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Peter Rodgers Organization

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Company type	Film distribution company
Founder	Peter S. Rodgers
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California , United States

Peter Rodgers Organization is the oldest non-publicly held independent syndication company in the world. It distributes more than 2,000 films, dozens of documentaries and off network television series to global markets. PRO holds the largest library of films of any non-studio distributor.

History

The company was founded in 1976 by Peter S. Rodgers, a Viennese escapee of Nazi persecution, who arrived in the United States in 1938. Following a distinguished tour of service in the United States Army as a military intelligence officer during World War II, Rodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1954 to work for Republic Pictures' new television syndication arm, then known as National Telefilm Associates. At NTA, Rodgers served as Vice President of Domestic Distribution and Sales, reporting to President and Chairman of the Board Ely Landau. In the mid-70’s, Rodgers headed NTA’s European expansion and formed the studios first Video Cassette Division, introducing NBC and Republic Pictures content to the United Kingdom in video (VHS) format.

In 1976, when NTA merged under the Republic Pictures moniker, he left to form the Peter Rodgers Organization (PRO). Over the last four decades, the company has represented and managed the rights to time honored classic televisions shows including The Bill Cosby Show, The Rifleman, Candid Camera, Flipper, I Spy, The Saint, My Favorite Martian, and recent Zorro productions.

In 2002, at the insistence of several retired former industry pioneers, including the King brothers (King World Productions), Norman Horowitz (Columbia Studios chief) and Luke Bloomberg (son of Universal Studios President, from 1938-1958, Nate Blumberg) Rodgers contributed a chapter, along with those listed above, to former Metromedia Television chief, Dick Woollen’s book Fridays With Art, published by Parrot Press.

Daily Variety called Peter Rodgers a “pioneer in his field.” Among his many career landmarks, the elder Rodgers was instrumental to Roy Rogers’ transition to television.

At the time of Rodgers’ passing on February 21, 1988, at age 68, Rodgers was preparing to attend the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) conference, of which he is recognized as a long tenured member. The company is still an active member today.

Rodgers’ death left family members arguing, with some of them wanting to liquidate the prestigious and prosperous entertainment company he had formed. After resulting legal clashes, Rodgers’ son Stephen, surrendered all inheritance left him by his father and purchased the agency from the estate in 1988. He has served as its CEO since that time. A front-page article in Daily Variety focusing on the late entrepreneur’s achievements, and the news that the company was continuing its successful run with son Stephen at the helm, was published on October 19, 1992. At age 25, Stephen Rodgers was believed to be the youngest CEO of any active business in this field.

Stephen Rodgers is a voting member of the Emmy Awards, and has been a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) for more than two decades.

Throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s, Rodgers, together with Desilu Productions West Coast executive Art Greenfield, lectured twice a year at the USC School of Cinematic Arts about independent television distribution.

Stephen Rodgers, personally, is the copyright owner of several films, including The Unearthly (1957) and the 1957 Bert Gordon sci-fi classic, The Beginning of the End. He also owns O’Kennedy’s Ireland, the sole documentary about President John F. Kennedy’s visit to his ancestral home of Dublin, Ireland, where the O'Kennedy dynasty began, only months prior to his assassination in 1962.

He has also licensed iconic theme songs, including “I Spy,” “Courageous Cat” and “Peter Gunn.” A precedent setting work, Henry Mancini’s 1959 disc, Music From Peter Gunn, was the first album to win a Grammy Award for Album of The Year. ""

Rodgers serves as a representative for the content owners and estates of several film copyright holders, including the Zane Grey estate. Grey’s prolific writing is the basis for more than 100 films. Other clients that Rodgers works with include holdings from William Morris Agency. Rodgers has also handled independent projects for celebrities including rapper/actor/reality show star Ice-T, Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor. The Peter Rodgers Organization is also credited for a substantial number of films licensed to the Peabody Award winning work Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) first to Rhino Entertainment's Home Video Division, and again later to Shout! Factory.

PRO also provided footage for productions to E! Entertainment Television, The Discovery Channel, theMTV Video Music Awards, The Kennedy Center Honors, the Emmy Awards, and other cable television network productions.

The Peter Rodgers Organization’s status as a non-studio affiliated company made it a neutral and trusted source of programming for many of the new cable channels proliferating the airwaves during the 1990’s. Many of the companies proven programs were used in the initial program line-up of now heralded cable giants, such as MTV’s TV Land and NBC Universal’s Syfy Channel. Other emerging cable channels, Discovery Channel, TLC and Turner Classic Movies also turned to PRO for schedule content.

PRO’s film preservation and restoration projects included the sole surviving episodes of Queen for a Day, the early NBC children’s series Shari Lewis and director John Ford’s nitrate film print of the early western, The Last Outlaw. Many television classics that Peter Rodgers Organization has licensed have been with the cooperation of the National Museum for Film and Radio, the United States Library Of Congress and the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Rodgers maternal grandfather, Raymundo Gonzales founded Fabrica de Chocolates la Azteca in 1919, which became the largest manufacturer of chocolate in Mexico. Quaker Oats Company acquired it in 1972, and in 1992 by its current owner, Nestle.

Peter Rodgers Organization maintained offices for over a decade at 7461 Beverly Blvd. in West Hollywood, California, on the 4th floor. The location’s 5th floor penthouse was home to Liberace. The historic distribution company has since relocated on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6513 Hollywood Blvd.

Today, PRO represents over 3000 feature film and television properties on behalf of nearly 35 various individuals, estates, investment firms and has served as the exclusive U.S. based distributor for the British Consulate General and foreign based distribution companies, such as Indigo Films, ITV London and The Fremantle companies, distributors of “All My Children” in conjunction with ABC.

References

Category: Entertainment companies of the United States Category: Companies established in 1976 Category:Film distributors