Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1924-Mar 1925)

46 EXHIBITORS HERALD January 3, 1925 LEFT: Mack Sennett and Robert Lieber watch Mr. Ince affix his signature to the contract which gave First ISational his pic* tures after Associated Producers had ceased operation. RIGHT: Thomas H. Ince and Charles Ray. This picture was taken during the earlier association of these two screen celebrities. The MEMOIRS of 7. Independents Unite Forces R\PID development of the motion picture industry at Inceville was analogous to the growth of other producing units in Southern California. Producers were making constant strides toward bigger and better pictures. We were all giving the best that was in us and working to bring our ideals into realization. Looking back at the final days of our activities in the canyon near Santa Monica, I think of the production of “Civilization” as the next step in my own career toward the goal of achievement. This picture marked another milestone. I say this because it was the first picture to show the methods of modern warfare. Up to this time the war pictures that had been filmed were mostly of the civil war, but in “Civilization” submarines, airplanes and modern war equipment were used. It was prophetic of the great World War. The popularity of the picture has been justified by its recent reissue and the enthusiasm which was accorded it. * * Soon after this David Wark Griffith, Mack Sennett and myself consolidated our producing activities under one banner, which was known as the Triangle. With this added impetus, the Inceville plant, with its outdoor stages, its inadequate equipment and its limitations, no longer sufficed. Something more complete was needed, a studio that would give us scope to fill the demands of the public and also provide room for an increased number of productions, allowing many companies to work at the same time. This demand led up to the building of the half-million-dollar Triangle studio at Culver City, which was completed and ready for occupancy on January 1, 1916. It was the finest and most completely equipped studio known at that time. In 1917 I severed my connection with Triangle, and a year later the organization was dissolved. The studio was then taken over by the Goldwyn Corporation, which occupies it today. I leased the old Biograph studios and made pictures for Paramount, following which I built my present studios at Culver City, a plant which, I believe, adequately Thomas H. Ince Chapters 7 and 8 fulfills the requirements of the present-day production, as well as presenting an atmosphere of artistic beauty and the historical spirit of America which gave birth to this new and powerful art. The administration building, which fronts on Washington boulevard, the main thoroughfare between Los Angeles and the famous beach resorts, is an enlarged replica of Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. The spacious, close-cropped lawns, the box hedges, and the colonial mansion with its massive white pillars, is pure American architecture and represents the finest of American art and ideals, and stands for that pioneer spirit and progress for which our first president was noted. It therefore seemed fitting that the same spirit which characterized the birth of our nation should be carried out in the outward harmonious appearance, as well as the inner life of this twentieth century art. The eighteen great buildings represent the last word in construction and equipment. The glass-enclosed stages, which are capable of sheltering fifty companies at a time, the laboratories, the projection rooms, the power houses, the property rooms, the art department and other struc Notice-. Exhibitors Herald has been granted the exclusive publication rights to this series for the motion picture trade press field. Reproduction in the motion picture trade press without the consent of Quigley Publishing Company is prohibited. tures are supplied with a completeness of facilities that was undreamed of only a few years ago. ^ ^ The studio is compact and yet large enough to house a working staff of more than 1600 men and women. At night the entire front is brilliantly illuminated by high power reflectors, standing out against the dark background of hills and sky in all its dignity and artistic beauty. About three years ago a group of independent producers, all of whom were working steadily toward a higher ideal in pictures, banded together and formed an affiliation known as “The Associated Producers.” At that time the group included J. Parker Read, Jr., King Vidor, Allen Dwan, the late George Loane Tucker, Mack Sennett, Marshall Neilan, Maurice Tourneur and myself. Later H. O. Davis, J. L. Frothingham and Hobart Bosworth joined the ranks. The main object of this association was to form a string of exchanges throughout the country, through which we could release our pictures independently. This was another advancement, and brings me to what I believe is one of the greatest steps in the progress of the motion picture industry, the merger between the Associated Producers and the Associated First National Pictures, Inc., which took place in September, 1921. It brought together two powerful organizations, one a distributing unit and the other a producing organization. As I review my experience in the industry I can truthfully say that I consider this amalgamation of the makers and exhibitors of pictures one of the greatest strides we have made toward establishing permanency and realizing the full efficiency of the industry as an institution. This amalgamation not only saves a vast amount of money by eliminating the exchanges it was necessary for us to maintain in the different key cities, but it leaves the independent producer free to devote his entire time to production. 8. How Pictures Are Made T N reviewing the motion picture industry I have dealt particularly with production, but a resume would not be complete without a word about the development of