In 1915 founder Carl Laemmle moved Universal from Hollywood to the studios location ranch in the township of Lankershim(now North Hollywood). Starving actors and Lon Chaney soon followed.
Director DW Griffith acquired Triangle Studio just north of Sunset Blvd in the early teens. Here he produced Birth of a Nation and Intolerance, landmark films that created the language of cinema.
Slapstick pioneer and wild man Mack Sennet founded Keystone Pictures in 1912. His roster included Chaplin, Mable Normand, Swanson, Arbuckle, Lloyd, bathing beauties and the legendary Keystone Kops.
Blame it on Bill! William Selig established the 1st permanent studio in Los Angeles in 1909. At his Edendale lot Selig created the cliffhanger genre and introduced Colleen Moore to the movie public.
In 1918 Chaplin set up shop at this English cottage style studio and stayed until 1952. In 2000 another strange little guy moved in with his Muppet friends- the property is now Jim Henson studios.
Mickey was originally an East Hollywood hipster. The 1st Disney Studio was a store front behind a real estate office and the 2nd was a bigger complex on Hyperion. The gang moved to Burbank in 1939.
The birthplace of Hollywood movies, this former barn is where Jesse Lasky produced the 1st feature completely shot in Hollywood, DeMille’s The Squaw Man. It's now the Hollywood Heritage Museum.
Pickford and Fairbanks' Studio was headquartered near here. It soon became part of their United Artist empire. Robin Hood was filmed here, with amazing sets that stood 140 feet high.
Zukor, Lasky, DeMille and Goldfish(Goldwyn) formed Famous-Players Lasky in 1916. It eventually became Paramount Studios. The studio stayed in this wood framed building till 1926.
The iconic ante-bellum mansion was built by Thomas Ince in 1918. After his death, DeMille purchased it and expanded the backlot, recreating Jerusalem for 1927’s King of Kings. It became RKO in 1928.
In 1924 Marcus Lowe and LB Mayer doubled down to form MGM. With the success of Ben Hur and The Big Parade it was soon LA’s biggest studio, the home of Garbo, Gilbert, Chaney and Shearer.
Tom Dixon, racist author of The Clansmen (which Birth of a Nation was based on) inaugurated William Fox’s studio in 1915. The studio remained here until 1971.
Sound was born at the old Warner Bros Studio, built on the old Beesmyer farm in 1920. Both Don Juan(1st film with a synchronized soundtrack) and The Jazz Singer(1st talking picture) were filmed here.
Metro Pictures was founded in a small bungalow in 1915. It quickly expanded to 5 lots. Here Jackie Coogan became the first child superstar alongside Valentino- as he became a superstar of sexiness.
Western star Tom Mix was the founder of Mixville, a 12-acre frontier town set in the Edendale section of Los Angeles. It included an Indian village, miniature plaster mountains and a large corral.
Built on a farm in 1914, this studio was bought by William Clune in 1915. It then became the Douglas Fairbanks studio. He made many action films here, including Mask of Zorro and The Three Musketeers.
