Who was most influential in the rise of Hollywood and why?

Question

I'm looking for a good place to start researching. Any help would be most appreciated.

Answer 1

D. W. Griffith was the first person to make a motion picture in Hollywood. Because of his success, and the great weather that Southern California offered, other people followed him out west.
Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow and Buster Keaton were extremely important actors in the silent era. Chaplin greatly influenced how movies were made, and what the final product would look like. Bow and Keaton, along with Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino, were the first cinima idols.

Answer 2

I think it really depends on what era you are refering to here. I generally like to mark the ture coming of age in Hollywood with the migration into the "studio system" (where stars, as well as, all types of technical artists) were actually contracted to work primarily for one studio while occasionally being "loaned" out to another when needed. Hollywood first began to gain notoriety as a film mecca with the silent film. Before the WWI, most silent films were being shot in France and Italy. After the war most of the european industry was in ruins, which in effect made way for southern california i.e.) "hollywood" to become the dominent force in the worlds film making.

By 1926 Warner Brothers were leading the film industry with the advent of the vitaphone, allowing the addition of dialogue and music to film. BY 1929, the US, and Hollywood had a firm grasp on the "Talkies", putting it ahead of the rest of the world.

Answer 3

Hey hippie1ma...,

If I were looking for places to start the real rise of Hollywood, it would be the Talking movies, and the association of actors their actors guild. That gave them the ability to pat themselves on the back, and that tradition continues today.