Charles O. Baumann (January 20, 1874 – July 18, 1931) was an American film producer, film studio executive, and pioneer in the motion picture industry.
Biography
Career
He was a partner in the Crescent Film Company formed in 1908 and in the Bison Life Motion Pictures production company formed in 1909. He co-founded
New York Film Company with
Adam Kessel in 1909. Intended to be a distributor it turned to production after difficulties with
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...
's production company. In 1912, he was a founder and the first president of Universal Film Manufacturing Company (now
Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to:
* Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate
** Universal Pictures, an American film studio
** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex
* Various theme parks operat ...
).
One of his most-successful companies was the
Keystone Film Company, the production unit headed by
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career.
Born in Danville, Quebec, he started acting i ...
, which produced the first films to feature
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
. Adam Kessel and Baumann's
New York Motion Picture Company produced many films under a number of brand names, including Broncho, Domino and
Kay-Bee Pictures. Other companies formed by Baumann include the 101 Bison Company and
Reliance Motion Picture Corporation.
In the mid-1910s, Kessel and Baumann also branched into film distribution with their Mutual Film Corporation, which later was absorbed into
Triangle Film Corporation
Triangle Film Corporation (also known as Triangle Motion Picture Company) was a major American motion-picture studio, founded in July 1915 in Culver City, California and terminated 7 years later in 1922.
History
The studio was founded in Jul ...
. Baumann continued in production in the early 1920s as a partner in the Kessel-Baumann Picture Corporation production company.
The Moving Picture World
"Motion Picture Studios in California", March 10, 1917, p.1599-1612
Death
He died on July 18, 1931, of influenza in New York City.
References
Further reading
''The Moving Picture World''
archived issues at Media History Digital Library at archive.org
* Lahue, Kalton (1971); ''Mack Sennett's Keystone: The Man, the Myth and the Comedies''; New York: Barnes & Co.; (p. 17-42, 64, 109, 155, 241, 242, 289)
* MacGowan, Kenneth (1965); ''Behind The Screen: The History and Techniques of the Motion Picture''; New York: Dell Publishing Co. (pg.171, 175, 208)
External links
at Silent Era. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
*
* http://www.fortleefilm.org
Testimony of Charles O. Baumann
in the 1914 Federal hearings into the Motion Picture Patents Company
The Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC, also known as the Edison Trust), founded in December 1908 and effectively terminated in 1915 after it lost a United States v. Motion Picture Patents Co., federal antitrust suit, was a trust (19th century), ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baumann, Charles O.
1874 births
1931 deaths
Businesspeople from New York City
Film producers from New York (state)
American film studio executives
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
American cinema pioneers
American film production company founders
NBCUniversal people