Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
, active from 1969
[Lee Rich Interview: ''Archive of American Television''. Retrieved on November 24, 2010.](_blank)
/ref> until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Television (which is currently known as Warner Bros. Television Studios
Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
). It was founded by Irwin Molasky
Irwin Molasky (February 22, 1927 – July 4, 2020) was an American real estate developer and philanthropist from Las Vegas, Nevada. He was the Chairman of The Molasky Group of Companies.
Early life
Irwin Molasky was born to a Jewish family on Fe ...
, Merv Adelson
Mervyn Lee Adelson (October 23, 1929 – September 8, 2015) was an American real estate developer and television producer who co-founded Lorimar Television.
Early life
Adelson was born to a Jewish family in Los Angeles on October 23, 1929 to Na ...
, and Lee Rich
Lee Rich (December 19, 1918 – May 24, 2012) was an American film and television producer, who won the 1973 Outstanding Drama Series Emmy award for ''The Waltons'' as the producer. He is also known as the co-founder and former chairman of ...
. The company's name was a portmanteau of Adelson's then wife, ''Lori'', and then MAR for Molasky, Adelson, and Rich.
The firm "expanded from television and movies into advertising" in the 1980s.
History
Early years and merger with Telepictures (1969–1986)
In the late 1960s, after a bank loan of $185,000 that Merv Adelson planned to furnish Lee Rich with, Lorimar Productions was founded. Prior to Lorimar, Rich had an established reputation; first as an advertising executive at Benton & Bowles
Benton & Bowles (B&B) was a New York-based advertising agency founded by William Benton and Chester Bowles in 1929. One of the oldest agencies in the United States, and frequently one of the 10 largest, it merged with D'Arcy-MacManus Masius in ...
, then as a television producer, co-producing (with Walter Mirisch
Walter Mortimer Mirisch (born November 8, 1921) is an American film producer. He is president and executive head of production of The Mirisch Corporation, an independent film production company, which he formed in 1957 with his brother Marvin ...
) successful series such as ''The Rat Patrol
''The Rat Patrol'' is an American action and adventure television series that aired on ABC between 1966 and 1968. The show follows the exploits of four Allied soldiers — three Americans and one British — who are part of a long-range desert p ...
''.
Lorimar initially produced made-for-television movies for the ''ABC Movie of the Week
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
''. Rich bought the script to an adaptation of Earl Hamner Jr.
Earl Henry Hamner Jr. (July 10, 1923 – March 24, 2016) was an American television writer and producer (sometimes credited as Earl Hamner), best known for his work in the 1970s and 1980s as the creator of two long-running series, ''The Waltons' ...
's novel ''The Homecoming'' and subsequently sold the rights to CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
. ''The Homecoming: A Christmas Story'', airing during the 1971 holiday season, was a ratings success, and served as the pilot for Lorimar's first major hit, ''The Waltons
''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. It was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on his 1961 book ''Spencer's Mountain'' and the 1963 film ...
'', which premiered in 1972. Throughout the 1970s, Lorimar produced a number of hit shows, including ''Eight Is Enough
''Eight Is Enough'' is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who ...
''; of these, the most popular by far was ''Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
''.
In 1976, Lorimar had to enter the syndication business. It also operated such subsidiaries such as Lorimar Television, Lorimar Pictures, Lorimar Syndication, and Lorimar Distribution International during the time. On March 3, 1978, Robert B. Morin became executive vice president of the Lorimar Syndication unit. Later that year, CBS vice president Edward O. Denault was named vice president of that production unit. It was served for the next nine years, until 1987. In 1980, Lorimar purchased the Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
library.
In the 1984–1985 season, three of the top 10 shows in the United States were produced by Lorimar; ''Dallas'', ''Knots Landing
''Knots Landing'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially centered on the lives of ...
'', and ''Falcon Crest
''Falcon Crest'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17, 1990. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the California ...
