Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

June 29, 1918 MOTOGRAPHY 1197 Huge Merger Accomplished, Report FILM MAGNATES MEET IN SECRET AT NEW YORK A SECRET meeting at the Hotel Ansonia of some of the big men in the industry and the report in the daily papers that the Government purposes to force the motion picture makers into curtailing a large number of their distributing agencies by combining them into a single office, have given renewed impetus to the report that the $100,000,000 merger of the distributing interests of some of the biggest concerns in the industry as announced exclusively in Motography some weeks ago, is at last an accomplished fact. According to a source usually well informed, formal announcement of the plans and details of this new mammoth organization may now be expected at any time. Any specific information as to the reported merger, however, could not be obtained at any of the offices of the companies reported to be interested. Try to Keep It Secret ■ The film magnates, who are said to have participated in the conference at the Ansonia, either were too busy to see Motography's representative or denied categorically that they had been present at the meeting. Some of them seeme-i surprised, however, to know that Motography had heard of such a meeting and expressed curiosity as to how the knowledge had been obtained. As the Ansonia is many blocks out of the film zone and not one of the hotels where motion picture men usually congregate, the reason for its selection was in itself sufficient to arouse the suspicion that something out of the ordinary was in the wind. U. S. Spurs Action What gives added color to the report is the announcement, already mentioned, in the New York dailies, that the government intends to step in unless the film companies themselves combine to centralize distribution. As far as the economical advantages of the plan are concerned, the government is not interested, but it is pointed out that in every state there are many distributing points, each controlled by individual interests, and by concentrating them there would be released for Government work thousands of men throughout the country. Whether the possibility of the federal authorities taking action along this line has precipitated the reported announcement of the formation of the new corporation, or whether the details were already perfected, and the meeting at the Ansonia was held merely to decide on a definite course of action, could not be learned. Other news happenings of the week, however, formed the basis for the belief that the latter is really the case. In fact, it is freely hinted that the premature announcement by Motography of the plans of the merger prevented definite action at that time. Right Man is Problem One of the problems which it was then pointed out the reported $100,000,000 corporation would have to solve was the selection of the right man, the big personality, who would be capable of wisely directing the activities of so complex and widespread an organization. The difficulty of finding a man who would be persona grata to all the interests in volved seemed then to be too great an obstacle to be overcome. The names of several prominent film men were mentioned, but with two exceptions all were found on investigation to be lacking in some essential to measure up to the exacting requirements of the position. These two, it was reported, were being taken under consideration. It was said that both held important executive positions in their respective companies but that both were in some respects "dark horses" and not actually in the film magnate class. Another possibility for the place was (Continued on Page 1222) What's What and Where to Find It Huge merger accomplished, report 1197 Cohen out of M. P. E. L. race for president 1203 Exposition site a scene of activity. . 1203 Theatres in Nashville flout Mayor 1204 Dr. Paul Smith invades New York 1205 Maryland censors again rouse industry 1206 F. P. L. gets Washburn and Dorothy Gish 1207 Gives "The Bluebird" a beautiful setting 1208 Mutual makes war on False Economy 1209 Boost in railroad fares to aid pictures 1210 Affiliated about to start releasing 1211 Pathe to release new serial soon 1212 "The Girl in His House" released June 24 1213 Petrova starts across the Continent 1214 Bab}' Marie Osborne in straight drama 1214 Metro forced to get more studio room 1215 Fox about to release "The Kid Is Clever" 1216 Hodkinson tells how his plan works out 1217 New William Russell picture June 24 '. . 1218 Five Blue Ribbon features in July 1219 Goldfish cheered by prosperity in West 1220 Exhibitors welcome short subjects 1221 Ethel Barrymore returns to Metro : 1222 Departments Editorials 1195 Out with the vermin 1 195 More safety in numbers 1196 Executive changes in Triangle 1196 What the Picture did for me 1 198 Current and Coming releases viewed for the box office 1201 Clever Methods of advertising 1223 Goldwyn to supply editorial "ads" 1223 Writer scores misleading theatre "ads" 1224 Latest News of State Rights productions 1225 U. S. lifts export ban for time being .' 1225 . Ralph Ince, Sawyer and Lubin organize 1225 Frank Hall negotiates large deals 1226 Notes of the industry in general 1227 Latest news of Chicago 1230 Synopses for the program 1231 Complete record of current films 1232