Interesting interview with Iger in the Hollywood Reporter, covering topics such as selling alcohol in
Disneyland, slowing the rate of Star Wars movies, the streaming service, and how the company has changed in response to the #MeToo movement
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/n...service-james-gunn-star-wars-slowdown-1145493
Some interesting points:
How involved do you get in decisions to cancel Roseanne at ABC or fire James Gunn at Marvel?
I would say there is a blend of my helping to make the decision to my supporting the decisions that have been made.
Roseanne was completely unanimous. We discussed how it would be communicated and when because there were a number of entities that had to be properly filled in, but the decision was completely unanimous. The James Gunn decision was brought to me as a unanimous decision of a variety of executives at the studio and I supported it.
There was backlash. You still support it?
I haven't second-guessed their decision.
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Has the culture at Pixar changed at all in the past eight months since the exit of John Lasseter?
Any time that you change leadership there is an inevitable cultural shift. There was a cultural shift at Disney when I took over for Michel Eisner after 21 years. John Lasseter was in his role for a long time, had an enormous influence on both the culture and the creativity of Pixar, and so of course in John leaving there is inevitable and was an inevitable cultural shift. To get into the details, I'd prefer not to.
What has changed within Disney as a whole as a result of the #MeToo movement?
I don’t want to talk about anybody, specifically, but it's critical for us as leaders in this industry to create safe environments for people who have been victims of abuse to speak up and feel safe about speaking up and for others who have witnessed abuse to do the same. It's critical. As difficult as this time may seem, it's high time that we all woke up to the need to protect the people that work for us and work with us.
How are you doing that?
First of all, you have to address specific issues with people, but beyond that, you have to make sure that you’re applying one standard to the company for all. There aren't two standards based on title, rank, importance, talent, whatever. Second, you've got to communicate very, very effectively to people that if they are a victim, if they have witnessed this, they must come forward because in not doing so they are only perpetuating an unsafe work environment, and that's not good.
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Finally, some Disneyland purists are upset that there's going to be booze for sale in Star Wars Land.
We have to be careful we don't let people drink and then go on Autopia. (
Laughs.)
Funny. Walt did specifically say no booze at Disneyland.
Yeah, except I think Walt had a nip or two in his apartment at night. (
Laughs.) I am a big believer in tradition. This just seemed like one of those traditions that if we changed it the empire wasn't gonna crumble.