Independent film New York. During the Edison era of the early 1900s, many Jewish immigrants had found jobs in the U.S. film industry. Under the Edison Trust, they were able to make their mark in a brand-new business: the exhibition of films in storefront theaters called nickelodeons. Within a few years, ambitious men like Samuel Goldwyn, Carl Laemmle, Adolph Zukor, Louis B. Mayer, and the Warner Brothers (Harry, Albert, Samuel, and Jack) had switched to the production side of the business. After hearing about Biograph's success in Hollywood, in 1913 many such would-be movie-makers headed west to avoid the fees imposed by
Harry Albert Willis the area despite the province's plans. The provincial Progressive Conservative government purchased the land from Wilson in 1971, giving him an 81% profit, which resulted in complaints by the parliamentary opposition and a formal inquiry which found no wrongdoing on the part of Willis but which criticized the government for not bargaining for a lower price. Willis died in flight from Ottawa to Toronto. Harry Albert Willis Harry Albert Willis (July 11, 1904 – March 23, 1972) was a Canadian Senator and long-time fundraiser and organizer for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in Ontario. Born in Belfountain, Ontario, Wilson