Early Hollywood Studios

The first studio to arrive in Hollywood was Nestors Film Company, who rented the Blondeau Tavern at Sunset Blvd. & Gower St. in October 1911.  It wasn’t long before there were scores of small motion picture companies moving to Hollywood.  All of the companies migrated from the east coast or around the city of Chicago.  Because this industry was in it’s genesis, all these film companies were very small. Some of these small companies included, among others, the California Film Co., Quality Film Co., and Christie Comedies.  As the industry grew, consolidation began to take place and as it did, many of the small companies were either acquired or went out of business.

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                                                                   Pictures of Hollywood Movie Studios

One of the largest collections of Hollywood movie studios pictures is on the hollywoodphotographs.com web site.  Bruce Torrence began collecting old Hollywood photographs in 1970 and then started adding pictures of movie studios, even though many of them were not located in Hollywood.  In the beginning, some of the very early motion picture companies did settle in Hollywood.  Companies such as the Nestors Film Company, Clune Producing Company, and Balshofer Film Company were some of...

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Everyone is fascinated in Hollywood and particularly Hollywood Movie Studios.  From the time the first motion picture company called Hollywood their home, the public has been captivated by the entire movie making business.

The first motion picture company to permanently move to Hollywood was the Nestors Film Company.  They rented the former Blondeau Tavern at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Gower St. and immediately began making one and two reel movies.  Because Hollywood offered such a wonderful climate and a very diverse geography, this was like heaven to them.

Shortly after the Nestors Film Company settled...

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A clutch of city officials and film industry promoters gathered Monday morning on the same lot in East Hollywood where Mary Pickford once worked to celebrate a rare occurrence: the opening of a new soundstage in Los Angeles.

Hollywood-based Occidental Entertainment Group Holdings, which owns a dozen local soundstages and other entertainment businesses, unveiled a 14,000-square-foot, 54-foot high soundstage on the historic Occidental Studios lot, along with 6,000 square feet of hair and makeup facilities, dressing rooms and office space.

That’s hardly extraordinary in a city that boasts about 300 soundstages,...