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

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

live-action 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 feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

, 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 List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, 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 ed ...

from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in 1971 and a

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

J.D. degree in 1973. He then studied

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

for one year in

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...

. 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 ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ...

's ''

Player Piano A player piano is a self-playing piano with a pneumatic or electromechanical mechanism that operates the piano action using perforated paper or metallic rolls. Modern versions use MIDI. The player piano gained popularity as mass-produced home ...

''. In 1977, Kushner formed a partnership with filmmaker

Steven Lisberger Steven M. Lisberger (born April 24, 1951) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing the 1982 film ''Tron''. Early life and education Lisberger was born in 1951 in New York City and gre ...

, 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 commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

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

live-action film 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 animation, live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define ...

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 Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...

. 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 allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interfe ...

crime fighter Crime control refers to methods taken to reduce crime in a society. Crime control standardizes police work. Crime prevention is also widely implemented in some countries, through government police and, in many cases, private policing methods such ...

. 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 in the 1980s where they continued to produce both film and television series'. Kushner was credited as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

for the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

sequel to ''Tron'', '' Tron: Legacy''. In May 2011, Kushner partnered with Elie Somaha in the purchase of Grauman's Chinese Theater, and planned to restore the landmark building, although rumors at the time were that it might be turned into a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

. 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 film production company founders Sony Pictures Animation people {{US-film-producer-stub Disney people