Was Disney Considering Offering Actors Shares in Their Movies?
The Walt Disney Company has admitted that during last year’s Hollywood strikes, it filed official documents that wrongly claimed that it was considering offering employees shares in the production companies behind its movies.
If you think back to 2023, you may remember that residuals were a major sticking point in both the WGA strike and the SAG-AFTRA strike. With cable television continuing to decline and the age of streaming officially upon us, both writers and actors wanted to overhaul how residuals were calculated.
Photo: Robert Hanashiro/USA Today
As streaming supplanted cable and home video sales, something needed to change.
Disney Considered Giving Actors a Share in Its Films
A new report from Forbes has revealed that during the strike, Disney filed official paperwork in the United Kingdom for Snow White that revealed: “There is no employee share scheme at present, but the directors are considering the introduction of such a scheme as a means of further encouraging the involvement of the employees in the company’s performance.”
Photo: Disney
This filing clearly implied that Disney would consider giving actors a cut of the film’s proceeds, perhaps as part of a larger, future collective bargaining agreement.
However, with Hollywood now once again experiencing labor peace, Disney’s plan seems to have changed.
Disney Now Says the Statment Was Wrong
In a follow-up statement to Forbes, a Disney spokesperson said, “The line in the Snow White (Hidden Heart Production) accounts, we have had it confirmed that this wording should not have been included within the financial statements. We do not offer any share schemes for any of our productions.”
Photo: Disney
While it sounds like Disney will continue business as usual, the Snow White filing shows how radically things could have changed in Hollywood. Giving actors equity in their films would certainly provide a powerful financial incentive. Perhaps Disney will reconsider the idea in the future.
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