Filmmakers
George Brent and Myrna Loy on set in Hollywood, n.d.; courtesy the Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley
The Beginning of American Movies
The birth of the American cinema came in the early days of the 20th century. By 1905, the first filmmakers were producing short silent films. These were shown in small Nickelodeon theaters where patrons paid just five cents to watch movies throughout the day. New York was the center of the early film industry, but when East Coast studios such as Biograph and Edison Studios began producing longer silent pictures, many producers and directors headed to Los Angeles.
The Pull of Southern California
Southern California was very attractive to filmmakers. The sunny climate in Los Angeles meant that films could be produced outdoors all year long. And the landscape in and around Southern California — oceans, mountains, forest, desert, city — provided a natural "backlot." Filmmakers could easily recreate exotic locations, from the Arabian desert to Civil War battlefields to the Austrian Alps, all "on location" in Southern California.
Southern California offered other economic attractions for producers. Because New York was 3,000 miles away, Hollywood filmmakers at first were able to avoid paying fees to the Edison Company for use of its patented recording equipment. Workers could also be paid far less than those in the East because Hollywood, according to historian Steven Ross, had “abundant labor, low wages, and relatively weak unions,” leaving workers with little power to demand higher wages.