The Kushner-Locke Company was an American independent motion picture/television production founded on March 12, 1983 by

Donald Kushner Donald Kushner (born March 2, 1945) is an American producer who has worked with animation, live-action, and theater productions. Biography Kushner was born March 2, 1945, to Ann Gardner. He has two sisters. Kushner attended high school in Pr ...

and Peter Locke. It is known for films such as ''

The Adventures of Pinocchio ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' ( ; it, Le avventure di Pinocchio ; commonly shortened to ''Pinocchio'') is a children's fantasy novel by Italian author Carlo Collodi. It is about the mischievous adventures of an animated marionette named Pinocc ...

'', '' Liberace: Behind the Music'', ''

Basil Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also kno ...

'', '' But I'm a Cheerleader'', ''

Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

'', '' Nutcracker: The Motion Picture'' and ''

Teen Wolf ''Teen Wolf'' is a 1985 American coming-of-age romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as the title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is chang ...

''. Kushner-Locke also produced animated films such as ''

The Brave Little Toaster ''The Brave Little Toaster'' is a 1987 American animated musical film directed by Jerry Rees. It is based on the 1980 novella of the same name by Thomas M. Disch. The film stars Deanna Oliver, Timothy E. Day, Jon Lovitz, Tim Stack, and Thu ...

'', ''

The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars ''The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars'' is a 1998 American animated musical film. It is based on the 1988 novella of the same name by Thomas M. Disch. It is the sequel to ''The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue'' (1997). The film was released ...

'', ''

The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue ''The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue'' is a 1997 American animated film, animated musical film. Unlike other novellas in "The Brave Little Toaster" lineup, it is the first film not to be based on the novella of the same name by Thomas M. Dis ...

'', ''

Rover Dangerfield ''Rover Dangerfield'' is a 1991 American animated musical comedy film starring the voice talent of comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who also wrote and co-produced the film. It is about a street dog named Rover, who is owned by a Las Vegas showgirl. ...

'', ''

Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz ''Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz'' is a 1987 direct-to-video animated short film introduced by Michael Gross of '' Family Ties''. It is based on the 1907 novel ''Ozma of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum. Plot On an ocean voyage bound for Australia with her ...

'' and ''

Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw ''Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw'' is a 1988 American animated musical adventure film based on the Tonka toy line and the Hanna-Barbera television series of the same name, which aired around the same time. It was directed by Pierre DeCel ...

''.

History

In 1983, the company was established by Donald Kushner and Peter Locke, the former of which was a producer on the movie ''

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer a ...

'', and the latter was a sales agent, and member of the Channing/Debin/Locke Company (which he co-founded with

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. She is known for playing Betty Rizzo in the film '' Grease'' (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series ''The West Wing'' ( ...

and David Debin). In January 1987, it sold a minority interest to

Atlantic Entertainment Group Atlantic Entertainment Group, also known as Atlantic Releasing Corporation, was an independent film production and distribution company founded by Tom Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt in 1974. History Their initial releases were mostly geared ...

thus renaming it Atlantic/Kushner-Locke. That year, in 1987, it attempted to merge with television syndicator All American Television to form a single company that paid $36 million in a single transaction in order to establish it as a public company without an effort of an underwriting of an initial public offering, but the merger talks between Atlantic/Kushner-Locke and All American Television was never realized. Atlantic sold back its share in July 1988 and the company reverted to its original name. In 1992, the company attempted a merger with Rysher Entertainment, but the deal's plans collapsed when neither company could come to an accord over who gets control of the combined company. On December 14, 1992, Patricia Clifford, who had just left Interscope Communications launched a Kushner-Locke affiliated production company, which its intent was to produce telemovies. On April 29, 1997, Pascal Borno was named head of Kushner-Locke International. On March 12, 1998, Kushner/Locke International scored picture-pact deals with various picture companies, mostly television networks around the world. In 2001, Kushner-Locke filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy 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, whe ...

, and has operated under this stature since then. In November of that same year,

Artisan Entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until ...

(now owned by

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

) acquired the North American sales rights to its more than 300 titles. In 2013, the Kushner-Locke library was acquired by Multicom Entertainment from Lionsgate.

References

External links

* 1983 establishments in California American companies established in 1983 American companies disestablished in 2002 Mass media companies established in 1983 Mass media companies disestablished in 2002 Film production companies of the United States Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001 Century City, Los Angeles Companies based in Los Angeles American independent film studios 2002 disestablishments in California {{US-media-company-stub