''. In the mid-1980s, Lorimar's output swung toward family-friendly sitcoms; among these were ''The Hogan Family
''The Hogan Family'' (originally titled ''Valerie'' and later ''Valerie's Family'') is an American sitcom television series that began airing on NBC on March 1, 1986, and finished its run on CBS on July 20, 1991, for a total of six seasons. It ...
'' (initially titled ''Valerie''), '' Perfect Strangers'', and ''Full House
''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his three dau ...
'', which were produced by Miller-Boyett Productions
Miller-Boyett Productions (or simply Miller-Boyett) is an American television production company that mainly developed television sitcoms from the 1970s through the 1990s. It was responsible for family-oriented hit series such as ''Happy Days'', ...
. In 1985, it entered into a partnership with Producers Sales Organization
Producers Sales Organization (PSO; also known as PSO Productions, Inc.) was an independent motion picture production and sales company founded in 1977. Initiated by Mark Damon, an actor-turned-producer, PSO mostly handled foreign sales of independ ...
, handling worldwide sales, and 20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
, which would handle North American distribution rights to many of its theatrical films. On June 6, 1985, Lorimar decided to expand into first-run syndication, and wanted to pick up eight series, with the acquisition of syndicated rights to the CBS game show ''Press Your Luck
''Press Your Luck'' is an American television game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. It premiered on CBS daytime on September 19, 1983, and ended on September 26, 1986. The format is a retooling of an earlier Carruthers productio ...
''.
In October 1985, Lorimar, in an attempt to expand into first-run syndication, announced it would merge with television syndication
Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...
firm Telepictures
Telepictures (also known as Telepictures Productions; formerly known as Telepictures Distribution and Telepictures Corporation) is an American television show and filmmaking company, currently operating as a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Television S ...
, becoming Lorimar-Telepictures
Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation was an entertainment company established in 1985 with the merger of Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Telepictures Corporation. Headquartered at the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (now Sony Pictures Studios) ...
. That same year Lorimar announced their intention to buy a 15% share in the then-financially troubled Warner Communications
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 ...
. On February 19, 1986, the Lorimar-Telepictures merger was completed and the company started trading on the New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
as "LT." In 1986 they purchased the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
studio lot in Culver City, as well as the Metrocolor
Metrocolor is the trade name used by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for films processed at their laboratory. Virtually all of these films were shot on Kodak's Eastmancolor film.
Although MGM used Kodak film products, MGM did not use all of Kodak's proc ...
laboratory from Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, cable news ch ...
. L-T turned around and sold off the Metrocolor
Metrocolor is the trade name used by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for films processed at their laboratory. Virtually all of these films were shot on Kodak's Eastmancolor film.
Although MGM used Kodak film products, MGM did not use all of Kodak's proc ...
facility to Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
for $60 million. Around that same year, Rich left the company and moved to MGM. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' followed the financial fortunes of Lorimar Telepictures''.''
Purchase by Warner Communications and merger with Warner Bros. Television (1987–1993)
In 1987, Lorimar-Telepictures's production arm became Lorimar Television, and, the L-T distribution business was rebranded as Lorimar Syndication. Also that same year, it is reported that R. Robert Rosenbaum was named vice president of production at the Lorimar Television unit. This was part of a strategy on January 19, 1987, in which the parent company Lorimar-Telepictures had used Lorimar as a operating name for its units. That year, Lorimar Television attempted to do a television version of the popular TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
magazine, in order to have a revenue of larger market affiliates that tried to buy its proposed access strip for 1988–1989, and the station could earn $58,000 in its first year of stripping, but the show was never materialized.
On January 11, 1989, Lorimar was purchased by Warner Communications
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 ...
, which the following year merged with Time Inc.
Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...
to form Time Warner
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 ...
. Lorimar's distribution business was folded into Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
and became Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution; since then, the Telepictures
Telepictures (also known as Telepictures Productions; formerly known as Telepictures Distribution and Telepictures Corporation) is an American television show and filmmaking company, currently operating as a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Television S ...
name has been resurrected as both a production company (circa 1990), and once again as a syndication company (1996, after the Turner merger).
