, 1921-07-10

Mr.. TALBoT's NorE.-At this
point. II mas, be interesting to d.
verge from Miss Piekford's own re-
cital long enough to give the reader
a glimpse Of her surroundings. per-
sonal n physical. in order that an
d e may be gained OF the way sho
lives a greater part OF zach year.
To speak of the "Pickford Studio
Is. in a sense. misleading. because
Miss Pickford has no studio OF her
own. She is a part of the newest idea
In hlmdom-her organization one Of
! dozen complete units renting space
In a big enclosure equipped with the
last word In motion picture facilities
and presided over by an En~glishman.
Robert Brunton. himself one Of the
most picturesque figures IN thu
screen world.
Brunton. for many years. was a
scene painter at one of he Los
Angeles theatres in which stock"
held the boards. When Los Angeles
began to attract motion picture pro-
ducers from New York and plants
began to be erected all about the out
skirts Of the town. Brunton turned
his back on the theatre and dived
into the production end Of pictures
becoming technical director at Tri-
angle. at that time the most -four
ishing OF all the film concerns-with
Griffith and lnce and all the other
biggest producers of the day com
bined in its management.
Miss Pickford refers 10 Triangle
and the tremendous studio
in the next paragraph. as she re-
sumes her story.
The n awful thing about big
picture companies, such as Triangle
was, is the tremendous overhead ex-
pense. Not only is the original in
vestment very large-the money rep
resented by the purchase of the, land
and the building of the stages and
the rest of it-but then come tho
operating expenses.
One big producing organization
today las a weekly payroll OF almost
$500. O00-s26,0O0,0o a year paid
u in wages, This frightful over
head compels quantity IN production
of pictures-and almost every con-
Germ thus far has come a cropper by
reason OF this necessity. For the ex-
pense lei on whether pictures are
being made or not.
Directors and stars and most of
the principal aotors-not to mention
the hundreds of men and I'M IN
the technical departments-are all
engaged by the year. Whether they
work or not they receive weekly sal
aries. And to obtain worth while
stories in sufficient quantities to
keep them all busy has generally
proved an impossibiiity.
Mr.. Brunton recognized this defect
In the big producing fdea-quite IS
soon as Mr.. Grimth and Mr.. Ince and
the others realized It. And SO when
Mr.. Griffith led the way, and began
producing on his own-setting an
example that is becoming more and
more popular every day-Mr. Brun-
ton conceived the idea which finally
he has succeeded in putting into
effect.
AS one of Mr.. Brunton's tenants.
I am in a position 70 say that tho
idea is immense-not only from MS
viewpoint but from mine. >The Brun-
ton Studios cover acres-how many
1 haven't the least idea. but there Is
room enough and to spare for any
possible picture purposes.
In the matter of stages and tech
meal equipment there is nothing I
know Of in the motion picture world
that can equal this plant. Generally
from Is to 20 independent producers
are at work, renting space from Mr..
Brunton.
All the producer needs 70 furnish
is his scenario and actors. Mr.. Brur-
ton furnishes everybody and every
thing else. CT course some producers
have their own camera men and. IN
my own case, / have q compiet-
organization Of my own-but It IS
not necessary. A producer can ge-
from Mr.. Brunton even such service
as expert publicity campaigning, art
advertising-and, in fact, everything
dealing with the making and exploit
ing of the film.
For this service the producer pays
a fiat weekly rental-plus charges
for actual construction of scenes and
use of furnishings and properties.
The Brunton property department
is amazing. In it is almost every
thing in the world. 1t makes no dr.
ference what the producer requires
a Chinese antique or a club dating
from the Stone Age-he can get II
from the Brunton property DEPART
ment-and when he gets II. II will
be authentic. The rental charged for
these properties and furnishings is 10
per cent of their value.
In a big independent plant. every
picture is charged with fits pro-rata
of the overhead expense during tho
time of the making OF the picture.
Thus 1t happens that a picture which
actually costs $4,000 to 1lm may
appear on the books OF the concern
as having cost twict this sum, the
additional amount representing over
head.
At the Brunton Studios a producer
knows to within a very small sum
Just what his production is going TO
be-before he begins. My expert
enc is that the saving is so great IS
to make this community plan OF tn
dividual picture making the next big
step forward in the growth OF the
industry.
S3NAAAA@
ARREAAN