Hollywood the weather was ideal and there was quick access to various settings. Los Angeles became the capital of the film industry in the United States. The mountains, plains and low land prices made Hollywood a good place to establish film studios. Director D. W. Griffith was the first to make a motion picture in Hollywood. His 17-minute short film "In Old California" (1910) was filmed for the Biograph Company. Although Hollywood banned movie theaters—of which it had none—before annexation that year, Los Angeles had no such restriction. The first film by a Hollywood studio, Nestor Motion Picture Company, was shot
What Price Hollywood? wanted to cast Clara Bow as the female lead, but executives at RKO's New York offices were hesitant to invest in a Hollywood story because similar projects had been unsuccessful in the past. By the time Selznick convinced them the picture had potential, Bow was committed to another film. Constance Bennett considered "What Price Hollywood?" her best film. Four years after the film was released, Selznick approached Cukor and asked him to direct the 1937 version of "A Star Is Born" starring Janet Gaynor and Frederic March. The plot was so similar to "What Price Hollywood?" that Cukor declined. RKO