New York Motion Picture Company
The New York Motion Picture Company was a film production and distribution company from 1909 until 1914. It changed names to New York Picture Corporation in 1912.
Keystone would later be a part of
History
The New York Motion Picture Company was founded in 1909 by Adam Kessel, Charles O. Baumann, and camera operator Frank Balshofer.[1][4] Originally interested purely in film distribution, the company's refusal to work with Thomas Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC) created difficulties in securing films.[5] Kessel was quoted as saying, "We would have to go out of business unless we made some films ourselves."[5]
Their first film, Disinherited Son's Loyalty, was made in May 1909.[5] It cost around $200 to make, and earned $2,000.[4] From that point on, NYMPC produced about half the films it played.
Billy Gane served as general manager.
The company later merged with the
It was during a one-year apprenticeship at Keystone that Charlie Chaplin made some of his earliest films.[7] It was during Chaplin's time at Keystone that he created the 'Little Tramp' character he became known for.[7]
In 1915, Keystone Studios became an integral part of the
Triangle Film was largely considered a failure, however, Feature Play would go on to merge with Famous Players and become Paramount Pictures, a company that was far more successful in achieving the kind of vertical integration Triangle sought in its business model.[3][8]
Filmography
- Disinherited Son's Loyalty (1909)
1910s
- Wrath of the Gods (1914)
- The Colonel's Ward (1914)
- On the Night Stage (1915)
Release Date | Title |
---|---|
October 1914 | The Typhoon |
August 1915 | The Toast of Death |
November 1915 | The Coward |
December 1915 | The Winged Idol |
February 1916 | The Three Musketeers |
April 1916 | The Stepping Stone |
August 1917 | The Soul Herder |
References
- ^ a b c Bennet, Carl (2014). "New York Motion Picture Company". Silent Film Era. The Silent Era Company. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- ^ S2CID 143040351. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- ^ a b c "Movies: The Business, The Studios, The Stars." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 2: 1910-1919. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 October 2014.
- ^ a b Joyce, Simon and Jennifer Putzi. "Adam Kessel." In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 4, edited by Jeffrey Fear. German Historical Institute. Last modified May 25, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e "Corporate Organization." An Evening's Entertainment: The Age of the Silent Feature Picture, 1915-1928. Richard Koszarski. Ed. Charles Harpole. Vol. 3. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1990. [63]-94. History of the American Cinema 3. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 22 October 2014.
- ^ Riblet, Douglas Blair. "The Keystone Film Company, 1912 to 1915." Order No. 9829123 The University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1998. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 21 October 2014.
- ^ a b Miffin, Jeffrey. "Early Charlie Chaplin: The Artist As Apprentice At Keystone Studios." Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television 33.1 (2013): 157-159. Film & Television Literature Index. Web. 22 October 2014.
- ^ a b c King, R. "Made for the masses with an appeal to the classes": The triangle film corporation and the failure of highbrow film culture. Cinema Journal, 44(2), 3-33. Web. 22 October 2014.