The Donners' Company (formerly Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions) is the film production company of director

Richard Donner Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg; April 24, 1930 – July 5, 2021) was an American filmmaker whose notable works included some of the most financially-successful films during the New Hollywood era. According to film historian M ...

and producer

Lauren Shuler Donner Lauren Diane Shuler Donner (born June 23, 1949) is an American film producer, who specializes in mainstream youth and family-oriented entertainment. She owned The Donners' Company with her late husband, director Richard Donner. Her films have g ...

, founded in 1986. It is notable for the ''

Free Willy ''Free Willy'' is a 1993 American family drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by Walker and distributed by Warner Bros. Picture ...

'' and ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

'' films.

History

Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions

In 1986, film producer

announced that she would end her production deal with The Walt Disney Studios. She announced that she would merge 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 ...

-based Richard Donner Productions, to create Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions, to be operating on the Warner Bros. lot in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

. The first film released under the name was ''

Radio Flyer Radio Flyer is an American toy company best known for their popular red toy wagon. Radio Flyer also produces scooters, tricycles, bicycles, horses, and ride-ons. The company was founded in 1917 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. History Antoni ...

'', which was directed by Richard Donner, produced by Lauren, and it was released by

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 ...

in 1992. It flopped at the box office. The banner made its first major success in 1993 with box office hits ''

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

'' and ''

''. The latter's success spawned two sequels, and a

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

. That year, the studio and Warner Bros. originally made a deal with

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve clas ...

to do remake film projects based on its existing UK film productions. In 1994, the studio hit its first television project, with an animated adaption of ''Free Willy'', and it was aired on

ABC 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 ...

for two seasons.

The Donners' Company

In 1999, it was announced that Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions was renamed to the better-sounding name The Donners' Company. On April 4, 2000, it was signed a deal with NBC Studios to produce shows for the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television network. That same year, the studio scored a major success with ''

'', which was an instant box office hit, grossing over $296.8 million worldwide. In 2001, The Donners' Company signed a deal with

Winchester Films Winchester Films was a British production company. It was started in March 1993 and was listed on the Alternative Investment Market to raise the capital needed to build an effective portfolio of films and TV programmes. In the late 1990s and th ...

to produce its feature films from its own. More recently, the company was producing two ''

'' series for television, including ''

Legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army * Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...

'' on FX, and '' The Gifted'' on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

. In 2019, the latter was cancelled months before the former concluded its third and final season. Richard Donner died on July 5, 2021. He was 91.

Filmography

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Television

In development

Television

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donners' Company Film production companies of the United States Television production companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in California 1986 establishments in California Mass media companies established in 1986