Warner Bros. studio boss Dan Dark's pride at role in Watford community

Dan Dark, who made Leavesden the home of Harry Potter, has been working in Los Angeles since January 2020 after being appointed as executive vice president of worldwide studio operations for Warner Bros.

Dan has been back in the UK and we sat down at Leavesden studios last week to reflect on his move and the challenges of continuing to produce films in a pandemic, but much of our conversation centred around his pride at how his colleagues are continuing to build on the foundations established with the community in and around Watford.

“Reconnecting back with the community is so great and important,” he said. “One of the things I’m really proud about is even though I’m on the other side of the pond the team have absolutely picked up the mantle and continued to drive forward the values of being a really important member of the community.

“We use this phrase a lot and it’s been repeated to me, the work that we do in the community is very much part of our DNA and it threads its way through all of Warner Bros. Leavesden. I know it’s been challenging for the team throughout the pandemic, but we are continuing to support all the charities, events and organisations that we have done in the past.

“We haven’t held back and, in fact, I’ve been talking to the team about how we can enhance, improve and expand our involvement and also share some of the great stories that are out there. It’s really encouraging and exciting to see.”

Warner Bros. Leavesden’s community involvement ranges from financial support to using their various consultants – whether it’s architectural, planning or another service – to help others.

Dan was one of the founders of the Chamber of Conscience, set up to give charities the opportunity to connect with local business for their mutual benefit, while the company supports organisations including Watford Mencap, The Collett School, Watford Workshop and Small Acts of Kindness.

It has also played its part in the community effort during the pandemic, for example repurposing the buses normally used for taking visitors to and from The Making of Harry Potter studio tour to transport staff between the hospital sites during the first lockdown.

Dan Dark is proud of his links with the community and how his colleagues at Leavesden are continuing to develop them

Dan Dark started his movie career in production but moved into special effects where he was part of the team that won an Oscar for its work on James Cameron’s Alien.

He oversaw the construction and management of a 30-acre site in Spain in 1992, developing and operating a new television studio facility.

Dan was approached two years later by Eon Productions to develop Leavesden Aerodrome into a studio for the production of Goldeneye. He continued to run the site as a film studio which became home to all eight Harry Potter films.

In 2011 Dan was appointed managing director when Warner Bros. purchased the site and invested more than £150 million to transform it into a studio complex which has since attracting film makers of the calibre of Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and Tom Cruise.

Dan was honoured with an OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for services to the UK film industry, but on January 4, 2020 he moved to Los Angeles to begin his new role in which he has oversight all of Warner Bros. studio facilities worldwide – 37 stages in Burbank and 20 in Leavesden.

“It’s been an interesting move,” he said. “I miss home and I miss the relationships that we’ve built up here over the years, but it is a wonderful opportunity.

“Of course I wasn’t expecting the world would change as dramatically as it did. That said, I’m incredibly proud of our team here and in LA. We shut down for three months but as soon as we were able to reopen safely we did.”

An aerial view of Warner Bros. Leavesden

Around 4,000 people are employed at Leavesden alone and Dan continued: “Our testing protocols, our access protocols, everything was at a very high standard that was vetted by medical experts as well, both here and in the US.

“We managed to keep very large productions going forward and continued to employ those big numbers of people which I think was really important when there were so many areas that were really struggling.

“I’m always proud of the film and television industry and its ability to adapt to whatever the environment happens to be and that’s exactly what the team did. They adapted, they overcame and continued to operate but operate in a very safe environment.”

Productions were faced with a host of challenges during the pandemic, for example not having the usual freedom to go and film on location.

“Obviously as soon as you move outside of your bubble you’re entering into a new environment that you need to sanitise,” Dan said. “Productions had to take a long hard look at ‘do we really have to go on that location? Is there another way of being able to do this?’

“What that meant was it put a greater level of pressure on the studio. Whereas productions would go off for maybe six or eight weeks on location and there would be another production at the studios at the same time filming, it meant that everything was contained in a relatively short period of time.

“I have to say the team here did, and continue to do an amazing job at managing the amount that has been going on. It really has been quite an achievement.”

A film set on the exterior backlot

The events of the past year have given us all an opportunity to reflect and maybe change how we do certain things. Asked what he had learnt about himself during the pandemic, Dan said: “I’ve learnt that I really enjoy people’s company,” before he smiled: “I’ve learnt that I miss a pint of Guinness in the pub – I haven’t been able to find a decent pint of Guinness in LA yet.

“I’ve learnt that sitting in front of a video screen for 10, 12 hours a day isn’t very healthy. I’ve learnt the importance of personal time and really taking care of oneself.

"I’ve probably learnt to listen more, because one of the advantages of being on video screens is that you can’t really interrupt along the way and it’s given a lot of people the opportunity to share more thoughts, so I think that’s been good.

"And I know where home is. It’s definitely back here but there are really exciting days ahead and I’m really excited about the future for Leavesden, I’m really excited for the future of Warner Bros. as a whole.”

Dan Dark was back at Warner Bros. Leavesden on a visit from America

Dan is hoping to return to the UK every couple of months when quarantining is no longer required “for about a week, ideally with a weekend at either end because family and friends are here, our kids are here, so it’s important we can connect back.

“When I say friends, the people I work with here at Leavesden I count as friends, the community I strongly feel a part of are friends, whether that’s the charities, the schools, I consider them as friends. I miss those interactions and I’m really looking forward to when I can travel more often to coming back. A few charity dinners wouldn’t go amiss.”