The former MGM studio lot was sold to Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
to house Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
, TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...
, and Sony's other operations towards the end of 1989 with the facilities renamed as Columbia Studios (now Sony Pictures Studios
The Sony Pictures Studios is an American television and film studio complex located in Culver City, California at 10202 West Washington Boulevard and bounded by Culver Boulevard (south), Washington Boulevard (north), Overland Avenue (west) and ...
) at the beginning of 1990. Lorimar continued as a production company until September 1993, when it was eventually folded into Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
, for "economic issues" as a result of declining syndication sales. In 1990, David Salzman left Lorimar to start Millennium Productions to cover affiliated production houses like Lorimar and Telepictures. In 1991, after Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...
shut down its television unit, before its eventual Chapter 11
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
bankruptcy protection, Gary Nardino moved to Lorimar, taking its current Orion-produced shows with them, and also took talent deals ( Thomas Carter, Robert Townsend, Paul Stojanovich, Clifton Campbell and Deborah Joy LeVine
Deborah Joy LeVine is an American television writer and producer who wrote the TV series, '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', which ran from 1993 to 1997.
Filmography
* ''Murder: By Reason of Insanity'' (associate producer) (1985 ...
) with them. In 1992, Barbara Corday
Barbara Corday (born October 15, 1944) is an American television executive, writer and producer known for co-creating the television series ''Cagney & Lacey''.
Early life and education
Corday was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York Ci ...
, former CBS executive has struck a deal with the studio.
The last series to premiere under the Lorimar name was ''Time Trax
''Time Trax'' is a science fiction television series that first aired in 1993. A police officer, sent two centuries into the past to a parallel Universe, must apprehend and return convicted criminals who have escaped prison in the future. This ...
'', as part of the Prime Time Entertainment Network
The Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN) was an American television network that was operated by the Prime Time Consortium, a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Domestic Television subsidiary of Time Warner and Chris-Craft Industries. Fi ...
programming block. Several shows slated to be Lorimar productions, such as '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', ''Living Single
''Living Single'' is an American television sitcom created by Yvette Lee Bowser that aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 22, 1993, to January 1, 1998. The show centered on the lives of six friends who shared personal and professi ...
'', '' It Had to Be You'', ''Café Americain
''Café Americain'' is an American television sitcom starring Valerie Bertinelli that aired on NBC from September 18, 1993, to February 8, 1994, with two leftover episodes shown on May 28, 1994. It was filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, ...
'', '' The Trouble with Larry'' and '' Family Album'' ended up being produced by Warner Bros.
Les Moonves
Leslie Roy Moonves (; born October 6, 1949) is an American media executive who was the chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation from 2003 until his resignation in September 2018 following numerous allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault and ...
, who would later become the chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation
The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and t ...
, was the president and CEO of Lorimar Television from 1990 to 1993. Moonves then became the chairman of Warner Bros. Television after the merger with Lorimar.
Key components Lorimar owned
Additionally, Lorimar owned key components of the film library of the defunct Allied Artists film studio (originally Monogram Pictures),[ which includes '']Cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
'' and '' Papillon''; these, too, are now owned by Warner. After the merger with Telepictures, they also took possession of the Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment
Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usual ...
animation house, along with the post-1973 library of that company, including its entry into the 1980s animation market, '' ThunderCats'', which ran until 1989; a Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 1 ...
-produced revival show aired on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
for one season in 2011.
Other ventures
Theatrical films
Lorimar was not restricted to producing television programs; they also sporadically produced theatrical motion pictures, most of which were originally distributed by other studios. Lorimar's entrance into feature films was predominantly sanctioned by Adelson; Rich was vehemently against it. This asset was among the many factors that led to Rich's exit from the studio in 1986.
