Mr Iger has also left the company. Ms. Disney tells viewers that she decided to make the film because she was frustrated and angry at his “short” response to an email she sent him in 2018 about pay for amusement park employees. He declined to comment on this article.
Ms. Disney has faced claims of discrimination and unfair treatment by former employees of one of her companies, Level Forward, which helps fund and produce entertainment projects with a focus on social justice. (“There’s honest criticism in it,” Ms. Disney told The Hollywood Reporter last year.)
In an interview via Zoom, Ms. Disney and Ms. Hughes, an Emmy-winning television news magazine producer, said they were “encouraged” by Disneyland’s pay increase, but said it wasn’t enough — that about $24 an hour was needed to make it “livable.” salary.”
“If everything is different, why did the new CEO leave with $32.5 million for a not very profitable year?” said Mrs. Disney. She referred to Bob Chapek. Disney reported $2 billion in profit for 2021, compared to a $2.8 billion loss in 2020. Before the pandemic, Disney was generating $10 billion a year in profit.
The filmmakers are still looking for a distributor. They hope to use Sundance to generate interest from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ or some other Disney competitor. In addition to Disney’s condemnation, “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales” addresses a host of complicated topics, including the evolution of capitalism, shifting government economic policies, and racial injustice.
“I want system-wide changes — CEOs in general and Wall Street in particular — that result in recognition of the dignity and humanity of every employee,” said Ms. Disney.
Ms. Disney is a prominent member of the Patriotic Millionaires, a group that pushes for higher taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals like herself. As she’s said over the years, it’s a position some of her own family members have a hard time understanding. (It appears to be a brother, Roy P. Disney, who has supported Mr. Iger and is not involved in “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales.”)
Lest anyone think the film is her last word on wage inequality at Disney and other companies, she ends her documentary with the words: “To be continue”.
