New York Public Library Digital Collections

The Midwood Development Corporation, in collaboration with the Friends of Vitagraph, will lead a Jane’s Walk that explores the history of the film industry in Midwood, Brooklyn. There is no cost to attend.

At Avenue M and 14th Street, The Vitagraph Company of America built the nation’s first modern film studio in 1906, where it operated until 1925 as one of the most prolific moving picture companies in the world, making Brooklyn the epicenter of film production long before Hollywood. Bought by Warner Brothers in 1926, which later drew NBC to build a neighboring studio complex, Vitagraph established a significant legacy of film and television production in Midwood up until 2014. Architectural remnants of the old studio buildings still exist; the walk will include a tour of those structures, as well as an overview of Vitagraph’s significant contributions to early film history

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