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Background of the Industry <^ ^> ^> <^ 15
and placed them under the same centralized control as production.
The process of integration developed even when not initiated by producers. The histories of First National Pictures, Incorporated, of the Universal Pictures Corporation, and of the Pathe Exchange, Incorporated, are interesting in this connection. The first was originally organized by exhibitors in 1917 as a cooperative buying group, known as the First National Exhibitors Circuit, Incorporated, for the purpose of securing the advantages of increased buying power and of control of pictures to be shown. The licensed members not only bought pictures for exhibition in their own theaters, but as individuals they also operated exchanges in their own territory. It was only a matter of time, however, before the company began to produce its own pictures directly and became one of the foremost producers in the field, while retaining its own distributive organization.
The history of the Universal Pictures Corporation follows the same general lines. Carl Laemmle started as an exhibitor. During the fight with the General Film Company, having been refused films by the "trust", he organized his own exchange in order to secure a sufficient number of pictures with which to operate. Today this company, too, ranks as one of the largest producers. Still another illustration is that of the Pathe Exchange, Incorporated. Up to June, 1927, the business of this company "was confined almost exclusively to the distribution of motion pictures as distinguished from the production of motion pictures". It then entered into the field of production on an extensive scale with the acquisition of the DeMille Studios and the producing business of the Producers Distributing Corporation and the Cinema Corporation of America, Incorporated. Another example is that of the Mutual Film Corporation, which had its origin prior to 1912 in an association of state right distributors organized for the production of pictures. The Metro Pictures Corporation was formed in 1915 by a