Assessment 1.
tThis refers to the five major film studios, the so-called Big Five were integrated conglomerates, combining ownership of a production studio, distribution division, and substantial theater chain, and contracting with performers and filmmaking personnel: Loew’s/MGM, Paramount, Fox (which became 20th Century-Fox after a 1935 merger), Warner Bros., and RKO. The remaining majors were sometimes referred to as the Little Three or the “major-minors.” Two—Universal and Columbia (founded in 1919)—were organized similarly to the Big Five, except for the fact that they never owned more than small theater circuits (a consistently reliable source of profits). The third of the lesser majors, United Artists (founded in 1919), owned a few theaters and had access to production facilities owned by its principals, but it functioned primarily as a backer-distributor, loaning money to independent producers and releasing their films. In 1909,thomas edison , who had been fighting in the courts for years for control of fundamental motion picture patents, won a major decision. This led to the creation of the mtion pictures patent company, widely known as the Trust. Comprising the nine largest U.S. film companies, it was “designed to eliminate not only independent film producers but also the country’s 10,000 independent [distribution] exchanges and exhibitors.