The Nestor Film Company was founded in 1909 as the West Coast production unit of the
Centaur Film Company located in
Bayonne, New Jersey, owned and operated by
David Horsley and his brother, William Horsley. On October 27, 1911, 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. Christie moved permanently to
Southern California from the East, where he had been working with the Horsleys creating the popular
silent-era Mutt and Jeff comedy shorts. One division at the Hollywood location, under
director Milton H. Fahrney, made a one-
reel Western picture every week, while at the same time the second division, under director
Tom Ricketts, turned out a one-reel
drama. In addition to running the operation, Christie oversaw a weekly production of a one-reel
Mutt and Jeff episode. The Horsley brothers remained in New Jersey, where their
laboratory and offices handled the Hollywood studio's film processing and
distribution. Other
filmmakers began opening studios in the Hollywood area. On May 20, 1912, the Nestor Film Company merged with the
Universal Film Manufacturing Company, headed by
Carl Laemmle. Several other motion picture companies, including Laemmle's
Independent Moving Pictures (IMP), merged with Universal, which had been founded in April 1912. Nestor became a brand name that Universal used until at least mid-1917. == See also ==