In late 1984, they had a film production unit known as Lorimar Motion Pictures (or, sometimes, as Lorimar Pictures). That year, on August 28, 1985, Sidney Lumet
Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. He was nominated five times for the Academy Award: four for Best Director for ''12 Angry Men'' (1957), ''Dog Day Afternoon'' (1975), ''Network'' (1976), ...
had signed a director-producer pact with Lorimar Motion Pictures to develop feature films. In 1986, Lorimar Film Partners was climbed to $26.9 million and decided to have five more pictures to put into the development and production hopper, and all Lorimar films would be exclusively to the partnership via Lorimar Motion Picture Management. On May 21, 1986, Lorimar Motion Pictures had signed participation agreements with a joint venture of 20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
and The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
called U.K. Film Distributors in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
's UGC and German's Neue Constantin Film
The Constantin Film AG is a German mini-major film production and distribution company based in Munich. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of pr ...
to handle international sales of Lorimar's films, along with Toho-Towa
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer a ...
in Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
in order to gave Lorimar the leading territory distributor.
In January 1987, the film unit was renamed Lorimar Film Entertainment to coincide with its newly formed in-house distribution unit. Lorimar previously had a distribution agreement with 20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
for two years between 1985 and 1987, before starting its own distribution unit. That year, New Century/Vista Film Co., a joint venture of The Vista Organization and New Century Entertainment, is starting to be represented by Lorimar themselves for international distribution, particularly overseas sales of the joint venture's films.
That year, in February 1987, it inked a distribution agreement with Greenfox Productions to handle worldwide distribution theatrically and all other media on the horror film sequel ''Return of the Living Dead Part II
''Return of the Living Dead Part II'' is a 1988 American comedy horror film written and directed by Ken Wiederhorn, and starring Michael Kenworthy, Marsha Dietlein, Dana Ashbrook, Thom Mathews, James Karen, and Phil Bruns. It is the first of ...
'', which was rolled on a $6 million budget in royalties handled by the production company. In May 1987, Craig Bamgaurten, who has been with Lorimar Motion Pictures since 1984, announced that he would resign his post as president in December, and Peter Chernin
Peter Chernin (born May 29, 1951) is an American businessman and investor. He is the chairman and CEO of TCG (company), The Chernin Group (TCG), which he founded in 2010. TCG manages, operates and invests in businesses in the media, entertainment, ...
took over as president of the umbrella arm Lorimar Film Entertainment. That year, in late May 1987 Lorimar and Vista Organization decided to extend the pictures from the original seven count to ten, including the three pictures stated by Vista, ''Rented Lips
''Rented Lips'' is a 1988 satire comedy film directed by Robert Downey Sr., and starring his son Robert Downey Jr., as well as Martin Mull, Dick Shawn, and Jennifer Tilly. It was the final film appearance of Shawn, who died in 1987.
Plot
Archi ...
'', ''Pass the Ammo
''Pass the Ammo'' is a 1987 American comedy film starring Bill Paxton, Annie Potts, Linda Kozlowski and Tim Curry. The film is a spoof of televangelism released right after the real-life scandals related to Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. The movi ...
'' and '' Fright Night Part II'', were disclosed by the staff of both Vista and Lorimar International representatives.
In 1988, Lorimar made a distribution deal with Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
Under Warner, Lorimar continued to make theatrical films until 1990. The theatrical film library of Lorimar was folded into Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
.
Warner Bros. now owns most of Lorimar's catalogue, though a few films remained with their original distributors.
Home video
In 1984, Lorimar purchased Karl Video Corporation (KVC), also known as Karl Home Video, which was named after its founder, Stuart Karl (1953–1991). KVC, which was best known for producing the bestselling Jane Fonda
Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, sev ...
; Jane Fonda's Workout
''Jane Fonda's Workout'', also known as ''Workout Starring Jane Fonda'', is a 1982 exercise video by actress Jane Fonda, based on an exercise routine developed by Leni Cazden and refined by Cazden and Fonda at Workout, their exercise studio in ...
