thursday. An experienced entertainment attorney, Edwards is really a former COO and general counsel at DreamWorks, and that he also held exactly the same posts at Burnett's company. The business's large-budget epic "Immortals" has made $77 million in The United States, and it is $100 million Snow Whitened pic "Mirror, Mirror" hits U.S. theaters in March. Contact Shaun Sneider at shaun.sneider@variety.com