The Nestor Film Company, originally known as the Nestor Motion Picture Company, was an American

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...

. It was founded in 1909 as the West Coast production unit of the

Centaur Film Company The Centaur Film Company was an American motion picture production company founded in 1907 in Bayonne, New Jersey, by William and David Horsley. It was the first independent motion picture production company in the United States. In 1909 the comp ...

located 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 the ...

. While not the first movie studio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, on October 27, 1911, Nestor established the first permanent motion picture studio in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, and produced the first Hollywood films. The company merged with its distributor, 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 ...

, on May 20, 1912. Nestor became a brand name Universal used until at least mid-1917.

History

The Nestor Film Company was founded in 1909 as the West Coast production unit of the

located in

, owned and operated by

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 i ...

and his brother, William Horsley. On October 27, 1911,"Bronze Memorial Will Mark First Hollywood Studio Site." ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''. Sep. 25, 1940. p. A 1. Nestor opened the first movie studio actually located in the Hollywood area of

. It was at the Blondeau Tavern building on the northwest 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 ...

and Gower Street. The first motion picture stage in Hollywood was built behind the tavern. Other East Coast studios had moved production to Los Angeles, prior to Nestor's move west. The California weather allowed for year-round filming and the ambitious studio operated three principal divisions under its Canadian-born general manager,

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 ...

. Christie moved permanently to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

from the East, where he had been working with the Horsleys creating the popular silent-era '' Mutt and Jeff''

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ...

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...

. One division at the Hollywood location, under

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Milton H. Fahrney, made a one-

reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the end ...

Western picture every week while the second division, under director

Tom Ricketts Thomas B. Ricketts (15 January 1853 – 19 January 1939) was an English-born American stage and film actor and director who was a pioneer in the film industry. He portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in the first American film adaptation of ''A Christm ...

, turned out a one-reel

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode ha ...

every week. In addition to running the operation, Christie oversaw a weekly production of a one-reel ''Mutt and Jeff'' episode. The Horsley brothers remained in New Jersey, where their

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...

and offices handled the Hollywood studio's film processing and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

. Other

filmmakers Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

began opening studios in the Hollywood area. On May 20, 1912, the Nestor Film Company merged with the

, headed by

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 ...

. Several other motion picture companies, including Laemmle's

Independent Moving Pictures The Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP) was a motion picture studio and production company founded in 1909 by Carl Laemmle. The company was based in New York City, with production facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey. In 1912, IMP merged wi ...

(IMP), merged with Universal, which had been founded in April 1912. Nestor became a brand name that Universal used until at least mid-1917.

References

External links

{{commons category, Nestor Film Company
Photo of Universal City Nov. 24 1913 by Bailey, Chas. Z.

Archive of the Nestor Film Company
The Silent Film Channel
Universal Image collection
on Flickr Mass media companies established in 1909 Mass media companies disestablished in 1912 Silent film studios Defunct American film studios Film production companies of the United States Film studios in Southern California Defunct organizations based in Hollywood, Los Angeles 1909 establishments in California 1912 disestablishments in California Articles containing video clips

History

See also

References

External links