A visionary storyteller, who is equally at home in the worlds of live action and animation, David Kirschner established David Kirschner Productions in 1993 to produce animated and live action feature films for major studios.
The company's production slate reflects the eclectic tastes of its namesake and the strong creative relationships that have been established with individuals like Steven Spielberg and studios ranging from Twentieth Century Fox and Turner Pictures to Universal Pictures.
From "The Pagemaster," a live action and animated adventure starring Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd and the voices of Whoppi Goldberg and Patrick Stewart, slated for release through Twentieth Century Fox in November, to "Cat's Don't Dance" a 30's style musical extravaganza starring the voices of Natalie Cole, Scott Bakula, Ed Asner and Kathy Najimy, a musical score by Randy Newman and choreography by the legendary Gene Kelly, now in production for Turner, the Company's feature animation slate represents a diversity in visual as well as storytelling styles.
Live action projects are equally wide ranging in subject matter. Along with serving as executive producer on Universal's live-action film, "The Flintstones," Kirschner is producing three additional films for Universal, including "Curious George," a live-action film based on the classic children's stories, which is to be produced with Imagine. "An Arabian Night," which David created with Chuck Pogue, is a live-action adventure-fantasy set in the period of such films as "The Thief of Baghdad," and is to be produced with Rob Fried. Kirschner is also developing a film based on the non-fiction book, "Say Kids, What Time Is It?", which takes a comic and witty look behind the scenes of the Howdy Doody Show. Brian Levant (The Flintstones) will direct.
Kirschner has three projects set up under his exclusive three year producing deal with Twentieth Century Fox. "Treasure Planet," a $50 million live-action adventure set in space, is a modern telling of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, Treasure Island. "Louie, Louie," is a comedy in which a socially-inept scientist discovers a way to achieve genetic reconstruction and turns a scrappy street dog into a man. "Balls," which is being adapted by Mark Steven Johnson (Grumpy Old Men) from the Gorman Bechard novel to be published by Dutton in Spring 1995, is a smart romantic-comedy about the first woman in major league baseball.
Prior to establishing his own company, Kirschner served as Chairman of Hanna-Barbera. During his three years at the animation studio, David produced the critically acclaimed special, "The Dreamer of Oz, " and the Emmy award winning "The Last Halloween." Prior to joining Hanna-Barbera, Kirschner created and executive produced with Steven Spielberg the smash hit "An American Tail," which became one of the most successful animated films in history. His next film was the horror movie, "Child's Play," whose leading character, Chucky, an animatronic doll which Kirschner created, became a cult star and spawned a successful franchise with "Child's Play II" and "Child's Play III." Kirschner also created and produced Disney's live-action comedy-thriller "Hocus Pocus" starring Bette Midler and Twentieth Century Fox's animated musical "Once Upon a Forest."
