Lawmakers meet with Hollywood creative Bob Iger to express concerns about China’s censorship and Beijing’s influence

EXCLUSIVE: Members of a House Select Committee on China met Wednesday with Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger and later a group of Hollywood movie producers and executives amid concerns about the industry’s business practices in dealings with Beijing.

The committee chairman, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), was joined by nine other members, including lead member, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL).

According to a source close to the Commission, the hour-long meeting was “constructive and open”.

Gallagher raised concerns about censorship, and Iger talked about “the relationship with the Chinese Communist Party and how it’s changed,” the source said.

Iger was joined by other Disney executives, and they talked about how “their goal is not to change the stories,” the source said, adding that the executives conveyed how they try to straddle the line between cultural and political breaking demands to exceed Chinese. censorship. “They admitted it was a value judgment and they don’t always get it right,” the source said, noting that sometimes the studio relents and sometimes it doesn’t.

The private meeting with Iger is scheduled as lawmakers from both parties focus on China’s influence on American business and culture. Hollywood has been a target of members on Capitol Hill in recent years for some high-profile cases in which films were edited or their storylines changed to appease Chinese censorship.

In 2020, Gallagher was one of several lawmakers who previously sent a letter to then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek. mulan and concerns about Disney’s work with authorities in Xinjiang, the region where Uyghur Muslims have been held in detention camps. The US declared that the Chinese government committed genocide against the ethnic population.

Gallagher raised the issue again at the meeting, the source said, and Iger explained how steps are being taken to prevent such a situation from happening again. The type of inquiries the studio receives from Chinese film authorities was also discussed.

Gallagher said he wants Iger to testify on Capitol Hill one day, but it’s unclear if that’s still possible.

Disney’s global policy in the countries where it operates is: “We aim to share our stories in their original form, as we and the artists involved created them. If we make changes for legal or other reasons, they will be as limited as possible. We will not make any changes that we believe will interfere with storytelling. In that case, we will not distribute the content to that market.”

In addition to film releases, Disney has a large presence in China, including Shanghai Disneyland, which opened in 2016. The park is owned by the Shanghai Shendi Group, which has a 43% stake in Disney, according to company records.

Other members of the meeting include Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA).

Later Wednesday, five members of the House Committee and 17 industry representatives gathered at Cecconi’s in West Hollywood for a confidential session where Hollywood personalities shared their experiences of doing business in China. The group included filmmakers, executives and producers, as well as representatives from academia and industry associations, but the names of those present have not been released to allow for a more open discussion.

Producer Chris Fenton, who served as the committee’s unpaid adviser, said the meeting discussed China’s film quotas, revenue sharing, technology swaps, forced edits, pre-censorship and “things beyond the Chinese border.”

Fenton said the goal is to “ensure that it provides the broadest possible perspective on the situation and ensure that members receive the fullest possible education and a sense of the nuances and pressures on everyone regarding China.” ”

He added: “Overall the idea was, ‘How can we unite to push back against things that are out of control?’

In a recent op-ed, Fenton wrote that the industry at the heart of culture and commerce must work with lawmakers so that “our community can help preserve these two essential connecting rods, while also shaping the policies and regulations that allow us to live this way is an industry.

“Without a healthy partnership with Washington, I fear that Hollywood will seek to maintain the status quo while China continues to assert its massive market power and force the industry into broad compliance, even as the domestic film industry continues to grow and American films appear in theaters. ” and displace smartphones. ” He wrote.

The House caucus also planned to hold meetings with Silicon Valley executives on Thursday and will meet with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Friday.

The committee – called the Special Committee of the Chinese Communist Party – held its first meeting in February and was unusual for its bipartisan focus on concerns about China’s influence.

At a performance on Face the nation in February, Gallagher said 60 minutes“I think we can have a productive conversation with companies that have significant business interests in China, and we want to ensure that the strength of China’s economy does not tempt certain companies to betray American values.”

Lawmakers have criticized studios for self-censoring how they edit films to gain access to China. One incident that caused a stir at the time was the trailer for Top Gun: Maverick Tom Cruise’s character in a bomber jacket with two of the flag patches for Taiwan and Japan replaced with other symbols. The flags were restored when the film was finally released last year, though not in China.

When he was attorney general, William Barr cited reports that were in the case of Marvel Studios Doctor StrangeFilmmakers changed a main character’s nationality from a Tibetan monk to a Celtic one.