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

motion picture A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

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

. It was founded in 1909 as the West Coast production unit of the Centaur Film Company located in

Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the Gateway Region on Bergen Neck, a peninsula between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York ...

. While not the first movie studio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Nestor made great strides on October 27, 1911, by establishing the first permanent motion picture studio in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

, and producing the first Hollywood films. The company later merged with its distributor, the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, on May 20, 1912. Nestor remained a recognizable brand name for Universal until at least the middle of 1917.

History

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

, owned and operated by

David Horsley David Horsley (March 11, 1873 – February 23, 1933) was an English-American 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 Holl ...

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

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. 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, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

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, ...

. Christie moved permanently to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

from the East, where he had been working with the Horsleys creating the popular

silent-era A silent film is a film without synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

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

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic 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. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

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 ar ...

. One division at the Hollywood location, under director Milton H. Fahrney, made a one-

reel A reel is a tool used to store elongated and flexible objects (e.g. yarns/ cords, ribbons, cables, hoses, etc.) by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a '' spool''. Many reels also have flanges (known as the ''rims'') arou ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

picture every week, while at the same time the second division, under director

Tom Ricketts Thomas B. Ricketts (15 January 1853 – 19 January 1939) was an English-born American stage actor, stage and motion picture, film actor and film director, director who was a pioneer in the film industry. He portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in the fi ...

, turned out a one-reel

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

. 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. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as schools ...

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

Carl Laemmle Carl Laemmle (; born Karl Lämmle ; January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) was a German-American 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 ...

. 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 ...

(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