Alan Landsburg Productions#Reeves Entertainment

{{Short description|Defunct American television production company}}

{{more citations needed|date=August 2016}}

{{Infobox company

| logo = Alan Landsburg Productions logo 1975.svg

| logo_caption = Alan Landsburg Productions logo used from 1975 to 1979

| name = Alan Landsburg Productions

| parent = Tomorrow Entertainment (1971–1974)
Reeves Communications Corp. (1978–1990)
Thames Television (1990–1994)

| founder = Alan Landsburg

| founded = {{start date and age|1971}}

| defunct = {{end date|1994}}

| fate = Folded into Thames Television

| successor =

| industry = Television

| products = {{ubl|Television production|Film production}}

}}

Alan Landsburg Productions (ALP), later known as Reeves Entertainment Group and Reeves Entertainment, was an independent television production company founded by Alan Landsburg in 1971. The company produced In Search of... and That's Incredible!. The company also found success in television movies (the Emmy-winning Mickey Rooney film Bill), and scripted shows (the sitcoms Gimme a Break! and Kate and Allie). They made a few theatrical movies as well, most notably Jaws 3-D (1983).

The company was acquired in 1978 by Reeves Communications Corp. In 1984, Landsburg left the company and formed The Landsburg Company, in partnership with Cox Enterprises,{{Cite news|date=1985-05-20|title=New production company created by Cox, Landsburg|work=Broadcasting|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/85-OCR/BC-1985-05-20-OCR-Page-0064.pdf|access-date=2021-09-28}} and ALP was renamed the Reeves Entertainment Group. David Auberbach, a friend of Landsburg served as vice president, received a new deal at the studio.{{Cite news|date=1985-12-02|title=New deal|work=Broadcasting|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/85-OCR/BC-1985-12-02-OCR-Page-0105.pdf|access-date=2021-10-05}} Barris Industries originally owned a 5.27% stake in Reeves, with backing from Burt Sugarman.{{cite news |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-16-fi-4382-story.html |title=Barris said it may raise its stake in Reeves |access-date=December 5, 2012 |date=16 July 1987 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822050021/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-07-16/business/fi-4382_1_giant-group |archive-date=22 August 2016 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=1987-07-22 |title=Burt Sugarman Acquires 5.3% Stake In Reeves |page=51 |work=Variety}} In 1987, the company had signed a partnership with independent television producer Blue Andre to an exclusive first-look agreement, to develop projects like The Warriors, which was based on a 1985 Pulitzer Prize play winner by William Broad, which was sold to CBS as a two-hour made-for-television movie, and The Secret of Sherwood Forest, which was also done for CBS.{{Cite news |date=1987-09-23 |title=Blue Andre To Pace With Reeves; CBS Made-For 'Warriors' First Up |pages=123, 155 |work=Variety}}

It was purchased by Thames Television in 1990 for $89 million.{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Les |title=Encyclopedia of Television |edition=Third |year=1992 |publisher=Gale Research |pages=[https://archive.org/details/lesbrownsencyclo00brow/page/723 723] |isbn=9780810388710 |url=https://archive.org/details/lesbrownsencyclo00brow|url-access=registration }} After Thames lost their ITV franchise in 1991, followed by the acquisition of Thames by Pearson plc, MCEG Sterling Administrations was given control of Reeves' assets (as a sale or transfer of the Reeves holdings was a condition of Thames' sale to Pearson). A potential deal with New World Entertainment fell apart at the last minute,{{Cite web |last=Lowry |first=Brian |date=1993-09-03 |title=Reeves, New World end deal |url=https://variety.com/1993/biz/news/reeves-new-world-end-deal-110243/ |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} though ultimately a deal with NBC was worked out, enabling the network to continue production of Reeves' critically-acclaimed Homicide: Life on the Street.{{Cite web |author=Variety Staff |date=1994-02-17 |title='Homicide' gets new life at NBC |url=https://variety.com/1994/tv/news/homicide-gets-new-life-at-nbc-118395/ |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} Most of the studio's catalogue is now owned by Fremantle, which acquired Thames in 2000. Distribution rights in the United States vary on an individual basis.