Moving West

If you had to summarize and explain the events that led from the film industry's transfer from New Jersey to Los Angeles, how would you explain it? What was Thomas Edison's role in this transition? What role did patents and Nickleodeons play in this dispute?

Thomas Edison was living in New Jersey, where he controlled a film trust. He was dedicated to creating revenue out of all of film production through his patents. Edison made sure to enforce his patents through hiring "mob-affiliated thugs" and suing them at any given chance. The independants who wanted to avoid this patent moved into the far west where they were not able to be caught because it was far from New Jersey and judges were less sympathetic to Edison's patents. Nickelodeons were very profitable at the time, and many filmmakers were determined to profit from the industry without Edison's intervention.