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WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC. 445
The use of the trailer as a widely used medium for advertising motion pictures dated from 1920. Prior to that time exhibitors were accustomed to announce their coming attractions on slides known to the industry as "stills." There existed in 1920 a few trailers, but these generally were of an inferior quality and as a result were ineffective. They were adapted by motion picture producers from the original negatives and were distributed by the producers without charge to the theaters booked to exhibit the pictures from which they were taken. Foreseeing the possibilities offered in this field, several companies were organized to produce and to sell motion picture trailers.
In the period following 1920, trailers became universally recognized as a valuable adjunct to motion picture advertising and, as a result, the more progressive trailer companies developed rapidly. Their organizations comprised men thoroughly experienced in motion picture production, distribution, exploitation, and advertising. While an integral part of the motion picture industry, trailer companies functioned primarily as agencies, whose scope of activity was confined to a specific form of advertising for this particular industry. The advent of sound opened many possibilities for the development of trailers.
In 1929, trailer companies, in general, were of two types — local and national. There were over 35 local companies, which usually confined their activities to screen announcements. There were but two national companies of consequence, the Film Announcement Corporation, which specialized in still, portrait, and trick photography trailer reproduction; and the Clarion Trailer Corporation, which, through arrangement with most of the well known producers, held exclusive rights to production and distribution of trailers containing actual scenes from each feature picture released by those companies. Since motion picture producers used several cameras in filming a motion picture, there was always some unused footage from which a trailer company could select negative for its use. As compensation for granting trailer rights, motion picture producers usually received minimum royalties based on negative film footage. The gross sales of the Clarion Trailer Corporation in 1928 approximated $2,000,000, which represented an increase of about 30% over the gross sales of 1927.
The production of trailers adapted from feature picture negatives centered in New York City. Since a large majority