The Centaur Film Company was an American motion picture production company founded in 1907 in

Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is situated on a peninsula located between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east. As of ...

, by William and

David Horsley David Horsley (March 11, 1873 – February 23, 1933) was an English pioneer of the film industry. He founded the Centaur Film Company and its West Coast branch, the Nestor Film Company, which established the first film studio in Hollywood in 1 ...

. It was the first independent motion picture production company in the United States. In 1909 the company added a West Coast production unit, the

Nestor Film Company The Nestor Film Company, originally known as the Nestor Motion Picture Company, was an American motion picture production company. It was founded in 1909 as the West Coast production unit of the Centaur Film Company located in Bayonne, New Jersey. ...

, which established the first permanent film studio in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, in 1911. The company was absorbed by the

Universal Film Manufacturing Company Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

in 1912.

History

The Centaur Film Company was the first independent motion picture production company in the United States. It was formed in 1907 by

, operator of a successful bicycle business and pool parlor in

, with his brother William Horsley and Charles Gorman, a screenwriter for the

Biograph Company The Biograph Company, also known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1916. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition ...

. The company's first production was ''The Cowboy's Escape'', a one-reel short film released September 15, 1908. In 1910 Gorman sold his interest in the company back to the Horsleys, and William Horsley—a silent partner for Centaur's first three years—assumed an active role running the company's laboratory. Cinematographer

Charles Rosher Charles G. Rosher, A.S.C. (17 November 1885 – 15 January 1974) was an English-born cinematographer who worked from the early days of silent films through the 1950s. He was Mary Pickford's favourite cinematographer and a personal friend, shoo ...

, who went to work for Centaur in 1909 recalled, "Well, I won't call it a studio. It was really nothing but a shop, with a lot of bathtubs for developing the film. They used to go out and make pictures with an improvised camera—an infringement of the

Motion Picture Patents Company The Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC, also known as the Edison Trust), founded in December 1908 and terminated seven years later in 1915 after conflicts within the industry, was a trust of all the major US film companies and local foreign-bran ...

. This brought the Horsleys into the patents war, and they became the first independent producers." Actors working for Centaur included Francis Ford, who joined the company around 1908 and inspired his younger brother

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

to also enter the film industry. Motion picture industry pioneer

Al Christie Charles Herbert Christie (April 13, 1882 – October 1, 1955) and Alfred Ernest Christie (November 23, 1886 – April 14, 1951) were Canadian motion picture entrepreneurs. Early life Charles Herbert Christie was born between April 13, 1 ...

began his filmmaking career at Centaur in 1909. By 1910, the operation was producing three movies a week, including the

Mutt and Jeff ''Mutt and Jeff'' was a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept of a newsp ...

comedies.

West Coast unit

"However, weather conditions on the east coast made filming an uncertain proposition because camera technology at the time relied on sunshine." "Frustrated, and realizing that California afforded the opportunity to make films year round, David Horsley moved his operations to the west coast."

Nestor Motion Picture Company

Centaur changed its name to

Nestor Motion Picture Company The Nestor Film Company, originally known as the Nestor Motion Picture Company, was an American film, motion picture production company. It was founded in 1909 as the West Coast production unit of the Centaur Film Company located in Bayonne, New J ...

after its West Coast production unit, and in the fall of 1911 it opened the first motion picture studio in Hollywood, in the Blondeau Tavern building at the corner of

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...

and Gower Street. With Horsley was

, who served as general manager in charge of Christie Comedies, plus

, who lent his expertise as the studio's full-time cameraman.

Merger with Universal Pictures

In 1912 the Horsley Brothers, along with other independents, notably

Carl Laemmle Carl Laemmle (; born Karl Lämmle; January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) was a film producer and the co-founder and, until 1934, owner of Universal Pictures. He produced or worked on over 400 films. Regarded as one of the most important o ...

and his Independent Motion Picture Company, known as IMP, and Swanson and Ed Porter founded Universal Picture Company, succeeded in defeating the monopolistic hold on the industry of the Patents Company and General Film Company, in what was known at the time as the Latham Loop controversy. Nestor Studio and Nestor Ranch ranch location were renamed by Carl Laemmle, becoming Universal Studios and the Universal Ranch (First Universal City) - see "Forest Lawn

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains. The neighborhood touches Studio City, Univer ...

