Keller Entertainment Group (formerly Inter Planetary Pictures and American First Run Studios) is a film and television production company that was founded in 1976 by law attroney and husband and wife duo Max and Micheline Keller. It is best known for the 1990s TV series Tarzan, Acapulco H.E.A.T. and Conan the Adventurer, as well as TV movies like Stranger in Our House and Kent State.
History The company made its start in 1976 when the Kellers founded Inter Planetary Pictures after the Kellers left the law industry. Its first known venture was a collaboration with Donny and Marie Osmond's Osmond Productions for distributing pictures in partnership. The company got its start as a theatrical distributor.
After releasing a string of theatrical movies as a distributor, the company made its big break, producing the 1978 TV movie for NBC, Stranger in Our House, directed by a then-unknown Wes Craven. After the success, the company mostly stopped distributing theatrical films, so they turned its focus to a television production subsidiary Inter Planetary Productions Corporation.
After that, the company another big success, with another hit television movie for NBC, Kent State, in partnership with Osmond Productions. The company followed its successes by an endless string of television movies throughout the 1980s, in addition to occasional theatrical releases, such as Deadly Blessing and Now and Forever. In 1984, the company entered into a joint venture with Curb Records to produce its only film under the partnership under the name Inter Planetary Curb, Voyage of the Rock Aliens, which became a cult classic.
In 1987, the company won another hit with the television movie for HBO, Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8, which was another smash hit that won a Cable Ace Award for Best Dramatic Special. Later that year, the company was renamed from Inter Planetary Productions to American First-Run Studios after executives featured they mistook science fiction works. In 1988, the company licensed the live-action TV rights to the Tarzan series from Edgar Rice Burroughs to develop a pilot film, Tarzan in Manhattan, aired in 1989.
After making exclusively television movies, the company turned its attention to television series. The company first partnered with Balenciaga Productions on the company's first weekly television series, Tarzan, which was syndicated by Worldvision Enterprises. It ended up airing from 1991 to 1994. The company next teamed up on the television series Acapulco H.E.A.T., which was syndicated by All American Television, and aired from 1993 to 1994.
After that the company partnered with SeaGull Entertainment (a company led by Henry Siegel) to start Keller Siegel Entertainment to produce its only TV series, Tarzan: The Epic Adventures, which only aired from 1996 to 1997 due to the bankruptcy of SeaGull Entertainment. The company next made its two more television series, with Balenciaga Productions, Conan the Adventurer, and a second season of Acapulco H.E.A.T., both of these were syndicated by Western International Syndication. In 1996, the company signed a deal with ZDF for its library of television productions. The company went inactive after the last TV show asides from the library of unannounced projects, mostly none of which gone to fruition.
In 2006, it partnered with George Edde to form Keller Edde Studios. The company briefly went out of inactive status, when the company was executive producer of a theatrical film, Hands of Stone, which was released by The Weinstein Company in 2016.
Productions
Theatrical films TitleRelease dateNotesLet the Balloon GoMarch 1977U.S. distribution only; produced by Film AustraliaTwentieth Century OzSeptember 14, 1977U.S. distribution only; produced by Count Features, Davis Equities Corporation Investment Partnerships, O&O Associates Ltd. and The Australian Film CommissionGoin' CoconutsOctober 6, 1978Distributed by Osmond EntertainmentDeadly BlessingAugust 14, 1981Distributed by United Artists, co-production with PolyGram PicturesNow and ForeverMarch 18, 1983Distribution only; produced by Now & Forever Film PartnershipVoyage of the Rock AliensMarch 9, 1984Co-production with Curb EntertainmentThe 13th AlleyJune 13, 2008Distribution only; produced by Super Chief FilmsHands of StoneAugust 26, 2016Distributed by The Weinstein Company, produced by Fuego Films, Vertical Media, Panama Film Commission and Epicentral Studios
Television films TitleAir dateNetworkNotesStranger in Our HouseOctober 31, 1978NBCco-production with Finnegan AssociatesKent StateFebruary 8, 1981co-production with Osmond ProductionsGrambling's White TigerOctober 4, 1981A Summer to RememberMarch 27, 1985CBSBetrayed by InnocenceMarch 1, 1986Dreams of Gold: The Mel Fisher StoryNovember 15, 1986co-production with La Rosh ProductionsWomen of ValorNovember 23, 1986co-production with Jeni Productions and Pendragon EntertainmentConspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8May 16, 1987HBOco-production with HBO ShowcaseThe Secret Life of Kathy McCormickOctober 7, 1988NBCco-production with Tamara Asseyev Productions and New World TelevisionSwimsuitFebruary 19, 1989co-production with Musifilm ProductionsTarzan in ManhattanApril 15, 1989CBSCasey's Gift: For Love of a ChildSeptember 24, 1990NBC1362: The Kensington EnigmaApril 14, 2007International syndicationDistribution only; produced by United International Film Corp.
Direct-to-video film TitleRelease dateNotesBuck Naked ArsonApril 24, 2001distributed by Velocity Home Entertainment; co-production with Redwood Shires Productions
Television series TitleNetworkDistributorAir datesNotesTarzanFirst-run syndicationWorldvision EnterprisesOctober 6, 1991-May 1994co-production with Balenciaga Productions, Dune, TF1, Producciones Telemex, Producciones UINIC and William F. Cooke ProductionsAcapulco H.E.A.T.All-American Television (season 1)Western International Syndication (season 2)September 28, 1993-May 21, 1994September 23, 1998-June 5, 1999co-production with Balenciaga Productions, M6 Films, CNC, Les Films du Triangle Film Groupe S. A. (season 1) and France Triangle Films (season 2)CyberkidzInternational syndicationKeller Entertainment Group1994co-production with United ProductionsTarzan: The Epic AdventuresFirst-run syndicationSeaGull EntertainmentAugust 28, 1996-May 25, 1997Conan the AdventurerWestern International SyndicationSeptember 22, 1997-May 25, 1998co-production with Balenciaga Entertainment
References