Another Headache For Disney: Activist Investor Nelson Peltz Is Back And Said To Be Seeking Board Seats – Report

EXCLUSIVE: Sunday will not be a day of rest for SAG-AFTRA leadership and the studios this weekend.

SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are back at the table today for more talks to resolve the actors strike that has been going on for over 100 days.

Negotiations scheduled Wednesday between SAG-AFTRA and the studios didn’t happen after all — and everyone’s good with that.

After over a week of silence, the actors union and the AMPTP are set to return to negotiations on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

EXCLUSIVE: Ted Sarandos may have insisted today that he and other studio CEOs want to end the over three-month long actors strike and “get everyone back to work,” but for SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator, the Netflix boss is full of nothing but hot air.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan will soon have to greet ABC’s morning viewers from a decidedly different locale. As part of a larger move by Walt Disney Co., all of the company’s New York properties are slated to move in 2025 to a building in downtown New York in a neighborhood known as Hudson Square. That will include some programs already ensconced in well known studios, such as “GMA” and “Live with Kelly and Mark.” The move won’t isn’t scheduled to take place for some time, but staffers are already coming to grips with how it might affect the program’s standing in TV’s non-stop morning-news wars.

ESPN saw revenue of $13.2 billion and operating income of close to $1.5 billion for the first nine months of fiscal 2023, Disney revealed ahead of earnings next month when it plans to break out Sports as its own business segment — part of a restructuring initiated by CEO Bob Iger.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Chief Correspondent Dana Walden sent a staff-wide memo to all of Disney Entertainment on Friday, reflecting on the past week since Hamas struck Israel in a deadly and devastating war. “Tomorrow marks one week since the world changed forever with the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Walden wrote in a memo, exclusively obtained by Variety.

“In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks targeting Jews in Israel this past weekend, we must all do what we can to support the innocent people experiencing so much pain, violence, and uncertainty – particularly children,” declared Bob Iger tonight as the Walt Disney Company announced it is donating $2 million for humanitarian relief in Israel.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Chief Correspondent The Walt Disney Company is donating $2 million to organizations providing humanitarian relief to those affected by the Israel-Hamas war. “In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks targeting Jews in Israel this past weekend, we must all do what we can to support the innocent people experiencing so much pain, violence, and uncertainty — particularly children,” said Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company.

Disney is raising select prices at its theme parks as it prepares to embark on a long-term expansion of its parks and resorts portfolio.

There was no picketing Monday by SAG-AFTRA members due to the Indigenous Peoples Day holiday, but the leadership of the actors guild did return to the bargaining table with the studios and streamers.

Nicola Peltz Beckham loves her in-laws!

William Earl Activist investor Nelson Peltz has amassed a $2.5 billion stake in Walt Disney Co. and is preparing to make a second run at pressuring the company to grant him with board seats, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. Peltz’s Trian Fund Management is responding to the steady slide in Disney shares, which are down about 16% for the year to date.

Jennifer Lee, Chief Creative Officer at Disney Animation, confirmed this afternoon that work has quietly begun on a third edition in the company’s Frozen film franchise during a keynote session at the London Film Festival (LFF). 

SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, is attending New York Comic Con on Oct. 14 for the panel “AI in Entertainment: The Performer’s Perspective”.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Actors union SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP concluded a full day of negotiations on Monday, the first time negotiators have been in a room together since the union declared a strike on July 14. While little details were shared about the talks, both sides plan to meet again this week. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP met for a full day bargaining session and have concluded.

Disney+ is making some big changes.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor If you’re piggybacking on someone else’s Disney+ account, you may soon have to pay up to access the streamer. The Mouse House has notified Disney+ subscribers in Canada that as of Nov. 1, “Unless otherwise permitted by your service tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household.” The notification also informs customers that if the company has determined that a Disney+ subscriber has violated those terms, “we may limit or terminate access to the service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this agreement.” The language suggests that Disney+ will be offering a new option (or options) for account-sharing outside a primary user’s household.

SAG-AFTRA is set to sit down with the studios today to restart talks on a deal for the actors.