Film History" Nestor Studios name appeared on 844 films, from ''The Blazed Trail'' (1910) - Nestor Film Company to ''Ain't Nature Wonderful?'' (1920) distributor: Universal Film Manufacturing Company (1920) In 1913 David Horsley sold his Universal shares and started David Horsley Productions, producing 17 films in 1916 to 1919, released by different film distributors ( Mutual Film (1915-(1916 - Triangle Distributing Corporation). By 1915 Universal completed the move of its operations (Nestor/ Universal ranch and studio) to the new Universal City (Lankershim), The Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street studio continued as the production location for Nestor Comedies ( Nestor production unit). In 1916 the Oak Crest/Nestor/Universal ranch is leased by Lasky. The Lasky/Famous Players/Paramount Ranch remained as

filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wil ...

until 1926.

William Horsley Film Laboratory

In 1916 William Horsley withdrew from the Universal company and set up the William Horsley Film Laboratory, later known as Hollywood Film Laboratory, later known as Hollywood Film Enterprises, Inc., devoted exclusively to the developing and printing of 35 mm. films, later known as Hollywood Digital Laboratory. Academy Scientific and Technical Award#all film laboratories From the 1930s to the 1960s, Hollywood Film Enterprises diversified its activities into the 16mm and 8mm "home movie" area. During those years, they were the exclusive distributor of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

's cartoons in 8mm and 16mm for home movie and "toy" projectors. HFE also at various times offered

Walter Lantz Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animation Lantz ...

and

Hugh Harman Hugh Harman (August 31, 1903 – November 25, 1982) was an American animator. He was known for creating the Warner Bros. Cartoons and MGM Cartoons and his collaboration with Rudolf Ising during the golden age of American animation. Career He ...

Rudolf Ising Rudolf Carl Ising (August 7, 1903 – July 18, 1992) was an American animator best known for collaborating with Hugh Harman to establish the Warner Bros. and MGM Cartoon studios during the early years of the golden age of American animation. In ...

cartoons as well; along with home movie reels of

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

, various

Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...

and

comedies, and a

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

series edited from a silent era serial. They left the home movie business in the 1960s when Disney withdrew their license and started their own home movie division. The company was later known as Hollywood Film and Video, Inc.

David Horsley Productions

William was David's

silent partner A silent partner is one who shares in the profits and losses of a business, but is not involved in its management. Silent partner or Silent Partners may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Silent Partner'', a 2005 film starring Tara Reid ...

in "David Horsley Productions" (1916 to 1919) 17 films between) 1916 to 1919 listed in the Internet Movie Data base (IMDB) and possibly the 55 films (1916 to 1919) released using "The Centaur Film Company" Name. "Centaur Film Company", as a

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

appears to have existed in Bayonne, New Jersey, until the opening of Nestor Studios Hollywood in 1912. The name used again (1916 to 1919, by David Horsley after he sold his shares in

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

The Centaur Film Company Name

The "Centaur Film Company" name appears on 55 films (1916 to 1919) - Pictures released by different film distributors ( Mutual Film (1915–1916 )- Triangle Distributing Corporation) The "Nestor Film Company" name appears on 184 films (1910 to 1920) - Pictures released by Universal Film Manufacturing Company : Santa Monica Road Race (1912) The "Nestor Film Company" was used as the name of a UnIversal Studios Production units - 660 productions - Universal Film Manufacturing Company (1912–1920)

References

External links

Finding Aid for the William Horsley Papers, 1903–1947
at the

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Nestor Studios 1911 - Universal City 1912 to Feb 1915 - 1916 Lasky Ranch Two Reel's of LaughterA Christie ComedyDemolishing the old Christy Film Studio on Sunset Blvd. at Gower Street on February 2, 1937
{{Authority control Mass media companies established in 1907 Mass media companies disestablished in 1912 Defunct organizations based in Hollywood, Los Angeles Defunct American film studios Film studios in Southern California Film production companies of the United States Companies based in Hudson County, New Jersey Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Defunct companies based in California 1907 establishments in New Jersey 1912 disestablishments in California Bayonne, New Jersey