Nestor Studios

Nestor Studios

Christie-Nestor Studios, Hollywood, 1913
Industry	Movie studio
Founded	1911
Defunct	1919
Headquarters	Bayonne, New Jersey Hollywood, California
Key people	David Horsley William Horsley

The Nestor Motion Picture Company was a motion picture studio/production company located in Bayonne, New Jersey, and Hollywood, California, which was owned and operated by David Horsley and his brother, William Horsley.

On October 27, 1911,^[1] Nestor opened the first movie studio actually located in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles. It was at the Blondeau Tavern building on the northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. The first motion picture stage in Hollywood was built behind the tavern.

Other East Coast studios had moved production to Los Angeles, prior to Nestor's move west. The California weather allowed for year-round filming and the ambitious studio operated three principal divisions under its Canadian-born general manager, Al Christie.

The Horsley brothers remained in New Jersey, where their laboratory and offices handled the Hollywood studio's film processing and distribution. Al Christie moved permanently from the East, where he had been working with the Horsleys creating the extremely popular silent era Mutt and Jeff comedy shorts, to Southern California.

One division at the Hollywood location, under director Milton H. Fahrney, made a one-reel western picture every week while the second division, under director Tom Ricketts, turned out a one-reel drama every week. In addition to running the operation, Christie oversaw a weekly production of a one-reel Mutt and Jeff episode.

Other filmmakers began opening studios in the Hollywood area. The Horsleys operated the Nestor Studios at the Sunset and Gower location until May 20, 1912, when the Universal Film Company was formed,^[1] headed by Carl Laemmle. Nestor, along with several other motion picture companies, including Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures (IMP), was merged with Universal.

Various motion picture interests owned and operated studios on the site from 1912 until 1935, when the property was purchased by the Columbia Broadcasting System,^[1] which immediately demolished the Nestor stages and buildings and began construction of its new West Coast radio and pioneering television^[2] headquarters on the corner. The new building, completed at a cost of $2,000,000, was opened with major fanfare on April 30, 1938, with motion picture people from the silent and sound eras on hand for the dedication ceremonies.^[3]

Universal City - Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills - Nestor Studios Company Photographs

Burbank as envisioned by Providencia

Property in the San Fernando Valley that was owned by the Providencia Land and Water Development Company was used as a location for some early motion pictures. In particular, battle scenes for D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation were shot in the area.

In 1914,^[4] the Universal Film Company, which had acquired Nestor, bought 230 acres (1 km²) (.36 sq mi) of land for a studio and Carl Laemmle named the area Universal City. Photographs of the area can be seen in Los Angeles Library archives: "A Birds Eye View of Universal City."

• Nov. 24 1913 Bailey, Chas. Z. Universal City
• 1911 Nestor Filmmakers at the Forest Lawn Site
• 1911 Nestor Filmmakers at the Forest Lawn Site
• 1911 Nestor Sunset and Gower

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Bronze Memorial Will Mark First Hollywood Studio Site." Los Angeles Times. Sep. 25, 1940. p. A 1.
2. ^ "Telecasting To Start In Hollywood Within Year." Los Angeles Times. Aug 23, 1937. p. A 13.
3. ^ "Columbia Broadcasting System Opens New Hollywood Headquarters Today." Los Angeles Times. Apr. 30, 1938. p. 8.
4. ^ "Film History Before 1920 Part 3". AMC FilmSite. http://www.filmsite.org/pre20sintro3.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13. 

External links

• Nestor at the Internet Movie Database