William Wadsworth Hodkinson
William Wadsworth Hodkinson called WW Hodkinson (born August 16, 1881 in Pueblo (Colorado) , † June 2, 1971 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American film entrepreneur from the pioneering days of cinema.
Hodkinson opened his first film distribution company in Ogden, Utah in 1907 . In the following years he first became a representative of Thomas Alva Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company in Salt Lake City and later in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, before the film studio began in 1915, he developed a nationwide distribution structure that helped the film industry achieve its final breakthrough. The Hodkinson system required each film distributor to make an advance payment to be paid to the film producer so that the cost of making films could be covered. The Hodkinson system, despite some changes and adjustments over the years in the United States, has survived to this day.
In 1912, Hodkinson founded the Progressive Company , a distribution company that sold films by producers such as Adolph Zukor , Jesse L. Lasky , Samuel Goldwyn, and Cecil B. DeMille . In 1914 he changed the name of his company to Paramount Pictures . Zukor and Lasky immediately signed a five-year contract with the new company. Zukor's Famous Players Film Company went into Paramount Pictures. Under Hodkinson, Paramount became the first nationwide successful film distributor. For Zukor and Lasky, however, Hodkinson became too powerful and they found themselves dependent on Hodkinson's distribution system. By 1916 they had a majority stake in Paramount and from then on they felt themselves to be independent film producers again. Hodkinson left the company and founded new film distribution companies, including First National 1917. Until 1929 he was still active in the film business.
In the 1930s he tried his hand at building an aircraft and ran an air travel company in Latin America , which he gave up in 1936 after a few flight accidents.
Web links
- William Wadsworth Hodkinson in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Hollywood Renegades (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hodkinson, William Wadsworth |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | WW Hudkinson |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American film entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 16, 1881 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pueblo (Colorado) , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | 2nd June 1971 |
| Place of death | Los Angeles , California , USA |