Director of ANNA calls out Coupang Play for editing two episodes without consent

Director of Suzy’s thriller drama ANNA, Lee Joo-young, has threatened to sue streaming service Coupang Play for damages, reported The JoongAng on August 2. As per her lawyer, Coupang Play edited two episodes without any input from the director. The series originally had eight episodes of 45-61 minutes of run time. But the streaming service cut it to six episodes.

Lee Joo-young asked the streaming service to take her name off the credits, but as per her lawyer, her request was ignored. The team even asked Coupang Play to make revisions. The director now demands a formal apology and corrections, a failure of which will lead her to file a lawsuit against the streaming service.

---

The director of ANNA details her dispute with Coupang Play's "one-sided editing," says the show is "complete different"

Apparently, Bae Suzy’s mystery-thriller drama ANNA was so successful, it helped revive the streaming service, Coupang Play. The number of monthly users increased dramatically, and the number of viewers reached an all-time high.

Despite tasting incredible success, the OTT platform has landed in troubled waters.

Lee Joo-young, the thriller’s director and scriptwriter, has threatened to sue Coupang Play in a press release dated August 2, 2022. The director stated that the released version of ANNA is “a completely different work” from the show she had worked upon.

It was previously reported that the show was initially set for eight episodes, but would eventually be a six episodic series. In a statement, director Lee Joo-young accused Coupang Play of not only reducing the number of episodes but also changing the prose, filming and structure of the show.

“ANNA was supposed to be an eight-episode drama with a run time of 45-61 minutes per episode. Coupang Play decided to make changes without the input of the director and presented a six-episode drama. Not only were there changes made to the length of the drama, but its prose, filming, editing, and narrative all were damaged by Coupang Play.”

The statement added that the director had requested for her name to be removed from the credits but the streaming service ignored it.

“Director Lee Joo-young could not agree to put her name on an edited version that she had not seen before, so she requested that her name be removed from the ‘Director’ and ‘Screenplay’ in the credits, but Coupang Play refused even that. She added that she cannot stay silent and let viewers see it as her work, when it isn’t.”

In the same public statement, Lee Joo-young asked for a formal apology from Coupang Play to her and all the staff involved in the production of the show. The apology should be an assurance that the company will never edit work without the consent of any creator.

She also demanded releasing the director’s cut, the original eight-episode series, as soon as possible.

Moreover, Lee Joo-young’s lawyer mentioned that the “one-sided editing” of the show infringes on the director’s moral rights.

Meanwhile, on August 3, Coupang Play said that it will be releasing the director's cut "a little earlier than planned" as per SBS Entertainment News. The streaming service also confirmed that "there was a disagreement." It said:

" We have been communicating with the director or production company for a long time to close this gap and produce a result that everyone can be satisfied with. However, there is an amicable agreement couldn't find it."

Earlier on July 8, Coupang Play had said that it would be releasing an extended version with eight episodes. It was reported that the new version will be released in August.