News The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors Extends Robert A. Iger’s Contract as CEO Through 2026

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The tiny dividend ploy was announced

Bob will stop at nothing until people stop pointing out he’s failing

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yes. And which audiences are you part of?

The audience that likes to have fun at a movie and feel good coming out

Nothing else matters in the end

 

[Tom P.]

What is the context of this? And what year? If this is to be taken at face value, I would have to agree that this statement is problematic. I'm just not certain that quote is giving the whole picture.

It is an article from The Hollywood Reporter from April, 2021 when Disney's initiatives to "diversify" their content, the kind that Iger is now retrospectively addressing, were in full swing. Here is the link to the complete article:

Dana Walden Says ABC Passed on Pilots for Not Being Inclusive Enough

Walden revealed that "for the first time," the network received "some incredibly well-written scripts that did not satisfy our standards in terms of inclusion."

www.hollywoodreporter.com

I won't quote the entire thing here for copyright reasons, but here is the relevant quote I mentioned where she was saying they were passing on good scripts to meet DEI criteria:

“I will tell you for the first time we received some incredibly well-written scripts that did not satisfy our standards in terms of inclusion, and we passed on them,” Walden explained to moderator Janice Min, now a contributing editor at Time and formerly co-president of The Hollywood Reporter.

It's one thing to say we're going to try to have more representation on screen. It's quite another to say we're taking good quality projects and throwing them in the trash because the characters or actors are white, or to say that you'll never again make a film or TV show that focuses on a white family.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There seems to be three different arguments.

1. Disney isn't pushing a culture war.

2. Disney is pushing a culture war and that's good for business, while all their recent failures can be blamed on other factors.

3. Disney is pushing a culture war and it's bad for business but they should still do it anyways to defeat the forces of evil and make the world a better place.

The first two are just clearly, demonstrably false. But most people seem to be clinging to #1. I can at least respect the #3 people for taking a coherent position even if I disagree with it.

I vote option 4

 

[Joel]

There seems to be three different arguments.

1. Disney isn't pushing a culture war.

2. Disney is pushing a culture war and that's good for business, while all their recent failures can be blamed on other factors.

3. Disney is pushing a culture war and it's bad for business but they should still do it anyways to defeat the forces of evil and make the world a better place.

The first two are just clearly, demonstrably false. But most people seem to be clinging to #1. I can at least respect the #3 people for taking a coherent position even if I disagree with it.

I'm pretty sure there are folks here that have argued all three at various points in time. Pretty funny stuff.

 

[MisterPenguin]

 

[_caleb]

The audience that likes to have fun at a movie and feel good coming out

Nothing else matters in the end

Of course there's more to consider. Haven't we gone round and round with this re: Star Wars? You seem to think that your audience is the audience. I'm telling you, those days are over.

 

[Tha Realest]

Of course there's more to consider. Haven't we gone round and round with this re: Star Wars? You seem to think that your audience is the audience. I'm telling you, those days are over.

Yes - now there’s no audiences

 

[_caleb]

Theater chains are essentially giving away movies for free if you’re willing to pay $25/month.

Free for $25/month?

Yes - now there’s no audiences

Right. And how to get them back?

If this was true then streaming should be booming.

Unless it’s YouTube/Twitch etc consuming all the eyeballs.

That would mean Disney is in the wrong game.

Streaming is booming. YouTube/Twitch are consuming all the eyeballs.
Disney is in the right game, they just have to learn to compete with YouTube/Twitch.

View attachment 756914

Disney explicitly says that they receive good scripts that they pass on because of DEI criteria. Here, the chairman of entertainment for Walt Disney Television says that a show about a white family is an automatic no-go. I mean, how more obvious does Disney have to be before people believe it?

We do believe it! Well, at least I do. But not how you believe it.

To compete, all businesses have to target their product to segments of the market. Disney's data (focus groups, spending data, behavior analytics, market research, customer satisfaction surveys, etc.) points to diversity as being a value to emerging audiences, so they're purposefully creating content to try to connect with those audiences. There's nothing insidious going on here.

 

[_caleb]

Yes - now there’s no audiences

Not like there used to be!

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Disney's data (focus groups, spending data, behavior analytics, market research, customer satisfaction surveys, etc.) points to diversity as being a value to emerging audiences, so they're purposefully creating content to try to connect with those audiences. There's nothing insidious going on here.

They are looking at this "data" through DEI-tinged glasses then, though I wonder what data you actually mean. Clearly the approach isn't working—Iger literally just said so. The actual data that matters is whether their content is well-received—which it isn't.

 

[_caleb]

This is where DEI focused companies fail. The DEI company focuses on what the company wants instead of focusing onnwhat the customer wants.

The company only "wants" to make money. They're chasing after the customers who will give them money. Not just the people who have been giving them money or those who give them money today, but those who will give them money in the future. Most major companies have a DEI department because the people who will be giving them money in the future say that's what they want.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Most major companies have a DEI department because the people who will be giving them money in the future say that's what they want.

Source?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Of course there's more to consider. Haven't we gone round and round with this re: Star Wars? You seem to think that your audience is the audience. I'm telling you, those days are over.

And I’m telling you: Disney bought Star Wars for the audience that bought $100,000,000,000 of licensed products for 40 years…

…and they hosed it and now don’t make that kinda return.


So I’m telling you: you got a lot more to learn about how the west was won than your 25 ish years of googling has reaped to this point.

But I’ll bring you along slowly

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Source?

That is likely correct…though none of them have so stupidity missed that you have to get to the future to generate the money of the future

You don’t burn down your stargate now

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The company only "wants" to make money.

Then they’re failing at it

 

[_caleb]

They are looking at this "data" through DEI-tinged glasses then, though I wonder what data you actually mean. Clearly the approach isn't working—Iger literally just said so. The actual data that matters is whether their content is well-received—which it isn't.

I'm telling you-- LOADS of data (of varying quality, I'm sure). The approach is really hurting them in the short run. I think they anticipated that it would to some degree, but it turns out investors want to see returns and audiences they previously catered to don't appreciate being taken for granted.

 

[_caleb]

That is likely correct…though none of them have so stupidity missed that you have to get to the future to generate the money of the future

You don’t burn down your stargate now

I agree! I know you don't believe me, but I think Disney saw the numbers--the same writing on the wall that has led every other studio to wade into streaming– and got so spooked they jumped. Only difference is Iger jumped faster and farther than those who took a more cautious approach.

We'll see if that bet pays off.

 

[_caleb]

Then they’re failing at it

I mean, in 2023, Disney's annual gross profit for 2023, was $29.697B, up 4.86% from 2022.
Their movies are failing to make money at the box office, for sure. Good thing they have another purpose for those movies, though.

 

[TalkingHead]

Free for $25/month?

Yeah, seeing a movie in Dolby/IMAX runs about $20-21. AMC monthly subscription gives you three movies a week. So if you see more than two titles in a month, much less a week, AMC is paying. I never would’ve seen Wish if I’d had to buy a ticket out of pocket. Bottom line is the box office numbers are misleading.