The Spirit of Midwood: The Vitagraph Company of America and Its Special Relationship with the Borough of Brooklyn, 1897-1925

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The relationship between VCA and the Borough of Brooklyn was unique from other production companies in that despite the nationwide popularity of Vitagraph鈥檚 films, the content of the films produced by Vitagraph were directly influenced by the cinematic preferences of one specific urban center. In contrast to the national aspirations of the leading production companies of the period such as Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount, and Universal, who set out to attract the broadest audience possible, VCA鈥檚 films were aimed to appeal to specific a niche group that embodied Brooklyn鈥檚 conservative principles. As a result of the VCA鈥檚 alliance with theater owners and movie spectators in Brooklyn, the Vitagraph studio in Midwood became one of the Borough鈥檚 most recognizable cultural institutions, and through the production of Vitagraph鈥檚 quality films Brooklynites had a significant means of sharing their unique cultural identity with the rest of the United States. <iframe src="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/8751.pdf" style="width:100%; height:400px;" frameborder="0"></iframe> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Vitagraph%20Company%20of%20America" title="Vitagraph Company of America">Vitagraph Company of America</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Midwood" title=" Midwood"> Midwood</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Brooklyn" title=" Brooklyn"> Brooklyn</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Vitagrapheville" title=" Vitagrapheville"> Vitagrapheville</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=New%20York%20Motion%20Picture%20History" title=" New York Motion Picture History"> New York Motion Picture History</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=silent%20era" title=" silent era"> silent era</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=J.%20Stuart%20Blackton" title=" J. Stuart Blackton"> J. Stuart Blackton</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Albert%20Smith" title=" Albert Smith "> Albert Smith </a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/8751/the-spirit-of-midwood-the-vitagraph-company-of-america-and-its-special-relationship-with-the-borough-of-brooklyn-1897-1925" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/8751.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">421</span> </span> </div> </div> </div> </main> <footer> <div id="infolinks" class="pt-3 pb-2"> <div class="container"> <div style="background-color:#f5f5f5;" class="p-3"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> About <li><a href="https://waset.org/page/support">About Us</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/page/support#legal-information">Legal</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/WASET-16th-foundational-anniversary.pdf">WASET celebrates its 16th foundational anniversary</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Account <li><a href="https://waset.org/profile">My Account</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Explore <li><a href="https://waset.org/disciplines">Disciplines</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/conferences">Conferences</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/conference-programs">Conference Program</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/committees">Committees</a></li> <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org">Publications</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Research <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts">Abstracts</a></li> <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org">Periodicals</a></li> <li><a href="https://publications.waset.org/archive">Archive</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Open Science <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Open-Science-Philosophy.pdf">Open Science Philosophy</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Open-Science-Award.pdf">Open Science Award</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Open-Society-Open-Science-and-Open-Innovation.pdf">Open Innovation</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Postdoctoral-Fellowship-Award.pdf">Postdoctoral Fellowship Award</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/Scholarly-Research-Review.pdf">Scholarly Research Review</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> Support <li><a href="https://waset.org/page/support">Support</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/profile/messages/create">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/profile/messages/create">Report Abuse</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container text-center"> <hr style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:.3rem;"> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" class="text-muted small">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a> <div id="copy" class="mt-2">© 2025 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology</div> </div> </footer> <a href="javascript:" id="return-to-top"><i class="fas fa-arrow-up"></i></a> <div class="modal" id="modal-template"> <div class="modal-dialog"> <div class="modal-content"> <div class="row m-0 mt-1"> <div class="col-md-12"> <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal" aria-label="Close"><span aria-hidden="true">×</span></button> </div> </div> <div class="modal-body"></div> </div> </div> </div> <script src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/jquery-3.3.1.min.js"></script> <script src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/bootstrap-4.2.1/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js"></script> <script src="https://cdn.waset.org/static/js/site.js?v=150220211556"></script> <script> jQuery(document).ready(function() { /*jQuery.get("https://publications.waset.org/xhr/user-menu", function (response) { jQuery('#mainNavMenu').append(response); });*/ jQuery.get({ url: "https://publications.waset.org/xhr/user-menu", cache: false }).then(function(response){ jQuery('#mainNavMenu').append(response); }); }); </script> </body> </html>

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The Spirit of Midwood: The Vitagraph Company of America and Its Special Relationship with the Borough of Brooklyn, 1897-1925