, was renamed Karl-Lorimar Home Video after the acquisition. In 1985, Karl-Lorimar inked a deal to distribute movie titles by Lorimar Motion Pictures and had to release 6 to 12 theatrical feature films a year.
The company was expanded by 1986, when Karl-Lorimar was allowed to distribute titles by VCL Communications, in order that Karl-Lorimar would have 12-16 VCL titles a year, and received an agreement with De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) was an entertainment production company and distribution studio founded by Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis. The company is notable for producing '' Manhunter'', '' Blue Velvet'', the horror films ''Ne ...
to distribute the film's catalog on video cassette, and had the establishment of an international video label that was operated as a subsidiary of Karl-Lorimar, Lorimar Home Video, with a deal that enabled the titles to be released on home video in the UK by Guild Home Video
Guild Home Video (GHV) or Guild Film Distribution was one of the first video distribution companies to start operating in the UK. Unlike other independent labels such as Intervision or Videoform, GHV not only survived for a very long time, but c ...
.
On April 23, 1986, Karl-Lorimar Home Video had entered into the direct-to-video film foray when it entered into an agreement with L/A House Productions for eight $400,000 romance novel motion pictures, and call for Karl/Lorimar to release the first four this fall, with $11.95 each. On July 16, 1986, Karl-Lorimar Home Video had inked an agreement with The Video Collection in order to distribute children's, family and special interest programs for the British market, and would also release Scholastic-Lorimar Home Video releases for the whole entire British market.
On August 27, 1986, Karl-Lorimar Home Video received $5 million in order to launch a new broadcasting-style home video branding "KLV-TV", which the slogan was "Your Personal Network", and decided that Karl-Lorimar's home video titles decided to escape the "least-objectionable-programming" standard that supposedly rules broadcast television
Broadcast television systems (or terrestrial television systems outside the US and Canada) are the encoding or formatting systems for the transmission and reception of terrestrial television signals.
Analog television systems were standardized b ...
, and a similar situation that was arising in the home video business when consumers can rarely rent the title they go to the store and pick up. The KLV-TV program would include the creation of retail outlet affiliates who will carry Karl/Lorimar product in a special section, display the KLV-TV emblem in front of the store and will benefit from an "aggressive" cooperation ad fund. Karl/Lorimar is planning national or regional affiliate meetings on a regular basis, and have plans for KLV-TV to overshadow the Karl/Lorimar name on the consumer label, but it was failed.
Meanwhile, on October 15, 1986, Lorimar Home Video, the international branch of Karl/Lorimar Home Video, a division of Lorimar/Telepictures offered at MIPCOM
MIPCOM (Marché International des Programmes de Communication, English: International Market of Communications Programmes) is an annual trade show held in the French town of Cannes, traditionally in the month of October and running for 4 days. It ...
to Karl/Lorimar's alternative programming strategy as the company's prime offering, with overseas tie-ins. Lorimar Home Video's marketing plan is not looking for licensees, but rather joint venture partners, and Jeffrey Schlessinger, who was Lorimar's executive said that the current rental-to-sell-through ratio overseas won't make the startup essay, but adds that Lorimar Home Video is out to "create a new market".
The ''Shades of Love'' direct-to-video romance series has grown into $1 million video only productions that Karl/Lorimar had set the first four by March 1987, and the other four for September 1987, and had the input of Canadian video distributor Astral Film Enterprises, which handled television distribution of the direct-to-video series for the entire Canadian market, and Karl-Lorimar would have a six-month window in the United States, and tie-ins for the cassettes included novelizations of the movies from Cloverdale Press.
On December 3, 1986, Karl/Lorimar decided to co-produce a new series for home video and television markets, ''Jazzvisions'', which would feature jazz concerts from Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...
, Antonio Carlos Jobim
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...
, John Scofield
John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in the ...
, George Duke
George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...
, Tito Puente
Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz c ...
and Etta James
Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...
, and culminate in a rare performance from a big-band jazz transcription of ''Porgy and Bess
''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', itse ...
