It’s hard to envision a comic book company’s locale in anything other than the city that inspired Gotham, but DC Entertainment is ready for the change of scenery. DCE has announced that they will move the rest of the company to its Burbank, CA headquarters, right next to the Warner Bros. Studio lot, in 2015. President of DC, Diane Nelson, is taking the opportunity to unite the bi-coastal company because as she stated, “When you have a creative business and ideas generated from people working together, I think you can work happier together.” (blogs.wsj.com).
For many of DC’s writers and staff members, the move is not at all unexpected. As Batman artist Neal Adams puts it, “We all smelled it in the air a long time ago, there’s such a focus on film and television nowadays, why wouldn’t they want the people making the decisions [on the characters] out on the West Coast.” (nydailynews.com). Rather, the overall sentiment is the remorse for all of the DC employees who will have to uproot their lives if they choose to stay with the company. Is DC starting a trend? Perhaps in the coming years with the marriage of comics and film we will see more companies following suit and buddying up with their motion picture counterparts.
I personally thought the bi-costal model was working well for DC. Let the publishing employees on the East Coast focus on Publishing and let the West Coast focus on television and motion picture development. The move seems to place more importance on one sector than the other, and while DC will likely make more money off of the integration of their characters and storylines into television and movies, the creative side that made and developed those characters and storylines is equally important. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s a shift in the company’s priorities as a result of the move.
Angela, I think you make a very valid point. The move is definitely a statement on where DC wants to put it’s focus, and that doesn’t seem to be the publishing side.
Wow you guys are right. This is really depressing because I just applied there. I’m learning a lot about comics/DC from my professor Paul Levitz. It was something I was considering going into. Oh well…I guess it’s time to start applying to Marvel some more!!!
I think the move is a great one. Whatever DC’s objectives, it will reiterate that a publisher need not operate out of the East Coast to be effective. It’s been said a number of times that the industry would benefit from dispersing its operations, that writers do not exist in New York alone and that the big publishers would do well to recognize the diversity of its clients. I agree. Great writers are not born solely on the East Coast. Rather, many move here to be discovered. Why not meet them where they begin?