Why Is the American Film Industry Located in Hollywood?

The American film industry is located in and around Hollywood, California, because of a combination of geographic, legal, and economic factors. Initially, much of the movie-making industry in the United States was centered in colder, northern cities, such as New York City and Chicago. As demand for their creations boomed, filmmakers began searching for warm-weather locations that would allow them to film year-round, which was crucial at a time when many films were shot outdoors using natural light. The mild climate and abundant sunshine of southern California made it an ideal location for film production. The region also offered a diverse range of scenery within a short distance, including mountains, valleys, deserts, forests, and beaches, providing filmmakers with varied backdrops for their productions. Moreover, the availability of cheap land and labor further facilitated the establishment of studios and production facilities in the area.

Some scholars have argued that legal reasons also drove early filmmakers to Hollywood. In 1908 inventor Thomas Edison helped organize the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC), a trust of film producers, distributors, and equipment manufacturers, headquartered in New York City. The MPPC became notorious for using litigation to keep a stranglehold on movie production and severely restrict the activities of independent film producers. It even entered into a contract with Eastman Kodak Company, the largest manufacturer of raw film stock, to restrict the supply of film to licensed members of the company. In response, many independent producers moved their activities to southern California in the hopes that the geographic distance would insulate them from the legal attacks of the MPPC.

Soon the name Hollywood became synonymous with the American film industry, though from early on actual movie-making took place not just in that small district of Los Angeles but also in such nearby localities as Culver City and Pasadena. By 1915 Hollywood had become the center of the American film industry, with more than 60 percent of American film production taking place there. The presence of major film companies, such as Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Fox Film Corporation, solidified Hollywood’s status as the film capital.