There were
several reasons why a small town near Los Angeles, Californiacalled Hollywoodbecame the center
of film production in the era when movies were still made without sound. First of all,
filmmakers wanted to get as far away from New Jersey as they could. That's where Thomas Edison
had set up his Motion Picture Patents Company, which attempted to keep a legal stranglehold on
film production. Whenever anyone on the East Coast attempted to make movies, Edison demanded
exorbitant fees, and if filmmakers did not comply, Edison sued them and shut down production. On
the West Coast, filmmakers were far enough away from Edison to escape this stringent
oversight.
By 1913, studios in Hollywood became powerful enough to initiate
anti-trust action with the US government against Edison, and in 1917, the US Supreme Court sided
with the filmmakers against Edison's company.
Another reason the Hollywood
location was so desirable to filmmakers was the good weather. Making movies needs lots of sunny
days, warm weather, and no rain or storms so that production can be kept on schedule. The Los
Angeles area had a diversity of landscapes nearby that would suit a variety of film backgrounds,
including deserts, forests, mountains, and the sea.
The Los Angeles area also
proved to be ideal as a source of cheap, non-union labor due to the lax labor laws there at the
time. Film productions required electricians, carpenters, dressmakers, and other specialists,
and this labor could be obtained at a much smaller cost than at union-intensive places on the
East Coast.
All of these factors contributed to Hollywood becoming the center
of film production in the silent film era and beyond.
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