Warner Bros. Discovery has finally been forced into an embarrassing climb-down, a month after their controversial and insulting decision to lump film directors and writers under a single"creators" banner. The widely derided change, which triggered a strong negative reaction from filmmakers and Hollywood’s directors and writers guilds, has now compelled the company to backtrack. Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that they will be restoring the listings on HBO Max to their original presentation, attributing the problem to a technical “oversight.” One wonders why they didn’t just claim to have “been hacked”?
DGA PresidentLesli Linka Glatter, amidstongoing successful contract negotiations with the studios, expressed her Guild’s unwavering commitment to protecting the credit and recognition rightfully earned by directors for their creative endeavors. On May 24, Glatter remarked, “For almost 90 years, the Directors Guild has fought fiercely to protect the credit and recognition deserved by Directors for the work they create.”
Glatter further condemned Warner Bros. Discovery’s unilateral decision to consolidate directors, writers, producers, and others under a generic “creators” category in their new Max rollout, implemented without any prior notice or consultation. She viewed this move as a grave insult to DGA members and the union as a whole, as it devalues the individual contributions of artists. Expressing concern over this troubling trend, Glatter asserted that the DGA would not tolerate such actions. She stated, “We intend on taking the strongest possible actions, in solidarity with the WGA, to ensure every artist receives the individual credit they deserve.”
RELATED:Max Still Hasn’t Fixed Its Controversial Creators Label a Month After Launch
A Month to Flick a Switch
“We agree that the talent behind the content on Max deserve their work to be properly recognized,” a Max spokesperson said in a statement that was published byVarietyon May 24. “We will correct the credits, which were altered due to an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max and we apologize for this mistake.”And yet, why did it take them over a month to get round to it?
Deadline reports that the “explanation” was that the shambles created by the corporate arrogance and ignorace was that it apparently required a platform-by-platform fix. An insider was quoted as saying “There’s literally 1000s of films, TV shows and specials that need to be fixed and reviewed. It just took time." And on the subject of time,today marks the 58th day of the Writers' strike, while the current contract of SAG-AFTRA expires on June 30, withno signs of agreement yetreached with the AMPTP. What would Max put on their platform without actors or writers? Collider’sTherese LacsonandMike Muneyhave done a very thorough piece onwhat the writer’s strike means for youif you want to learn more.
