Kalem Company

The Kalem Company was founded in 1907 in New York by businessman George Little and former employees biographer Samuel Long and Frank J. Marion film production company. The most important employee was director Sidney Olcott, who was Kalem 1908-1915. 1917 Kalem was acquired by Vitagraph.

History

The first production - The Sleigh Belle - was founded in February of this year. Like most productions of this and the following years it was a "one- reeler ", ie a one-act short film. Since Kalem had no own movie studios, his films were made in the open or in short-term rented halls. The production process of these years saw before, that every week more of these one-act plays produced and sold to cinemas or film distributors. Kalem enjoyed a successful first year, so Long and Marion were soon able, the proportions of Small, who supported the foundation as a financier to repurchase.

The success of Kalem based in large part on employees of the former employer of Long and Marion, the Biograph Company, good staff could poach from the Kalem. Below 1908 the director Sidney Olcott, who was hired for $ 10 per week and is responsible for some major achievements of the Company drew.

As one of the first film companies Kalem established during the winter months own studios in a sunnier area of ​​the U.S., which in this case was Florida, but later almost exclusively California ( Hollywood). So also Kalem end of 1910 began in California to turn the then highly popular Western movies and acquired for this purpose a plot of land in Glendale, near Los Angeles. Due to the successful production at this location and the ongoing demand for Western movies in 1911 was somewhat further south, situated on the coast and in Los Angeles surrounded city of Santa Monica, opened another studio. Production in Santa Monica was abandoned in October recovered in 1913, as Kalem acquired the Essanay Studios in East Hollywood.

Temporarily worked under other Allan Dwan and Mary Pickford for Kalem. 1915 Olcott left Kalem to independently produce films. 1917 was followed by the acquisition by Vitagraph.