The Kushner-Locke Company

The Kushner-Locke Company

Company type	Independent
Industry	Film and television production
Founded	March 12, 1983 (1983-03-12)
Founder	Donald Kushner, Peter Locke
Defunct	2002
Fate	Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001; assets acquired by Artisan Entertainment (now Lionsgate) and later Multicom Entertainment
Headquarters	Los Angeles , United States
Products	Films and television programs, including The Adventures of Pinocchio, Liberace: Behind the Music, But I'm a Cheerleader, Freeway, The Brave Little Toaster series, Rover Dangerfield, Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw, Divorce Court (later installments)

The Kushner-Locke Company was an independent American film and television production firm established on March 12, 1983, by Donald Kushner and Peter Locke.

The company gained recognition for movies such as The Adventures of Pinocchio, Liberace: Behind the Music, But I'm a Cheerleader, and Freeway. Additionally, it developed animated projects including the The Brave Little Toaster series, Rover Dangerfield, and Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw. Kushner-Locke also participated in producing later installments of the 1980s revival of Divorce Court.

History

Producer Donald Kushner, known for his work on Tron, alongside sales executive Peter Locke, founded the company. In January 1987, they sold a minority interest to Atlantic Entertainment Group, resulting in a rebranding to Atlantic/Kushner-Locke. That same year, they explored merging with syndicator All American Television as a strategy to go public without an initial public offering; however, these negotiations did not come to fruition. By July 1988, Atlantic divested its stake, allowing the company to revert to its original name.

In 1992, Kushner-Locke sought to merge with Rysher Entertainment, but disagreements over management control led to the deal's failure. Later that year in December, Patricia Clifford initiated a telemovie production enterprise affiliated with Kushner-Locke after departing from Interscope Communications.

Pascal Borno was named head of Kushner-Locke International in April 1997. The following year in March 1998, the international division finalized picture agreement contracts with multiple film producers and television broadcasters globally.

Confronted with financial difficulties, Kushner-Locke filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2001. Subsequently in November, Artisan Entertainment (now integrated into Lionsgate) acquired North American distribution rights for its catalog exceeding 300 titles. Later in 2013, Multicom Entertainment purchased the Kushner-Locke library from Lionsgate.