Returning Disney CEO Bob Iger held an online town hall today from The Walt Disney Company’s Burbank headquarters, and tried to answer some burning questions employees, cast members, and even the public have been asking.
Kicking It Off
Iger kicked off the town hall, moderated by KABC anchor Leslie Sykes, by quoting from the song “What’d I miss?” from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical “Hamilton” the lines that say “There is no more status quo. But the sun comes up and the world still spins.”
Then after about five minutes of introductions, Iger jumped into taking questions, including many from an in-person audience. Disney employees could also submit both named and anonymous questions before the event began, and those were mixed in.
The Questions
In speaking to employees, Iger acknowledged it has been a challenging time for everyone involved. While away from the company, he said it was easier to view the company through the eyes of the consumer.
He also said there is “a lot to do … and quickly,” but the company will remain “resilient” and focus on creativity.
When asked about the hiring freeze previous CEO Bob Chapek announced on November 11, Iger said that would stay in place for the time being until he could reassess its cost structure.
In regards to recent losses with streaming, Iger said Disney’s focus must shift toward making its streaming business profitable rather than concentrating on simply adding subscribers.
He didn’t comment on the losses suffered this morning with the release of Disney Animation’s “Strange World” and its holiday box office.
During his last stint as CEO, he bought Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and Fox for Disney, but in regards to the rumors regarding Apple, Iger said that at this time, Disney won’t be pursuing any major acquisitions in the near future, nor would they be selling anything. He said he’s comfortable with Disney’s current set of assets.
Iger was asked about Disney’s current stance on LGBTQ+ inclusion, given the dust-up between Chapek and Florida governor Ron DeSantis in March of this year.
He responded with no hesitation, “One of the core values of our storytelling is inclusion, and acceptance. and tolerance. And we can’t lose that, we just can’t lose that…how we actually change the world through the good must continue. We’re not going to make everyone happy all the time, and we’re not [going to] try to. We’re certainly not going to lessen our core values in order to make everyone happy all the time.”
A question was also asked about the unpopular theme park reservation system. Iger said he hasn’t used the system, and that he would want to speak with Josh D’Amaro, Chairperson of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, before making any other comments about it.
So don’t get your hopes up about the reservation system going away anytime soon.
The town hall was relatively short, and mostly served to let everyone know that Iger was working on several areas of concern but no definitive plans were talked about.
Given that Iger has only been back in the CEO seat for one week, I don’t think anybody was expecting huge news out of this town hall.
In a memo last week, Iger did say one of his first actions will be to redo Disney’s organizational structure, which this week including the firing of Kareem Daniel. He also stated a new structure will take time to put in place and will be done in conjunction with other executives including chairman of general entertainment content Dana Walden, Disney Studios head Alan Bergman, ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro, and CFO Christine McCarthy.
The Surprise Return of Iger
Just in case you were too busy planning for Thanksgiving last week, it was late Sunday night on November 20, when news broke that previous CEO Bob Iger would be returning to the role after the sudden departure of then CEO Bob Chapek.
In today’s town hall, Iger joked his wife, Willow Bay, told him he should run Disney again so that he wouldn’t run for U.S. president.
It’s going to take some time to make decisions on where to lead the various facets of the company, including restructuring, or in some cases undoing, things Chapek put into place.
Definitely keep letting Disney know what you want, but be patient as somethings will happen faster than others.
It should also be noted that currently, Iger has a 24 month deadline to leave the company in more stable hands than he did last time, as his current contract is only for two years.
Here is the message Iger tweeted out with a photo of Disney Legends Plaza at The Walt Disney Company just prior to taking the stage at the town hall: