Mr. Iger also left the company. Ms Disney tells viewers she decided to do the film because she was frustrated and angry at his “crass” response to an email she sent him in 2018 about pay for employees at the theme park. He declined to comment for this article.
Ms Disney has faced allegations of discrimination and unfair treatment from former employees of one of her companies, Level Forward, which helps fund and produce social justice-focused entertainment projects. (“There are great reviews in there,” Ms. Disney told The Hollywood Reporter last year.)
In an interview via Zoom, Ms. Disney and Ms. Hughes, an Emmy-winning television magazine producer, said they were “encouraged” by Disneyland’s pay rise, but said it wasn’t. not enough – that about $24 an hour was the necessary “living wage.”
“If everything is different, then why did the new CEO walk away with $32.5 million for a not very profitable year?” said Mrs. Disney. She was referring to Bob Chapek. Disney reported a profit of $2 billion for 2021, compared to a loss of $2.8 billion in 2020. Before the pandemic, Disney generated $10 billion in profit per year.
The filmmakers are still looking for a distributor. They hope to use Sundance to attract interest from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ or another Disney competitor. In addition to its condemnation of Disney, “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales” tackles a host of complicated topics, including the evolution of capitalism, changing government economic policies, and racial injustice.
“I want changes across the system — CEOs in general and Wall Street in particular — that result in the recognition of the dignity and humanity of every worker,” Ms. Disney said.
Ms Disney is a prominent member of the Patriotic Millionaires, a group that pushes for higher taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals like them. As she’s said over the years, it’s a position some of her own family members struggle to understand. (This appears to include a brother, Roy P. Disney, who supported Mr. Iger and is not involved in “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales.”)
Lest anyone think the film is her final word on the subject of unequal pay at Disney and other companies, she ends her documentary with these words: “To be continued.”
