Disney Will Share Broadway ‘Frozen’ Profits With Actors

Disney’s Frozen is set to hit Broadway in 2018 and earlier this week, Disney Theatrical Productions emailed it’s actors to state that their upcoming contract will include a percentage of future profits from the stage show.

The contract sees Disney offer an increase in 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 between all the actors who are involved in developing the show from the lab up to opening night.

This isn’t a usual move for Disney, last year the producers of “Hamilton” did something similar and while Disney haven’t gone into too much detail, the email stated:  “We place the highest value on the talent and contribution of both the performers and stage managers.”

Thomas Schumacher, who is the president and producer of Disney Theatrical Productions, said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal that “We’re thrilled that, should ‘Frozen’ reach success, our Equity collaborators will share in the profit”.

Our Take:

It’s not considered normal practice yet, but Disney could be saving itself more issues down the line, since this issue of developing a show has been causing issues with other productions in the past.

What do you think of this?