'', which would be held at the Wiltern Theater
The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad in a ...
in Los Angeles, and the home video company in cooperation with music producer Jack Lewis.
In March 1987, Karl/Lorimar Home Video, shortly before Karl resigned, received a seven-picture agreement from international film distributor Cinecom Entertainment Group, to handle video rights to its feature films from 1987/1988, which would gave the video company a "distribution-fee agreement" that also included a substitutional upfront advance, and put Karl/Lorimar onto the $12–14 million range, and it included '' Lighthorsemen'', '' Deceivers'', ''Gris/Gris'', ''Farm of the Year'', ''Maurice Maurice may refer to:
People
* Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr
* Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
*Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
'', ''Sammy and Rosie Get Laid
''Sammy and Rosie Get Laid'' is a 1987 British film directed by Stephen Frears, with a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi.
Plot
Sammy and Rosie are a married couple, both leading a promiscuous bohemian lifestyle until Sammy's father comes to visit to ...
'' and ''Swimming to Cambodia
''Swimming to Cambodia'', also known as ''Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia'', is a 1987 American concert film written by and starring Spalding Gray, and directed by Jonathan Demme. The performance film is of Gray's play and monologue, which c ...
'', and the unusual, trend-setting deal differs from conventional vid licensing agreements and the popular distribution agreements in that Cinecom will get both a large advantage and a large percentage of vid avenue.
Relationships between Lorimar and Karl grew sour, which forced Karl to resign in March 1987, of which he violated the parent's code of ethics, and forced Karl to be barred from starting a competing company, of which he said it was continued until 1989 for the length of the contract. Karl-Lorimar continued to exist under the name Lorimar Home Video until it closed sometime later. In June 1987, Jerry Gottlieb was named CEO of the Lorimar Home Video division, which would give up his corporate responsibilities as senior VP of its parent company, after Stuart Karl left because he was disclosed that an outside company that the execs handled certain marketing chores unbeknown to the past, and decided to continue making how-to home video programming at the studio, and decided to use the quotas for the typical home video distribution format, and gave them push for the parent company's theatrical pictures. Lorimar Home Video closed in 1988 and was folded into Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
In Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, Lorimar joined a venture with Village Roadshow
Village Roadshow Limited is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Ex ...
to create Roadshow Lorimar Home Video, which distributed movie titles by Lorimar Motion Pictures in that country.
Television stations
Record label
In 1979, Lorimar formed Lorimar Records whose first release was the soundtrack to the film ''The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
''The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh'' is a 1979 American sports/fantasy comedy film directed by Gilbert Moses and coproduced by David Dashev and Gary Stromberg. It was produced by Lorimar and distributed by United Artists.
The film was shot on loc ...
''. The label would have very few artists signed to it. It was mainly distributed by Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
, but it was also distributed for one album from The Coyote Sisters by Motown
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
via the Morocco subsidiary. Lorimar Records' final release was the soundtrack to '' Action Jackson'' (1988) which in that case was distributed by Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
.
Sports broadcasting
Filmography
TV productions
Lorimar's TV productions included:
Theatrical feature films
Most of Lorimar's film and television library, with several exceptions, is now owned by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
Several of Lorimar's films are still owned by their original distributors or third parties, which are marked with an asterisk (*).
Advertising agency investments
Kenyon & Eckhardt
Lorimar acquired ''Kenyon & Eckhardt
Kenyon & Eckhardt was an independent advertising agency that was acquired by Lorimar
Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of ...
'', an advertising agency, in 1983.
Bozell
Lorimar acquired Bozell Jacobs in 1985, and merged it with ''Kenyon'' to form Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt. The firm renamed to Bozell Worldwide in 1992.
References
{{Commons category, Lorimar Television
Warner Bros.
Defunct film and television production companies of the United States
Entertainment companies based in California
Companies based in Los Angeles County, California
Mass media companies established in 1969
1989 mergers and acquisitions
Mass media companies disestablished in 1993
1969 establishments in California
1993 disestablishments in California
Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles