Warner Bros. Discovery has corrected director and writer credit changes made with the launch of Max after receiving harsh criticism from the Directors Guild and Writers Guild. In a statement today, Max said, “We agree that the talent behind Max’s content deserves his work to be properly recognized.” We will correct the credits that were lost due to an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max have been changed and we apologize for this error.”
The correction comes after the DGA and WGA made angry comments about the change to long-standing individual director and writer credits in their film library, which did not specifically list director and writer credits but instead grouped them together as “creators.” Here’s how the Fast 9 credits appeared:
Prior to Max’s withdrawal, the DGA, which is currently negotiating a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, called the company’s unilateral move a “grave insult” and said “the harshest measures” will be taken to reverse it make . The WGA, which has been on strike for more than three weeks, called the change “disrespectful and offensive”.
“For nearly 90 years, the Directors Guild has fought bitterly to protect the recognition and recognition directors deserve for the work they create,” said DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter. “Warner Bros. Discovery’s unilateral move to group directors, writers, producers and others in their new Max launch into a generic category of ‘creators’ without notice or consultation while we negotiate with them is a grave insult to our members and.” our union. This devaluation of artists’ individual contributions is a disturbing trend and the DGA will not condone it. We intend to take the utmost measures in solidarity with the WGA to ensure each artist receives the individual recognition they deserve.”
WGA West President Meredith Stiehm said late Tuesday, “Warner Bros. has put writers, directors and producers in a made-up, ever-shrinking category they call creators.” For starters, that’s a credits violation. But worse, it’s disrespectful and offensive to the artists who make these films and TV shows and bring in billions for their company. This attempt to belittle the contributions and importance of writers echoes the message we heard in our negotiations with AMPTP – that writers are marginal and non-essential and should simply accept being paid less and less while our employers’ profits getting higher and higher. This deaf disregard for the importance of writers has got us where we are today – the 22nd day of our strike.”