Mr. Iger has additionally left the corporate. Ms. Disney tells viewers that she determined to make the movie as a result of she was pissed off and offended at his “curt” response to an electronic mail she despatched him in 2018 about theme park worker pay. He declined to remark for this text.
Ms. Disney has confronted claims of discrimination and unfair remedy from former workers at one among her firms, Level Forward, which helps finance and produce leisure tasks with a social justice focus. (“There’s honest criticism in there,” Ms. Disney told The Hollywood Reporter final yr.)
In an interview by way of Zoom, Ms. Disney and Ms. Hughes, an Emmy-winning tv newsmagazine producer, mentioned they had been “inspired” by the Disneyland pay improve however mentioned it wasn’t sufficient — that round $24 an hour was the wanted “living wage.”
“If every thing’s totally different, then why did the brand new C.E.O. stroll away with $32.5 million for a not very worthwhile yr?” Ms. Disney mentioned. She was referring to Bob Chapek. Disney reported $2 billion in profit for 2021, in comparison with a lack of $2.8 billion in 2020. Earlier than the pandemic, Disney was producing $10 billion yearly in revenue.
The filmmakers are nonetheless in search of a distributor. They hope to make use of Sundance to generate curiosity from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ or one other Disney competitor. Along with its condemnation of Disney, “The American Dream and Different Fairy Tales” takes on a bunch of difficult topics, together with the evolution of capitalism, shifting authorities financial insurance policies and racial injustice.
“I need modifications to all the system — from C.E.O.s usually and from Wall Road particularly — that end result within the recognition of the dignity and humanity of each single employee,” Ms. Disney mentioned.
Ms. Disney is a outstanding member of the Patriotic Millionaires, a bunch that pushes for higher taxes on companies and rich people like themselves. As she has mentioned over time, it’s a place that a few of her circle of relatives members have a troublesome time understanding. (That seems to incorporate a brother, Roy P. Disney, who has supported Mr. Iger and isn’t concerned with “The American Dream and Different Fairy Tales.”)
Lest anybody assume the movie is her last phrase with regards to pay inequality at Disney and different firms, she ends her documentary with these phrases: “To be continued.”
