Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

The company was founded in 1904 in New York City by William Fox, a 25 year-old Jewish Hungarian immigrant, who sold his cloth processing business and with the profits earned bought a lowly "common show." At that time, "common show" was the legal phrase for the exhibition of motion pictures in a store remodeled for that purpose and containing fewer than 299 seats. These primitive movie theaters charged five cents admission and therefore became known as "nickelodeons."

Mr. Fox, a born showman, bolstered attendance by hiring a magician to perform in front of his store to attract customers. His growing number of patrons sat closely together on folding chairs (which were rented from a neighbourhood undertaker's parlour) and enjoyed simple short films. These early movie audiences viewed films that were hand-cranked through a lighted box which caused images to be magnified and projected against a white wall at the opposite end of the store.

Along with partners B.S. Moss and Sol Brill, William Fox was able to plough profits from this first "common show" into a second and third, until the new exhibition firm of Fox, Moss and Sol Brill had 25 such establishments. As a next logical step, Mr. Fox and partners opened a film exchange - -one of the first in the nation. Named the Greater New York Film Rental Company, it provided their Nickelodeons with new movies and offered an ideal opportunity to trade films with other exhibitors and exchanges. By 1913, the rapid growth of the exhibition industry made it almost impossible to obtain new films. Mr. Fox quickly organized the Box Office Attraction Company and began producing movies of his own.

Two years later, along with other motion picture pioneers such as Adolph Zukor (Paramount) and Carl Laemmle (Universal), Mr. Fox decided the temperate climate of California would more easily facilitate year-round productions. He moved his producing operations west and founded the Fox Film Corporation in 1915. Mr. Fox's business associate at the time was Winfield R. Sheehan, whom he named Vice President and General Manager of the new company.