A motion picture studio equipped efficiently to turn out the kind of films that the public wants costs from fifty thousand to two hundred thousand dollars. A building constructed for motion picture producing is of such peculiar design that it can be used for practically no other line of business. The equipment is also highly specialized. The motion picture studio and all its accessories depreciate so rapidly that if the producing company is compelled to go out of business even soon after it is established, the stockholders get mighty little money from the sale of the plant and equipment. In most manufacturing businesses the investment in the plant can be protected against fire loss.
Films are highly inflammable.
A plant devoted to any phase of the motion picture producing business is such a bad fire risk from the fire underwriters' point of view that it is difficult to get insurance except at a price practically prohibitive. The directors, the much talked of men who command the actors and make the scenario into a finished production, are variable factors. You probably have noticed a number of concerns that are capitalized in-part on the reputation of unusually talented directors. While these men are on the job the producing company has a most valuable asset. But directors sometimes die or resign to work with competitors, or lose their lunch.