Donald Kushner (born March 2, 1945) is an American producer who has worked with animation,

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

, and theater productions.

Biography

Kushner was born March 2, 1945, to Ann Gardner. He has two sisters. Kushner attended high school in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, received an

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher e ...

from Syracuse University in 1971 and a

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

J.D. degree in 1973. He then studied

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

for one year in Florence, Italy. Upon returning to Boston, Kushner set up a law practice which included a number of

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

clients which in turn led him to the opportunity to produce plays for the Boston stage, among them '' P.S. Your Cat Is Dead'' and the first theatrical adaptation of

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

's ''

Player Piano A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern im ...

''. In 1977, Kushner formed a partnership with filmmaker Steven Lisberger, and in 1978, the pair moved to the West Coast where they produced the 90-minute animated film '' Animalympics'' for

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 ...

, but which was ultimately aborted. He later conceived and produced his first

live-action film Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

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 ...

'' for

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

. After ''Tron'', Kushner teamed with Glen A. Larson and Peter Locke and produced the 1980s television series '' Automan'', which was about a

holographic Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other applications. In principle, i ...

crime fighter. The series began in December 1983 and ended in August 1984 and used similar effects to those seen in ''Tron''. Kuishner and his partner, Peter Locke, founded

The Kushner-Locke Company The Kushner-Locke Company was an American independent motion picture/television production founded on March 12, 1983 by Donald Kushner and Peter Locke. It is known for films such as ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', '' Liberace: Behind the Music ...

in the 1980s where they continued to produce both film and television series'. Kushner was credited as executive producer for the 2010 sequel to ''Tron'', '' Tron: Legacy''. In May, 2011, Kushner partnered with Elie Somaha in the purchase of

Grauman's Chinese Theater Grauman's Chinese Theatre (branded as TCL Chinese Theatre for naming rights reasons) is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. The original Chinese T ...

, and planned to restore the landmark building, although rumors at the time were that it might be turned into a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

. The Chinese Theater reopened in September 2013 as an IMAX theater, complete with stadium-seating, while the new owners worked with several historical groups to maintain the heritage of the building.

Personal life

Donald has two daughters and one son: Alwyn, Jasper, and Spencer, respectively. Alwyn Hight Kushner is also a producer and has worked with Donald on several films. She works as president and Chief Operating Officer of TCL Chinese Theater.

References

External links

* 1945 births 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Providence, Rhode Island Film producers from Rhode Island Living people Syracuse University alumni Boston University School of Law alumni The Kushner-Locke Company American independent film production company founders {{US-film-producer-stub Disney people