The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-09

'e' JNSt 10 IsoS .AIlEeleS
called the Mecca Of the NOV.
les. Spread nj among the
low, rolling foothills. scattered through
the pleasant valleys and topping high
mountains of Southern California are
scores Of outdoor moving picture stu
dios which yearly give employment, to
thousands and thousands Of actors and
actresses and weekly turn out enous
feet Of movie films to astonish n
siatistician.
Los Angeles is the central city of
this little world. Here a hundred pic
tire directors of reputation are busy
eish, hours Of every day of the year
turning out products which are ,o fur.
nlsh amusement to the millions Of
picture fans. Here too is the artistic
colony II the cineinatograph stars.
There are natural resources in
plenty TO aid the directors in their
work peasant weather for the greater
tN NV s'ui. eb'u pllptOSTdDIl
i.sht. long days aud short nights.
scenery that doesn't have Ia Inc made
by hand ar painted on boards: alm,s.
everything at hand for interior or ex.
terror sets. So it is no wonder that
practically IS per cent. of the pictures
aiken in the United states are exposed
N California; that there the industry
mas reached it's highest point and thai,
the egion is called the gathering
place Of the motion picture industry.
The tremendous growth of the in.
dustry in California is a matter OF but
seven years. One of the pioneers in
ne foundation of this great movie
colony was Frank Boggs. who at the
head of a small company Of Selig play.
ers went to Los Angeles and cs;ab-
.'shed a studio at the corner of Sew
cnth II Olive streets. Had he lived
until to-day he would have seen the
III ton picture industry grow until
row 1t is conceded by the Los Angeles
chamber of Commerce to rank frs; in
importance in the city of more than
100000 population. and he would have
seen the population of the city double
In those seven years.
In the absence of strictly official
ngures 1t was recently estimated by
the industrial commissioner of the city
mat 1000 persons In Los Angeles
are supported 10y the business. an esti-
mate which viii probably not be seri-
onsly challenged. Ii is asserted that
the film industry is worth SIS. 900. 900
a year to the city. But in "a rapidly
expanding industry and in "A fast
growing community the Use OF large
figures is the rule rather than the
exception. II appears To he one Of the
natural outgrowths of the spirit of
'ooost' and no stranger can remain
three months in Los Angeles without
feeling its influence.
From figures compiled by George
Blaisdell in a recent number Of the
Norin1 Picture World facts of even
= moro astounding nature reveal
themselves. As a beginning there Is
? definite figure of 100 directors. one
company employing more than half a
dozen directors requires thai zach
shall turn out at least an average Of
a thousand feet Of finished negative
every week. Another company with
? sozsn directors also fixes an average
% a thousand feet of tilm per week.
4 third does not release an average
os more than 500 o. 700 feet Of finn
a week. one concern once extracted
from It's directors 1000 feet of mega
tive weekly, but it is no longer doing
business.
All of which VII, indicate that lo5
FOOLS are hardly an overestimate Of
The nount of finished negative sent
East each week from Southern CALI
fornia. With an estimated total Of
100000 feet of film as the weekly OUT
pHt Of the American picture manufac-
tlrers II is safe to assume that be-
tween 80 and 20 per cent. Of this
sn"'lnt come, from Southern Califor-
Ma IN the region about Los Angeles,
l. Is self-evident. therefore. tina the
rreponderance Of opinion among the
manufacturers is that California is an
deal lpcation for tho mukip IF mo-.