United Artists Born: Hollywood's Creative Revolution
Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith signed the papers creating United Artists on February 5, 1919, in response to a plan by major studios to consolidate their control over film distribution. The four founders were the biggest names in Hollywood, and their defection sent studio executives scrambling. Metro Pictures president Richard Rowland reportedly quipped, 'The lunatics have taken over the asylum.' United Artists did not produce films itself; instead it distributed films made independently by its founders and later by other producers. The model was revolutionary: for the first time, creative talent owned and controlled the distribution of their own work. The company struggled financially at times because its founders could not produce enough films to fill a full distribution slate. But the principle it established, that artists could bypass the studio system, influenced every subsequent generation of independent filmmakers.
February 5, 1919
107 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Charlie Chaplin
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Mary Pickford
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Douglas Fairbanks
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D.W. Griffith
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United Artists
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Charlie Chaplin
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Mary Pickford
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Douglas Fairbanks
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D. W. Griffith
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United Artists
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Tiempos modernos
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Charlot
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Cine mudo
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Satire
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Taylorismus
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