How Hollywood Came Into Existence…

Hollywood was not always considered to be the film capital of the United States. The first film company to ever film in Hollywood was the Biograph Company which was established in 1895. The Biograph Company has a rich history and is credited with giving notable stars such as Mary Pickford, Mack Sennett, Lionel Barrymore and Lillian Gish their start in the industry. In 1910, a man named Griffith from the Biograph Company came west and started filming in Los Angeles. While filming, Griffith’s crew decided to explore other areas for potential filming and came across a village called Hollywood.

Griffith and his crew were captivated with many things that Hollywood had to offer them. Not only did Hollywood have beautiful and reliable weather, it had room for expansion and the people of the town were friendly and exuberant about filming. While in Hollywood, Biograph filmed “In Old California” which is a “historical dramatization of a Spanish woman during the reign of Spanish and Mexican owned California in the early 19th century” (IMD, 2011). Griffith and his crew remained in Hollywood for several months and continued to shoot many films before returning to New York.

When the Biography Company did decided to return to New York. “In Old California” was such a huge success that other film producers and companies soon followed their path to Hollywood. Many film makers and producers went to Hollywood to escape the fee’s that Thomas Edison had put in place due to the fact that he owned patents for the process of filming. Thus Hollywood started changing from a sleepy village and slowly over the years turned into an icon that the world would forever recognize.

Other Links:

1.)    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_the_United_States

2.)    http://www.biographcompany.com/history_home.html