#i could prob edit this a lil more but gOES AHEAD AND POSTS IT NOW IN CASE IT GETS JOSSED TOMORROW LMAO

[inkdemonapologist]

JDS Bankruptcy Thoughts????

Okay so the latest news article has got me thinking about JDS’s bankruptcy, now that we actually have a year. I was checking the bankruptcy notice in Joey’s apartment to see if this lined up with information we already knew, and Boo pointed out something far more interesting: Joey filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

(source)

So, I checked with an accountant friend who was happy to dissect my silly fandom things and explain business terminology to me, and the first thing to get out of the way is that Chapter 11 wasn’t an option for corporations until 1978. But, you know, this is BatIM, where we have tape recorders in 1929, so maybe this just happened 30-some-odd years early in the BatIM timeline. (or maybe Joey’s apartment isn’t real and none of the letters in it can be trusted. That’s also possible). (or maybe this was just a mistake and will be quietly dropped from the lore without explanation THATS ALSO FINE)

But if we assume this did in fact happen, then this is interesting: Chapter 11 lets a corporation stay in business despite their outstanding debts, as long as they have a plan in place to pay them off. Accountant friend described it as “reorganisation” and “essentially, asking for more time.” When Boo had looked it up, he found big companies doing things like liquidating many many stores in order to focus on supporting a smaller number of stores that they felt could remain sustainable and keep making money. So you’ll get headlines about COMPANY BANKRUPT, CLOSING 400 STORES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, but they’re not fully shutting down.

We don’t know if BatDR and BatIM will have consistent lore between them, bUT IF SO, then the 1948 newspaper article announcing the the animation studio is CLOSING ITS DOORS FOREVER doesn’t seem to match the kind of bankruptcy that Joey Drew supposedly filed for. How would he keep the company going if he’s getting rid of everything?

When @inkyvendingmachine and I were trying to make sense of this, he offered one possible explanation: WHAT IF… THERE ARE TWO STUDIOS.

We’ve already been given two conflicting studio locations – TIOL in 1942 describes a studio in the Meatpacking District, which Joey could be lying about I guess, but there’s no reason we can see for him to lie about that – especially when it’s not exactly a normal or glamorous place for an animation studio to be – versus Buddy’s description of Joey Drew Studios being on Broadway in 1946, with Joey purchasing a theatre next door and promising to bring toy merchandising in-house by the end of DCTL. The 1948 news article specifies it is the Broadway location and the company’s land in New Jersey (likely intended for Bendyland) that are being liquidated to pay off debts – so what if the Meatpacking District location still exists?

iirc Halfusek brought up the concept of two studios WAY BACK WHEN we first got this info from TIOL – the idea that there could be a reason Joey specifies “the Old Workshop,” the place Henry used to work, as opposed to the newer fancier place that he’s having to abruptly sell in 1948. By promising to downscale his ambitiously expensive projects and go back to doing what JDS does best, Joey might be able to make a case that JDS could bounce back… which DOES seem in-character. And he’s moved the machine before – just stash it in the Meatpacking District location now, and nobody’ll be the wiser.

This… probably didn’t work out for him. There’s hints in the 1948 article that Joey might have gone missing (which I’m sure (???) we’ll get more information on soon), so that would sort of get in the way of a bankruptcy hearing if he didn't turn up again before the deadline (abandoning the business is a whole OTHER legal thing). And the August 15th notice above is not actually the bankruptcy going through, just the first step, where JDS is found to qualify for Chapter 11 and the plan to pay back debts has been approved – as far as my accountant friend could tell, it still needs to be approved by the company’s creditors, and there would be more hearings after this. So… we don’t know that the bankruptcy actually went through just because Joey filed it, and if he were found falsifying information about the company’s finances (something im sure joey would NEVER do) or trying to stuff company funds or assets in his own pocket (again, something TRULY unthinkable for mr drew [meaningful glance at the ink machine in joey’s apartment]) then that could also be an explanation for why Joey does NOT seem well off in 1963, if he ended up without bankruptcy protection and was found personally liable for the some of the company’s debts.

Anyway, we don’t know enough to know anything for sure, and this might all get jossed with the next press archive release, but I found Boo’s idea such an iNTERESTING THOUGHT that I'm sticking it up here anyway lmao WE'LL SEE HOW LONG IT LASTS!! in the meantime def interested to know about alternate takes on the BANKRUPTCY SITUATION if anything stands out to anyone else 👀

#batdr #batdr spoilers #we all write on the walls #joey drew #batim #bendy and the ink machine #i could prob edit this a lil more but gOES AHEAD AND POSTS IT NOW IN CASE IT GETS JOSSED TOMORROW LMAO #i think its reasonable to not deeply research bankruptcy for a fun horror videogame but i AM going to sit here thinkin way too hard abt it