EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Discovery promised to give writers and directors proper credit on its streaming service Max, but don’t expect that fix to happen anytime soon.
“This could take weeks with all the data that needs to be transferred, verified and finalized,” a studio insider said of the streamer SNAFU’s May 23 release that drew outrage and anger from striking scribes and negotiating filmmakers this week. week. “It’s not as simple as pressing a button.”
But it hit a very raw nerve.
“Warner Bros. has lumped writers, directors, and producers into a made-up, dwindling category they call Creators,” WGA West chief Meredith Stiehm said in a joint statement with DGA chief Lesli Linka Glatter on Wednesday about the launch of Max. “This is a credit breach to begin with. But what’s worse, it’s disrespectful and insulting to the artists who make the movies and TV shows that make billions for their corporation.”
Credit: MAX
As it stands, Jesse Armstrong is still listed among a cabal of non-alphabetic “Creators” by the end. Succession. Regardless of the inclusion of executive producers Will Farrell and Adam McKay among the Succession Squad of Creators Currently on display at Max, Armstrong is the sole creator of the Emmy-winning satire.
In fact, despite the frustration (to put it politely) that many writers, directors, producers, and others feel at being listed as “Creators” on Max’s credits pages, the promised process for “correcting the credits” will take weeks in the future. the best of scenarios.
“From Roku to Apple and beyond, you have to do this platform by platform and that takes time,” one streamer executive told Deadline. “The number of platforms will be a determining factor in how long it will take overall,” he added, noting that old credits that existed on HBO Max couldn’t just be rolled over to Max.
Credit – MAX.
When contacted today about how long it would take to fix Max’s multitude of credits on shows like the one created by Robin Thede A Black Lady Sketch Show and classics like David Chase created the sopranos, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery referred Deadline to his May 23 statement. That oblique statement read: “We agree that the talent behind Max’s content deserves to have his work properly recognized. 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 error.”
Credit – MAX.
To be clear, in just one of literally thousands of examples of transmitter errors, no matter what you say in Max right now, mad Men creator Matthew Weiner did not co-create The sopranos – but was a writer on the acclaimed series and rose to executive producer.
Although there has been a proliferation of conspiracy theories about how something so stupid could have happened, and could have been orchestrated by WBD CEO David Zaslav in revenge for being repeatedly attacked by the striking WGA, the truth seems to be one case. much more banal than Ill-considered Efficiency stumbling on human error, I hear.
In the rush to transition from HBO Max to Max this week, a unit within WBD’s sprawling IT department took matters of the credits into their own hands and keyboards. With the plethora of dramas, comedies, specials, animation, movies, and non-scripted material from the WB, HBO, Discovery, and more in Max’s inventory, it was decided to create a small, general format so that everything would be in place for launch. . Unfortunately for everyone involved, the efforts of the tech team never made it up the corporate flagpole, where they could have been fixed. The internal consequence of this was that most top-level WBD executives didn’t even know about the fumble until Max’s slightly shaky pitch went live and criticism abounded online.
Still, that means bupkis for many, and two days after Max apologized and promised to make things right, the desire to see the proper credits on shows remains:
Busy with today’s large demonstration in downtown Los Angeles, the WGA, which has been on strike since May 2, referred Deadline to the joint statement it issued with the DGA on May 23. The DGA, which has been in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers over a new contract to replace the current one that expires June 30, did not respond to a request for comment on the status of the “Makers” credits.
