American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 and bought by Warner Brothers in 1925.

American Vitagraph's first studio was located on the rooftop of a building on Nassau Street in Manhattan. Operations were later moved to the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.

1898
In 1898 Paul began construction on Britain’s first film studios in Muswell Hill, North London and during that summer produced over eighty short dramatic films.

Cecil Hepworth began making films for Charles Urban, who had recently arrived in London as manager of what would eventually become the Warwick Trading Company.

1899
Hepworth set up a laboratory in 1899 and by 1900 he was releasing a hundred films a year.

The American Mutoscope Company changes its name to the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company to include its projection and peepshow devices.

1900
Edwin Porter returned from Paris to Edison’s Company not in an engineering capacity but as a producer and director at Edison’s East 21st Street Skylight studio.

Paul’s production company peaked during 1900 and 1905 but he gradually became disenchanted with the business.

British filmmaker James Williamson produces "The Big Swallow" which demonstrated the ingenuity of the Brighton School (of filmmakers) of which he and George Smith were principle contributors.

1902
In 1902, Pathé acquired the Lumière brothers patents then set about to design an improved studio camera and to make their own film stock. Their technologically advanced equipment, new processing facilities built at Vincennes, and aggressive merchandising combined with efficient distribution systems allowed them to capture a huge share of the international market. They first expanded to London in 1902 where they set up production facilities and a chain of movie theaters.

Georges Méliès produces his magnificent "Voyage to the Moon", a fifteen minute epic fantasy parodying the writings of Jules Verne and HG Wells. The film used innovative special effect techniques and introduced colour to the screen through hand-painting and tinting.

Lubin Studios, formally incorporated as the Lubin Manufacturing Company, was an American motion picture production company formed in 1902 and incorporated in 1909 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Siegmund Lubin. The company was the offspring of Lubin's film equipment and film distribution and production business began in 1896.

1903
British film maker George Smith makes Mary Janes Mishap which was praised for its sophisticated use of editing. The film uses medium close-ups to draw the viewers attention to the scene, juxtaposed with wide establishing shots. The film also contains a pair of wipes which signal a scene change.

The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company begin making films in the 35mm format rather that the 70mm which boosted their sales. The company went on to employ one of the most important silent film directors - D.W Griffith in 1908.

Edwin S. Porter, working for Edison makes "The Life of an American Fireman" which displayed new visual storytelling techniques and incorporated stock footage with Porter's own photography. It acted as a major precursor to Porter's most famous film "The Great Train Robbery" also made in 1903 which displayed effective use of editing and photography technique.

1905
Cecil Hepworth produced, with Lewin Fitzhamon "Rescued by Rover". A charming film in which Hepworth, his wife, child and dog, star.

1907
The Kalem Company was an American film studio founded in New York City in 1907 by Frank J. Marion, Samuel Long, and George Kleine. The company immediately joined other studios in the Motion Picture Patents Company that held a monopoly on production and distribution. Frank Marion had been the sales manager at Biograph Studios and Samuel Long was the manager of the Biograph production facility at Hoboken, New Jersey. The company began operations from a small office at 131 West Twenty-fourth Street in New York City. The partners were able to lure general manager and director Sidney Olcott away from Biograph who eventually became the Kalem Company's president and was rewarded with one share of its stock. Kalem had no indoor studios, so most of its films were shot on location.

In 1907 the Lumieres produced the first practical colour photography process, the Autochrome Plate.

1909
By 1909, Pathé had built more than 200 movie theaters in France and Belgium.

1910
Pathe had facilities in Madrid, Moscow, Rome and New York City plus Australia and Japan.

Finally in 1910, Paul decided that the film business was too risky and closed his production company down, destroying his stock of negatives in the process.

Siegmund Lubin built a state of the art studio on the corner of Indiana avenue and Twentieth Street in Philadelphia that became known as "Lubinville." At the time, it was one of the most modern studios in the world, complete with a huge artificially lit stage, editing rooms, laboratories, and work shops. The facility allowed several film productions to be undertaken simultaneously

In the fall of 1910, Kalem began organizing other studio locations. In November of 1910, William Wright was sent to the West Coast to assess the feasibility of a permanent studio for the making of Western style films. He acquired property in Verdugo Canyon in Glendale and a permanent crew was dispatched from New York City.

In 1910 the Kalem company shot a film in Ireland, making Kalem the first movie studio to travel outside the United States to film on location. Later on, only the outbreak of World War I prevented Olcott from following through with his plans to build a permanent studio in Beaufort, County Kerry.

1911
A second Kalem California studio was opened in Santa Monica which would inevitably be used to make comedies.

1912
Kalem's Irish films led him to take a crew to Palestine in 1912 to make the first five-reel film.

Lubin Manufacturing Company expanded production beyond Philadelphia, with facilities in Jacksonville, Florida and then in Coronado, California. In 1912, Lubin purchased a 350 acre estate in Betzwood, in what was then rural countryside in the northwest outskirts of Philadelphia and converted the property into a studio and film lot.

Biograph Studios was a studio facility and film laboratory complex built in 1912 by the Biograph Company, formerly American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, at 807 E. 175th Street., in the Bronx, New York.

1913
Kalem operated in these Southern California locations until October of 1913 when they took over the Essanay Studios property at 1425 Fleming Street (now, Hoover Street) in east Hollywood.

The Biograph Company moved its facilities from its location at 11 East 14th Street in Manhattan to the new facilities in the Bronx in 1913.

1914
In the United States, beginning in 1914, the Biograph company's film production studios in New Jersey produced the extremely successful serialized episodes called The Perils of Pauline.

A disastrous fire at Lubin Company's main studio in June of 1914 that destroyed the negatives for a number of unreleased new films, severely hurt the business. When World War I broke out in Europe in September of that year, Lubin Studios, and other American filmmakers', lost a large source of income from these foreign sales.

1915
Kalem lost Sidney Olcott who left to work independently for World Film Corporation, Famous Players-Lasky Co., and other studios.

Lubin company entered into an agreement with Vitagraph Studios, Selig Polyscope Company, and Essanay Studios to form a film distribution partnership. However, Supreme Court rulings against the monopoly of the Motion Picture Patents Company spelled the end of Lubin's business and the corporation was forced into bankruptcy.

In 1915 Lubin was forced to turn his innovative studio into a Variety Theatre and resumed his pre-film career as a Showman.

1916
The Biograph studio property was also leased out to other production companies after Biograph ceased producing new films in 1916.

1917
Two years later, after having made close to one thousand motion pictures, the Kalem Company was sold to Vitagraph Studios.

On September 1, 1917 the Lubin Manufacturing Company closed its doors forever.

1918
By 1918 Pathé had grown to the point where it was necessary to separate operations into two distinct divisions.

1923
Pathé sold off its United States motion picture production arm, which would later be acquired by RKO Pictures.

1925
The Flatbush studio (renamed Vitaphone) was later used as an independent unit within Warner Brothers, specializing in early sound shorts.

1927
Pathé sold its British film studios to Eastman Kodak while maintaining the theater and distribution arm.