Walt Disney Co.-owned computer animation studio Pixar is laying off 14% of its staff, as it cuts back on the number of streaming series it produces.

The layoffs, which will affect about 175 employees, were signaled as far back as January. Reports then suggested that the studio could cut up to 20% of its staff. However, a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to comment, said at the time that those estimates were too high.

The cutbacks at Pixar come as the Walt Disney Co. has embarked on a major, company-wide cost-cutting effort stemming from the Burbank media and entertainment giant’s plan to stem losses from its streaming business and save money.

Emeryville, Calif.-based Pixar, in particular, has also struggled to break out of a pandemic-induced slump at the box office. While the storied computer animation studio known for “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo” and “Up” once churned out hit after hit, its recent performance has been mediocre.

Animated films such as “Toy Story” spinoff “Lightyear,” released in 2022, was a disappointment at the box office, as was 2020’s “Onward.” Last year’s “Elemental” opened with weak ticket sales but managed to recover thanks to strong word-of-mouth reviews.

The studio has high hopes for “Inside Out 2,” a sequel to the 2015 hit that will come out this summer.

3/5 stars

No Such Person is a rarity in Hong Kong cinema nowadays: a low-budget, purely commercial production with a no-name ensemble cast and minimal artistic flair whose producers nevertheless believe it can attract an audience with its attentive storytelling.

The film opens with a brief scene in which two people, purporting to be church officials, take over a vacant space in an old tenement building. It then jumps nine months ahead to follow young woman Amber (Kaylee Yu Hoi-ki) as she begins renting a furnished room in a property owned by Ray (Terry Zou Wenzheng), who claims to be a veterinary surgeon.

In the next scene, police are notifying the parents of a woman whose body has been found under a cliff along a hiking trail in a Hong Kong country park.

And then we’re back to learn more about those occupying the rooms next to Amber’s: Sisi (Winnie Chan Wing-nei), a live-streamer who produces sexually charged content for her audience; Ming (Himmy Wong Ting-him), a stock market speculator in deep financial trouble; and Ping (May Leong Cheok-mei), a creepy old lady who sells second-hand items on the streets.

From there, No Such Person gradually reveals the predicament of Amber, a former yoga teacher who appears to be in some emotional distress; the mystery surrounding Ray’s premises and the characters’ ulterior motives provide much of the intrigue.

Despite the film being set in a subdivided flat – a mainstay of Hong Kong social realist dramas – and having as its subject matter the prevalent social phenomenon of identity theft scams, Sun and his screenwriter Chen Hang have no ambitions beyond serving up a modest slice of B-movie entertainment.

Their film drip-feeds just enough information to keep the viewer engaged, before an escalation in the final act reveals the ungodly nature of the whole enterprise.

Even then, the visual depictions of sex and gore remain tame – which is probably more a reflection of the production’s limited scale than of a penchant for restraint on the part of Sun.

Its story is not as clever as the filmmakers intend it to be, and the sleazy nature of its revelations betrays Sun’s roots as a director and producer of erotic movies. Yet No Such Person is diverting enough for those who watch it with an open mind.

At the risk of damning it with faint praise, the film feels different from most Hong Kong productions we’re getting to see these days – and that does make No Such Person a welcome addition to the canon in spite of its many flaws.

“It’s time to make movies political again,” director Ali Abbasi said after unveiling his Donald Trump biopic “The Apprentice” at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday — and he swiftly got his wish.

“This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked,” the Trump campaign said in a statement to Variety, threatening legal action. “This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should not see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store[.] [I]t belongs in a dumpster fire.”

Abbasi, whose film depicts attorney and Trump mentor Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) teaching the young real-estate scion (Sebastian Stan) that the first rule of engagement is “attack, attack, attack,” isn’t fazed.

“Everybody talks about him suing a lot of people,” he said Tuesday at the film’s Cannes press conference, to laughter and applause from many in the room. “They don’t talk about his success rate, though.”

“We encourage them to actually see the film,” added producer Daniel Bekerman. “Clearly they haven’t yet.”

Abbasi went on to offer Trump a private screening and conversation about the film, should he be interested, even venturing that the 45th president would not dislike the film if he gave it a chance. That seems unlikely, given “The Apprentice’s” depiction of Trump as a venal, cruel social climber who turns out his alcoholic brother shortly before his death and rapes first wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova) on the floor of their New York penthouse. (The character also undergoes liposuction, receives surgery for hair loss and suffers from erectile dysfunction, details practically designed to enrage the notoriously vainglorious Trump.)

But the Iranian-Danish filmmaker was also adamant that Trump is simply the lens through to view a broader issue.

“This is really not a movie about Donald Trump,” he said, calling the notion of a partisan divide between conservative and liberal elites in the U.S. “a fantasy.” “This is a movie about a system and the way the system works, and the way the system is built and the way the power runs through the system.”

Strong, currently performing in Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” in New York, prepared a lengthy, pointed statement about the film’s politics that Abbasi read from the dais to open the press conference.

“‘An enemy of the people’ is a phrase that has been used by Stalin, by Mao, by Goebbels and most recently by Donald Trump, when he denounced the free press and called CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS [and the] New York Times ‘fake news media.’ We’re living in a world where truth is under assault and in America, that assault on truth in many ways began [during] Donald Trump’s apprenticeship under Roy Cohn. Cohn was called “an assault specialist” by the National Law Journal and at this perilous moment in history, we are experiencing Roy Cohn’s long, dark shadow. His legacy of lies, of outright denialism, of manipulation, of flagrant disregard for truth has reached a terrible [culmination].”

Written by former journalist Gabe Sherman, “The Apprentice” tracks Trump’s rise to prominence in 1970s and 1980s New York, where, under Cohn’s wing, he develops the ruthlessness that will make him a power broker and media darling. But despite its unflinching view of the lead pair, and the entertainment industry’s reputation for progressive politics, Sherman said he struck out in his attempts to have the film made in Hollywood. (A Canadian, Danish and Irish co-production, “The Apprentice” has not yet sold for U.S. distribution; Abbasi joked that, with the “promotional event” of the presidential election coming up, he’s hoping for a mid-September release date.)

“‘This movie will never be made. Who wants to watch a movie about Donald Trump?’” Sherman recalled hearing from executives he met with, including one who expressed interest in boarding the project only if Trump lost the election. “Making a film like this is very challenging because Hollywood in many ways doesn’t want to rock certain boats.”

To prepare to play the young Trump, Stan said he immersed himself in the extraordinary amount of material the never-press-shy impresario has left behind over the years, though he tried to avoid appearances from Trump’s years in politics. Instead, he focused on an interview Trump gave to Rona Barrett in 1980, which is recreated in the film, along with other audio and video clips. “If I was in the bathroom I was listening to him,” Stan said.