|
|
Laskys production company made more than twenty films during the next two years before merging with Adolph Zukors Famous Players. They became Paramount Pictures in 1917. Sam Goldfish and an associate, Edgar Selwyn, left Paramount to form their own studio, Goldwyn Productions, which merged with Louis B. Mayer Productions in 1922 to become MGM. A third Hollywood studio, United Artists, was created in 1919 through the efforts of a studio manager, Benjamin Schulberg, who convinced some of Paramounts principal actors and directors to form their own company. United Artists was jointly owned by Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford - three of the biggest stars of the silent-film era - plus D.W. Griffith and William G. McAdoo, the general manager. It had become apparent by then that the presence of certain actors or actresses in a film was critical to box-office success. Realizing that, the film stars demanded and received higher salaries. Pickford, for instance, negotiated a contract with Paramount to do ten films for $2,000 per week plus half the profits. Charlie Chaplin signed a contract to receive $670,000 for a years work. The idea behind United Artists was that the stars, in performing for their own company, might keep all the profits.
|
