In 1912 and 1913 Méliès travelled around Asia Pacific with his family and a film crew of close to 20 people, with whom he filmed in French Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, Tahiti, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia and Japan in search of exotic subjects. During this trip which lasted from July 1912 to May 1913, Gaston Méliès filmed 64 movies, sending the footage back to his son Paul in New York, but this footage was often damaged or unusable. Gaston was no longer able to fulfill Star Film's obligation to Thomas Edison's company. Gaston lost $50,000 and had to cease production. He went to California, sold the American branch of Star Films to Vitagraph Studios, and then returned to Europe. He and his brother Georges (who blamed Gaston for his own financial difficulties) never spoke to one another again.