Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Leonard Hill Films AI simulator
(@Leonard Hill Films_simulator)
Hub AI
Leonard Hill Films AI simulator
(@Leonard Hill Films_simulator)
Leonard Hill Films
Leonard Hill Films was a production company that was founded in 1981 as Hill-Mandelker Films. The company mainly specialized in made-for-television-movies, producing two television series in 1987 and a feature film in 2011. The company has since closed down following the release of Dorfman in Love in 2011.
In 1981, following the success of Amber Waves, an ABC TV movie released the previous year, ABC executive Leonard Hill got together with Amber Waves’ executive producer Phillip Mandelker to form a company where they would start their own production banner. The new company was called Hill-Mandelker Films, and held a distribution deal with Novacom, Inc. (which was co-owned by Bruce Paisner and PBS affiliate WGBH in Boston and was renamed King Features Entertainment after being acquired by the Hearst Corporation in 1981). Throughout the producing duo's three-year partnership, they produced a significant share of movies like Freedom and Dream House, both in 1981. The company had also tried their hand in television series production, with the single season CBS series Tucker's Witch in 1984 and the failed pilot to High School U.S.A. in the year prior.
When Mandelker died in 1984, the company became Leonard Hill Films. The first production produced under this new banner was Mirrors, the 1985 adaptation of the James Lipton book, and continued with movies like The Long Hot Summer (1986), Passion and Paradise (1989), False Arrest (1991), Dead Before Dawn and Stalking Laura (both in 1993). In addition, LHF also ventured into television series production with Rags to Riches, which aired for a single season on NBC.
At one point, Robert O'Connor joined LHF, though only one project, Jack the Ripper (1988), was accredited to Hill-O'Connor Television, a new production company that Hill and O'Connor set up in 1986 to produce television series, miniseries and television movies. O'Connor left the company in 1988.
The company, alongside fellow producers Steve Tisch, Robert Greenwald, Frank Von Zerneck, Michael Jaffe, Frank Koingsberg, Jon Avnet, Steve White, their respective partners, and the filmed entertainment division of Spectacor, launched Allied Communications, Inc. (or ACI Worldwide Distribution for short) in 1989 to distribute its productions.
In 1993, Joel Fields merged his banner with the company and it became Hill-Fields Entertainment. The company continued its success with films like A Matter of Justice (1993), Justice in a Small Town (1994), Welcome to Paradise, Deadly Whispers (both in 1995), and Detention: The Siege at Johnson High (1997).
ACI was acquired by Pearson PLC in November 1995 for $40 million, with HFE going dormant following Fields' departure two years later. ACI was continued as a subsidiary of Pearson Television, until 1999 when it was folded. In 2000, Hill-Fields Entertainment, renamed Leonard Hill Films, reemerged from dormancy to produce one final movie, Stolen From the Heart.
In 2011, LHF was briefly revived for the production of the independent feature film, Dorfman in Love, starring Sara Rue as the film's titular character. Hill would since divert his attention to real estate development, passing five years later.
Leonard Hill Films
Leonard Hill Films was a production company that was founded in 1981 as Hill-Mandelker Films. The company mainly specialized in made-for-television-movies, producing two television series in 1987 and a feature film in 2011. The company has since closed down following the release of Dorfman in Love in 2011.
In 1981, following the success of Amber Waves, an ABC TV movie released the previous year, ABC executive Leonard Hill got together with Amber Waves’ executive producer Phillip Mandelker to form a company where they would start their own production banner. The new company was called Hill-Mandelker Films, and held a distribution deal with Novacom, Inc. (which was co-owned by Bruce Paisner and PBS affiliate WGBH in Boston and was renamed King Features Entertainment after being acquired by the Hearst Corporation in 1981). Throughout the producing duo's three-year partnership, they produced a significant share of movies like Freedom and Dream House, both in 1981. The company had also tried their hand in television series production, with the single season CBS series Tucker's Witch in 1984 and the failed pilot to High School U.S.A. in the year prior.
When Mandelker died in 1984, the company became Leonard Hill Films. The first production produced under this new banner was Mirrors, the 1985 adaptation of the James Lipton book, and continued with movies like The Long Hot Summer (1986), Passion and Paradise (1989), False Arrest (1991), Dead Before Dawn and Stalking Laura (both in 1993). In addition, LHF also ventured into television series production with Rags to Riches, which aired for a single season on NBC.
At one point, Robert O'Connor joined LHF, though only one project, Jack the Ripper (1988), was accredited to Hill-O'Connor Television, a new production company that Hill and O'Connor set up in 1986 to produce television series, miniseries and television movies. O'Connor left the company in 1988.
The company, alongside fellow producers Steve Tisch, Robert Greenwald, Frank Von Zerneck, Michael Jaffe, Frank Koingsberg, Jon Avnet, Steve White, their respective partners, and the filmed entertainment division of Spectacor, launched Allied Communications, Inc. (or ACI Worldwide Distribution for short) in 1989 to distribute its productions.
In 1993, Joel Fields merged his banner with the company and it became Hill-Fields Entertainment. The company continued its success with films like A Matter of Justice (1993), Justice in a Small Town (1994), Welcome to Paradise, Deadly Whispers (both in 1995), and Detention: The Siege at Johnson High (1997).
ACI was acquired by Pearson PLC in November 1995 for $40 million, with HFE going dormant following Fields' departure two years later. ACI was continued as a subsidiary of Pearson Television, until 1999 when it was folded. In 2000, Hill-Fields Entertainment, renamed Leonard Hill Films, reemerged from dormancy to produce one final movie, Stolen From the Heart.
In 2011, LHF was briefly revived for the production of the independent feature film, Dorfman in Love, starring Sara Rue as the film's titular character. Hill would since divert his attention to real estate development, passing five years later.