Moving Picture World (Jul - Aug 1918)

52 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD July 6, 1918 Famous Players' Executives Outline Plans Adolph Zukor, Jesse L. Lasky, Walter E. Greene and A I. Lichtman Tell What Will Be Done by Their Company in the Coming Year to Provide Entertainment for the Great Public— New Players and Old Favorites on the Roster A Year's Budget By Adolph Zukor, President of Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. IT is possible in the realm of art, as well as in the realm of business, to establish for one's self a definite aim. In business such an aim comes under the term of annual budget, and its value is too well known to need exposition, but there is in art the same value attached to a goal toward which every effort is to be bent, and this goal, too, may be expressed in the form of an annual budget There is a great deal to be said in favor of establishing this definite course to be run It has in its elements of definite inspiration and a definite understanding of just how tar ambition may go. It has been the custom in the motion picture industry to »et forth each year the plans and aspirations of the work of the coming year. This is true of all branches of the amusement industry, but, unfortunately, in many cases the performance has not equaled the promise, because of the very evident desire on the pan of the amusement mam to 'make his future appear rosy, and because so many elements of uncertainty have he' entered into the bush the amusement world. But today it is possible stablish a budget for the work of the moving picture bnsn d on authoritative knowledge and prearranged plans, which can be made as definite and as exacting as the stable business in the world. This is what the Famous l'laycrsLaskj Corporation has endeavored to do for itsdf for the year beginning September 1. d c n ding August 31, 1919— to ilish a mark to shiml at which is worthy of the highest aim, a goal set after the most careful consideration, the most thorough preparation, and. we believe, the most complete understanding of what shall be. for the public, of the Teatest entertainment value, and, for the exhibitor the means for making his business a genuine, real, thorough succc Such an understanding can come not from guesswork or from the chance estimate of any one man or any two or three men. no matter how well versed in moving picture philosophy they may be. It must come from an experience based on years of hard work, years of constant endeavor for betterment, years of study and practice and revision, made by the largest number of intelligent motion picture experts obtainable, whose estimates are based on searching investigation and definite, helpful experience in every phase of the motion picture industry. Such an understanding, we honestly believe, is the one powerful asset of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. There is much to prove that this is so. The very history of Adolph Zukor. this organization speaks this truth. Its growth from the ideals of six years ago; its acceptance of public judgment; its constant endeavor to be of ever-increasing help to the real and only mainstay of the whole business — the exhibitor; its absorption of what has come to be admitted as the real brains and ability of the business; its good-will with the great motion picture public; its enormous national advertising policy, and finally its fortunate roster of screen artists who may be termed true stars, all have helped to put Famous Players-Lasky in a position to judge and judge correctly what shall make for the success of the motion picture business in this next \ ear of its splendid history. So it is with a feeling of confidence based on adequate experience and sound business judgment that this company >al for the next year of its existence. Back of that confidence is a pardonable pride. Roth the confidence and the pride have a reason for being. Company Has Added Many Stars. First, there is the known value of the stars who will appear in Paramount and Artcraft pictures. To the already formidable list of luminaries whose popularity in pictures is acknowledged by all we have added new stars in absolute certainty. There is no need to bolster up confidence in the hope that such men as Fred Stone, George M. Cohan, David Griffith, Ceii! 1!. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, William S. Hart, John Emerson, Charles Kay. John liarrymore, Bryant Washburn and Wallace Reid will interest the moving picture public. That hope is a dead certainty. And so with such stars as Marguerite Clark, Lina Cavalieri, Ethel Clayson, Shirley Mason, Billie Burke, Lila Lee, Dorothy Dalton, Enid Bennett, Vivian Martin. Alary Pickford, Elsie Ferguson, and Dorothy Gish their work adveritself and no one can doubt their drawing power when they are provided with the stories, the directors, tin and the artistic intelligence that we aim to put back of every Paramount and Artcraft picture. The resources back of the production department of Famous Players-Laskj is not a mere matter of luck. It is the result of a definite aim and the ability to attract and interest persons of proved worth in the production of motion pictures. Confidence in the success of our year's "budget" is based also on the known loyalty and service of our distributing agencies and the selling plan for the year. Two hundred and eight productions in twelve months makes four features a With the stars at its command and the proved value of the "Success Series" pictures, each one of these productions will be a real "feature" worthy of the highest exploitation and, properly presented, of definite cash value to the exhibitor that shows them. It therefore becomes possible for this company to present to the public through the exhibitors of America the finest attractions at the most reasonable prices at which productions of this calibre can be produced and distributed. With such a plan it is possible for every exhibitor to make an unqualified financial success of his business during the nig year. There is no reason why any exhibitor anywhere in the country cannot place his theater on a high plane by showing Paramount and Artcraft pictures After reading the roster of stars who are to appear in Paramount and Artcraft pictures during the coining season it seems needless to state that the company is employing the greatest talent ever engaged in the making of motion pictures. The progress of the producing department has been artistically consistent until now we are firm in the conviction that there are no other pictures made which can compare in artistic value and drawing power with those of this company. And for these