Max’s Major Launch Error Could Take Weeks to Fix

This week saw Warner Bros. Discovery transition the HBO Max streaming service to just Max, causing problems all along the way. In addition to headaches for subscribers like not be able to login and even watch the shows, Max quickly angered the creatives that make their series and movies. Subscribers quickly noticed that when looking at the credits for any given film or TV show on its landing page, the writers, directors, producers, and other behind-the-camera talent weren’t credited properly and were instead lumped under “Creators.” Max revealed they would be correcting the error after the outcry, but a new report reveals it may not be that easy.

According to Deadline, speaking with a studio insider, correcting all of the credits on the shows and movies on Max  “is not a simple as pressing a button.” Their source went on to add that making these corrections could take “weeks” and would involve extensive work to make sure things are correct. One major reason that this will take a significant amount of time according to the insider is that it will need to be fixed across the many platforms that Max is available on. Roku, Apple TV, and other Smart TVs have their own systems that will need to be fixed.

As you can see from the screenshot below, the “Creators” line on Max lumps most of its behind-the-scenes talent into one group. Not only does The Batman director Matt Reeves appears alongside producer Dylan Clark, the studio executives that developed it, but also Batman co-creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane, and even DC as a whole! The trouble of course is that this mixes various jobs together into one group is a move that devalues the individual contributions of those involved in making it. To make things more complicated for Max, the striking WGA and their brothers-in-arms the DGA agree, and they’re mad.

“Warner Bros. Discovery’s unilateral move, without notice or consultation, to collapse directors, writers, producers, and others into a generic category of ‘Creators’ in their new Max rollout while we are in negotiations with them is a grave insult to our members and our union,” DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter shared in a statement about the Creators credits. “This devaluation of the individual contributions of artists is a disturbing trend and the DGA will not stand for it. We intend on taking the strongest possible actions, in solidarity with the WGA, to ensure every artist receives the individual credit they deserve.”  

“This is a credits violation for starters,” WGA West President Meredith Stiehm added. “But worse, it is disrespectful and insulting to the artists that make the films and TV shows and that make their corporation billions. This attempt to diminish writers’ contributions and importance echoes the message we heard in our negotiations with AMPTP — that writers are marginal, inessential, and should simply accept being paid less and less, while our employers’ profits go higher and higher. This tone-deaf disregard for writers’ importance is what brought us to where we are today — Day 22 of our strike.”

Warner Bros. Discovery previously confirmed that they would fix the credit errors.