In the suburbs of Los Angeles is the township of Hollywood. For the filmmakers of that time, it was the perfect place to shoot. It had sunshine almost all year round, roughly speaking, it was paradise – mountains, forests, deserts. It was easy to implement any idea.
Because land in the area was sold at a ridiculous price, there was a huge construction boom. The popularity of Hollywood can be explained by the fact that the film business is aimed at the mass audience. Producers ruled the ball here, setting the goals and planning the budget, and directors were relegated to the background.
A system of movie stars was born, who were trained as actors within the walls of film companies. They painted them an image, and if the audience liked the actor, he was filmed even more.The beginning of the era of the capital of American cinema can be considered a silent western “Indian woman’s husband”, which was filmed in 1914. The cinemas at the time grew like mushrooms after the rain and their number only increased every year. Admission to them was very cheap. This caused small movie companies to go bankrupt. Large film industries began to emerge to replace them.
A pioneer in silent film can be considered David Griffith. He was one of the most talented directors in the country and his students and followers then also achieved many successes in this field.
Griffith has made a big contribution to the history of American cinema – in 5 years he made about 500 films.
The emergence of the studios and the first sound film
By the 20s of the 20th century, Hollywood had cemented its title as the center of the American film industry. The first of the major studios came Universal Studios, followed by Paramount Pictures. Everyone’s famous Warner Brothers, appeared only in 1923. And a little later established not less famous today studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures.
The first film with sound was The Jazz Singer, which was made in 1927. People immediately lost interest in silent movies. Even the outbreak of the Great Depression did not deter fans of quality films.
After the film’s release, the Warner Brothers film company, which produced the film, took the lead.