The Patent Wars

In the film industry's infancy, new filmmakers were popping up all over the place creating new inventions to better the filmmaking process. One of the first people to start creating these contraptions was Thomas Edison. Edison created various motion picture devices such as the vitascope and he continued to create more to better filmmaking. However, Edison was very strict with how his devices were handled and distributed. If someone was using one of his devices but didn't pay him directly, he would hunt them down and make them pay. This huge hunt by Edison is what lead the filmmakers of New Jersey to the land of California. One other reason for filmmakers to move to California was the landscape and weather. Everything was very open and sunny all the time, so more movies could be made in a shorter time. The most popular theaters at the time, Nickelodeons, were also fizzling out of popularity. When the time came for theaters to be made in America, they became grander and more expensive, creating the movie palaces. Without the migration to Hollywood, the film industry might've not exploded like it did.