DC Entertainment is an American

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

company that was founded in September 2009 and was based in Burbank,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery that manages its

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

units and characters in other units, as they work with other Warner Bros. units. It also delves into those units within their flagship the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). In April 2022, following the merger of parent company

WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

with Discovery Inc., DC Entertainment was reported to be reorganized into its own vertical unit rather than being handled by other Warner Bros. subsidiaries on its behalf.

History

Formation

In September 9, 2009, Warner Bros. announced that DC Comics would become a subsidiary of DC Entertainment, Inc., with Diane Nelson, President of Warner Premiere, becoming president of the newly formed holding company and DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz moving to the position of Contributing Editor and Overall Consultant there. Warner Bros. and DC Comics have been owned by the same company since. On February 18, 2010, DC Entertainment named

Jim Lee Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a Harvey ...

and

Dan DiDio Dan DiDio (; born October 13, 1959) is an American writer, editor, and publisher who has worked in the television and comic book industries. From February 2010 until February 2020, he was the co-publisher of DC Comics, along with Jim Lee. '' Wizar ...

as Co-Publishers of DC Comics, Geoff Johns as Chief Creative Officer, John Rood as EVP (Executive Vice President) of Sales, Marketing and Business Development, and Patrick Caldon as EVP of Finance and Administration.

Property Expansion

In October 2013, DC Entertainment announced that the DC Comics offices were going to move in 2015 from New York City to the headquarters of Warner Bros. in Burbank, California. The other units, animation, film, television and portfolio planning, had preceded DC Comics by moving there in 2010. DC Entertainment announced its first franchise, the

DC Super Hero Girls ''DC Super Hero Girls'' or ''DC Superhero Girls'' (in various countries) is an American superhero web series and franchise Produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network based on characters from DC Entertainment that launched in the th ...

universe, in April 2015 with multi-platform content, toys and apparel to start appearing in 2016. Warner Bros. Pictures reorganized in May 2016 to have genre-responsible film executives, thus DC Entertainment franchise films under Warner Bros. were placed under a newly created division, DC Films, created under Warner Bros. executive vice president

Jon Berg The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films and television series produced by DC Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on characters that a ...

and DC chief content officer Geoff Johns. This was done in the same vein as Marvel Studios in unifying DC-related filmmaking under a single vision and clarifying the greenlighting process. Johns also kept his existing role at DC Comics. Johns was promoted to DC president and CCO with the addition of his DC Films while still reporting to DCE President Nelson. In August 2016, Amit Desai was promoted from senior vice president, marketing & global franchise management to exec vice president, business and marketing strategy, direct-to-consumer and global franchise management.

Digital distribution

DC Comics are available in digital form through several sources. Free services: In 2015, Hoopla Digital became the first library-based digital system to distribute DC Comics. In April 2017, DC announced an upcoming streaming service with Warner Bros. Digital Networks, which was to feature original live-action and animated series based on DC characters and franchises, such as '' Titans'' and '' Young Justice: Outsiders''. The service, later announced as

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green L ...

, would launch in September 2018, and also feature access to classic DC television series and digital comics. With frustration over DC Films not matching Marvel Studios' results and Berg wanting to step back to being a producer in January 2018, it was announced that Warner Bros. executive

Walter Hamada Walter Hamada is an American film executive and producer. He joined New Line Cinema in 2007, where he served as an executive producer on horror films such as ''The Conjuring'' (2013), '' Annabelle'' (2014), ''The Conjuring 2'' (2016), '' Lights ...

was appointed president of DC film production. After a leave of absence starting in March 2018, Diane Nelson resigned as president of DC Entertainment. The company's executive management were to report to WB Chief Digital Officer Thomas Gewecke until a new president was selected.

DC Entertainment, LLC

In June 2018, Johns was also moved out of his position as chief creative officer and DC Entertainment president for a writing and producing deal with the DC and WB companies. Jim Lee added DC Entertainment chief creative officer title to his DC co-publisher post. In September 2018, DC became part of the newly-founded Warner Bros. Global Brands and Franchises division overseen by President Pam Lifford. Paid services were Google Play and ComiXology. In January 2019 it was reported that 7 of the DC's 240 person workforce were laid off, including several vice presidents. In August 2020, DC publisher Jim Lee announced that all video content from DC Universe would migrate to

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Ne ...

, with the majority of the staff of DC Universe having been laid off. In September 2020, it was announced that DC Universe's original programming and future productions would be folded into WarnerMedia's new streaming service

. In January 2021, the remainder of the service would become a comics-centric service known as

DC Universe Infinite DC Universe Infinite is an online service by DC Comics that launched on January 21, 2021 and primarily distributes past issues of DC-published comic books over the internet. It is a relaunch of the former DC Universe streaming service, after its ...

. The service would feature DC titles six months after their retail release date (comparable to Marvel Unlimited), early access to DC Comics' digital-first titles, exclusive comics created for the service, and access to 24,000 titles in DC's back catalog.

Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiary

On April 14, 2022, after the merger of parent company WarnerMedia with Discovery Inc., it was reported that the company was exploring a restructuring of DC Entertainment into a "solidified content vertical" more akin to Marvel, with its film, television, and video game development brought directly under DC with a central leader, rather than being handled by other Warner Bros. subsidiaries on its behalf. As part of the reconstruction, the DC Comics website was relaunched under the "DC.com" URL (note: no longer "DC COMICS"). The update featured more digital experiences, such as weekly video content, allowing fans access to DC Universe Infinite through the same user profile.

Units

Active

* MAD *

DC Black Label DC, D.C., D/C, Dc, or dc may refer to: Places * Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia), the capital and the federal territory of the United States * Bogotá, Distrito Capital, the capital city of Colombia * Dubai City, as distinct from t ...

** DC's Young Animal **

WildStorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wild ...

** Sandman Universe ** Hill House Comics ** Wonder Comics ** DC Graphic Novels for Kids ** DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults **

Defunct

* DC Universe (SVOD) - shut down with catalog absorbed into HBO Max; spun off into

Executives

Presidents

* Diane Nelson (September 9, 2009 – June 6, 2018) * Geoff Johns (2016–2018) * Anne Leung DePies,

Senior Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

(2022–present)

Others

* Geoff Johns, Chief Creative Officer, DC Comics (2010–2018) *

, Chief Creative Officer, DC Comics (June 2018–present) * Amit Desai, Executive Vice President (2016–2019)

Productions

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control American companies established in 2009 2009 establishments in California Companies based in Burbank, California Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in 2009 Mass media companies established in 2009 Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiaries