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
J. Finzer and Brothers Company J. Finzer and Brothers Company J. Finzer and Brothers Company, originally Five Brothers Tobacco Works, was a tobacco business in Louisville, Kentucky. The business was established in 1866 by the five Finzer brothers: John, Benjamin, Frederick, Rudolph, and Nicholas. The company's historic warehouse building was constructed in 1900 at 419 Finzer Street. The warehouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was also used as Stewarts Dry Goods Warehouse and more recently was renovated to become the Lofts of Broadway. The brothers were born in the Canton Berne, Switzerland. They came to the U.S. and learned to