The history of Hollywood

At the start of the 20th century, a new city was beginning to grow near the sea in southern California; its name was Los Angeles - the name of the old Spanish mission that had been there for many years. At the same time, a new industry was just being born - the cinema. America's movie industry began life in New York; but by 1910, movie-makers were moving to Los Angeles. In New York, everything was too expensive; workers, land, taxes. Worse than that, it was difficult to make movies in winter, because it was too cold. By contrast, the Los Angeles region was full of advantages. In California, they could make films all through the year; and everything was cheaper. There was lots of land for sale. The movie-makers found what they needed a few miles outside Los Angeles, large new studios were being built in an area called Hollywood, at the foot of some small dry hills. Movies quickly became very popular, particularly after "talkies" first appeared in 1925. And Hollywood rapidly became dominated by a small number of big companies such as MGM, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers and Paramount.