Call to Action: Leave Feedback with Disney
I called The Walt Disney Company, today to discuss James Gunn’s termination and they were helpful and listened well. Also, I was told that they have already received some other calls regarding James Gunn being fired.
Signing the petition is a good move to show your support of rehiring Gunn, but I suggest also taking some time to call Disney and voice your concerns, as well, since speaking to an actual person can be a powerful form of communication.
Please be polite to the people over the phone. They are just doing their job and you are asking for their help. If you’re angry and impatient, they will likely be reluctant to help you. Refer to them by their names, thank them for helping you, say please, give them appreciation.
Here’s how I went about it:
Call The Walt Disney Company: (818) 560-1000
A voice will ask you if you are calling for ABC television or something. Wait until she is done telling you to press 1, and then press 1.
An operator will answer the phone. They cannot connect you unless you have a specific name or extention. Ask if you could (please!) speak to Bob Iver (the CEO of Walt Disney).
They may ask you why you need to speak to him. I told them the following:
“I was hoping to discuss some feedback with him.” They put me through to someone who could help me.
You will not be able to speak to Bob Iver, obviously. They will connect you with someone who will take a message from you and run it through the company to Iver. When I was connected to someone, I wrote down their names so that I could refer to them by it. Seems respectful and considerate?
They asked me what I needed help with. Here’s, vaguely, what I said:
“I wanted to leave some feedback with Bob Iver about the recent firing of James Gunn. I’m not sure if you’re the correct person for me to talk to, but if you’re able to direct me to who I should be talking to, I’d appreciate it a lot.”
That’s when they said they’d pass a message along to Iver.
Basically, you can say something like any of these:
I would like to request that James Gunn be re-hired for the director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
I don’t think firing James Gunn supports Disney’s principals that people can change for the better.
I’m not sure if you’ve already heard, but over 300,000 (you can check the number here) people have signed a petition to re-hire James Gunn.
I think firing James Gunn stops him from being able to redeem himself.
I think that Guardians of the Galaxy helps people and Gunn should be able to continue his good work.
The person I spoke to over the phone let me list off quite a few of these without interrupting. They clarified what I was saying by repeating it back to me, and told me they were writing it down.
You can throw in anything, really, that you think is suitable. Just, please, remember to be polite and appreciative.
The operators and staff that I spoke to were accommodating and helpful. Whether or not the person I spoke to over the phone really passed along my message and really wrote it down I couldn’t be sure of, but they certainly put in effort into sounding understanding and they let me talk without interrupting or arguing or being rude.
I think it’s important to make this call, since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 goes into production this fall and I don’t think we want this sort of thing happening to another artist in the future. If you believe James Gunn was doing good work by working on those movies, if the Guardians of the Galaxy has ever helped you through hard times, please, at least, try. You will be representing GotG fans, promoting the concept that people shouldn’t be fired for things they said over a social media platform years ago, and supporting the idea that people, when given the chance, can still do good things even after making grave mistakes.
If you’re not sure if you want to make that phone call, please reblog this so that other people know it’s an action they can take. Also, there’s this petition you can sign.
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