Disney Will Share Broadway 'Frozen' Profits With Actors
October 11 2016 - 8:52PM
Dow Jones News
By Pia Catton
Disney's "Frozen" isn't slated to open until 2018, but it is
already melting the status quo around one of Broadway's most
contentious issues: profit participation for actors.
On Tuesday, Disney Theatrical Productions emailed actors
explaining coming contracts that offer a percentage of future
profits from "Frozen." The contracts address this month's
developmental lab, a creative period usually covered by standard
contracts with Actors' Equity Association.
Disney's offer increases the standard contract's terms by $400
in weekly salaries and adds the promise of 0.5% of net profits from
the first three English-language productions for the first 10 years
of profitability. The percentage will be shared by all actors who
develop the show from the lab up to opening night.
"We're thrilled that, should 'Frozen' reach success, our Equity
collaborators will share in the profit," Thomas Schumacher,
president and producer of Disney Theatrical Productions, said in a
statement.
Disney's rare and early move -- before actors enter the studio
to create the stage version -- comes at a time when profit
participation has moved into the spotlight.
Last season, producers of "Hamilton" granted cast members
inclusion through a deal announced after the show was onstage --
and after the cast asked for participation.
While Disney didn't elaborate on why the new agreement was
offered, its email stresses its relationship to actors: "We place
the highest value on the talent and contribution of both the
performers and stage managers."
Those performers are potentially heading into a juggernaut: The
2013 animated film "Frozen" grossed $1.2 billion world-wide,
according to boxofficemojo.com.
That said, there is no guarantee of a stage success -- or a
windfall. But it does help prevent actors from feeling shortchanged
later, a key challenge to producers today, said John Breglio,
author of "I Wanna Be a Producer."
"If [producers] use the lab, and actors have contributed to the
piece, it might seem unfair -- or the sheer success may make it
appear unfair, as it did with 'Hamilton.' "
Write to Pia Catton at pia.catton@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 11, 2016 20:37 ET (00:37 GMT)
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