The Writer’s Guild of America went on strike three weeks ago and is still going strong. There’s speculation that things have gotten so bad in Hollywood that SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and the DGA (Directors Guild of America) may soon follow. And the studios seem bizarrely hellbent on making sure that happens.
In its rush to switch from the recognizable branding of HBO Max to the unsearchable SEO nightmare of Max, Warner Bros. Discovery incorrectly credited directors, producers, and writers on the new streaming service. At the moment, all of those workers are now listed under the amorphous tag, “Creators."
This prompted the DGA and the WGA to put out a joint statement excoriating Warner Bros. Discovery for the action, which flaunts guild rules. You can read the full statement here, but the strongest language comes from DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter who says, "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."
WGA West President Meredith Stiehm added: "Warner Bros has lumped writers, directors and producers into an invented, diminishing category they call Creators. This is a credits violation for starters. But worse, it is disrespectful and insulting to the artists that make the films and TV shows 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 responded to that statement immediately , saying that the move to lump all of the artists into the vague “creators” tag was a simple error “due to an oversight in the technical transition from HBO Max to Max and we apologize for the mistake.” You can believe that if you want, but it would be impossible to do what WBD did as a mistake. A "Creators" tag didn't just materialize out of nowhere, and certain roles had to be selected to be placed in that tag. Why directors, writers, and producers, but not actors, craft services, or key grips? A decision was clearly made.
The result is that WBD’s decision to roll Max out takes on a more sinister quality. Is it a simple rebrand to indicate that there's more on the service than just HBO? Or is it part of a push to devalue creatives further, pushing Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg into the same category of artist as Mr. Beast and Sean Evans. Obviously content creators do real work, but it’s a fundamentally different kind of work than directing, writing, or producing a movie. Presenting unionized Hollywood professionals as the same kind of worker as a YouTuber making vlogs from their home gives studio execs more ground to denigrate the former. TikTokers make videos for free when they’re starting out, why should first-time writers on a TV series be treated any differently? Why should a new director get a workable budget for their feature debut when YouTubers are making feature-length video essays for free?
It all lends credence to the argument the WGA has been making since its members went on strike three weeks ago: the studios want to turn writers into gig workers, and through the use of mini-rooms, effectively have for many working in the streaming space. The Max debacle makes the point loud and clear. The studios will do the same to directors and actors if given the chance.