Moving Picture World (Jul-Sep 1914)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 1229 Canada Enters the Film Field Dominion General Film Corporation, Ltd., of Montreal, to Manufacture Motion Pictures in Canada — Policy Outlined. WHILE the Lnilcil Slates holds — and probably always will hold — the supreme position in the lilni industry, Canada is making a strong bid for showing her natural resources and majestic scenery to the world in purely Canadian motion pictures. Careful organization and the injection of .\nicrican enterprise have created tlic Dominion General Fihn Corporation, Limited, with headquarters in Montreal, a large and wellequipped studio at Longucuil and a vast tract of land in the Laurentian Mountains, where the outdoor scenes will be produced. View of Dominion Studio. The companj' has been organized with an authorized capitalization of 5-300.UOO, made up of $100,000 preferred stock and $200,000 common stock, with the preferred stock carrying a bonus of -10 per cent, in common stock. So great has been the interest manifested by Canadians in the broad operations planned by this company that financial as well as moral support has been drawn from all classes of societ}' in Canada, including the dignitaries of the church, statesmen and the leading business men throughout the Dominion. Canada and Canadian histor3' lend themselves so thoroughly to moving picture productions that it needed only the master hand of a clever producer to insure the success of this undertaking. The company has already arranged for the services of a well-informed man in this line. The directors are men of wide experience and keen business acumen — men who are familiar with public tastes and requirements in both the United States and Canada. They realize that the former will naturally be a big market for Canadian films, and for that reason Rudolph Bergman, treasurer of the National Society of Music, of New York, and Leslie Harris, secretary of the same organization, are members of the Board of Directors. M. Marcelot and J. \V. I'eacliy, of Montreal, both of whom arc intimately familiar with the tilni industry, largely represent the Canadian interests of the company. Already arrangements have been made for a very wide distribution of the films throughout this continent and Europe, for the field of historic interest is so wide and dramatic that it naturally lends itself to pictorial treatment at the hands of a successful producer and a highly skilled company of artists. Not merely will the productions be devoted to stirring and epoch-making scenes from Canadian history, but threereel photoplays of the most striking character will form a very large part of the program that has already been mapped out as part of the company's policy. So much depends upon the plays and the players that a carefully organized committee of selection has been brought together, while the artists will be drawn from the principal film companies of the world — and very largely from the United States. Active operations are already in progress for staging these Canadian feature plays and pageants, and in a very short time important announcements will be made regarding their casts and other matters of interest to the moving picture world. FAVORITE PLAYERS SIGNS EDNA MAYO. EDNA MAYO, a dazzling beauty of the blonde type, has signed a contract to play leads for the h'avorite Players Film Company at tlieir studio in California. After carefully considering several hundred applicants, the directors of the Favorite Players Film Company decided that Miss Mayo's beauty and vivaciousness, combined with a natural talent for acting, would make her a valuable support to Carlyle Blackwell. This is not Miss Mayo's first venture in motion pictures, she having played leads with the Pathe Freres Company. She has also had considerable experience on the stage, having played important roles in the New York productions of "Help Wanted," "Excuse Me" and "Madame X." The first release of the Favorite Players will be a photo dramatization of Charles Neville Buck's famous story. "The Key to Yesterday," with Carlyle Blackwell. who will be featured in their production of popular novels and stage successes. Edna Mayo. Interior View of Studio Sun Room, Dominion General Film Co.