Founded by entrepreneur George W. Broome, the productions company released actuality films such as a Trip to Tuskegee (1909), which promoted the positive impact of the Tuskegee Institute.

A Trip to Tuskegee

George W. Broome Exhibition Company

Letter from Broome Exhibition Company

Founded by entrepreneur George W. Broome, the productions company released actuality films such as a Trip to Tuskegee (1909), which promoted the positive impact of the Tuskegee Institute.

Al Bartlett Film Manufacturing Company

The producer William D. Foster established the Foster Photoplay Company in Chicago, in part to create new roles for Black actors. Considered the first African American production company, it would release The Railroad Porter (1912), The Fall Guy (1913), and The Butler (1913).

The Railroad Porter

Foster Photoplay Company

The producer William D. Foster established the Foster Photoplay Company in Chicago, in part to create new roles for Black actors.

Anderson-Watkins Film Exhibition Company

Founded by white investors who installed Black entrepreneur Hunter C. Haynes as head of production, the Afro-American Film Company&#39;s output was criticized for stereotypical plots and performances. Haynes, in letters to theater owners and the press, responded that his intentions were good and that &quot;[t]here has been so much trash put out by film companies representing the colored man… that it has almost disgusted him, and he is very suspicious when he sees a colored film advertised. But he can rest assured that any film advertised by the Afro-American Film Co. cannot but meet his approval.&quot; Pioneering Black film critic Lester Walton wondered in the New York Age if the full truth might lay somewhere between both poles. &quot;Perhaps it is the same old story,&quot; Walton wrote. &quot;The colored man furnishing the idea, but shut out from partnership when the proposition materializes.&quot;

Afro-American Film Company

Founded by white investors who installed Black entrepreneur Hunter C. Haynes as head of production, the Afro-American Film Company&#39;s output was criticized for stereotypical plots and performances.

Peter P. Jones Photoplay Ltd.

Ebony Films is considered by many scholars to be the first film studio to feature all Black casts. Financed by white investors, the company started out producing one-reel comedies so stereotype-laden and amateurish that they were decried by both The Chicago Defender and white film critics. Facing an early audience backlash, the company made Luther J. Pollard, a Black producer, president. Although he faced charges of being the company&#39;s Black frontman, Luther Pollard said that Ebony aimed to show that &quot;colored players can put over good comedy without any of that crap shooting, chicken stealing, razor display, watermelon eating stuff that the colored people generally have been a little disgusted in seeing.&quot;For several years he was assisted by his brother, Frederick Douglas &quot;Fritz&quot; Pollard, who worked as a talent scout and casting agent. &quot;Fritz&quot; Pollard would go on to be the NFL&#39;s first black quarterback and head coach.

Two Nights of Vaudeville

Ebony Films Corporation

Ebony Films is considered by many scholars to be the first film studio to feature all Black casts.

The Birth of a Race Photoplay Corporation was a multiracial concern put together in order to produce The Birth of a Race (1918). Spearheaded by Emmett J. Scott, a protege of Booker T. Washington, the film was initially conceived as an attempt to counteract Birth of a Nation (1915) by producing a picture highlighting Black achievement. However, the need to make a film that would attract white investment significantly altered the final product, as did a mid-production switch in producing partners. The released film was a critical and commercial failure. &quot;The Selig Company, which had arranged to produce the picture dropped out due to the character of its propaganda, whereupon the character of the picture was altered,&quot; Variety wrote in a 1918 review. &quot;A large quantity of film, depicting certain phases of the advancement of the Negro race, was dropped.&quot;

The Birth of a Race

Birth of a Race Photoplay Corporation

The Birth of a Race Photoplay Corporation was a multiracial concern put together in order to produce The Birth of a Race (1918).

The Lincoln Motion Picture Company was founded in 1915 in Los Angeles by actor Noble M. Johnson (1881–1978). Run by Johnson and his brother George P. Johnson (1885–1977), who joined in 1916, Lincoln’s five feature films promoted racial uplift and were notable for their nuanced portrayals of the Black middle class. Financial difficulties forced Lincoln to close in 1923, but its attempt to create wide-ranging stories for Black audiences set an important precedent for filmmakers who followed. Actor Clarence A. Brooks was also a co-founder, and Brooks would go on to produce additional films with companies like Rosebud Film Corporation and Hollywood Productions.

The Realization of a Negro’s Ambition

Trooper of Company K

A Man's Duty

By Right of Birth

Lincoln Motion Picture Company

By Right of Birth Advertisements

Juanita in By Right of Birth

The Realization of a Negro's Ambition

The Lincoln Motion Picture Company was founded in 1915 in Los Angeles by actor Noble M. Johnson (1881–1978).

L-Ko

Unique Film Company

Colored and Indian Film Corporation

Charles H. Turpin

Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951) wrote, directed, produced, and distributed more than forty features from 1919 to 1948 and is probably the best-known director of race movies. Often drawing from his own life story and news headlines—about interracial relationships and passing, as well as lynching and other social injustices—Micheaux used his motion pictures as moral tales for the African American community. Micheaux’s stories could be empowering and controversial. They featured a broad range of characters, including some stereotypes circulating within the Black community. His approach was daring, complicated, and influential.

The Symbol of the Unconquered

Body and Soul

The Exile

Micheaux Film Corporation

Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951) wrote, directed, produced, and distributed more than forty features from 1919 to 1948 and is probably the best-known director of race movies.

Incorporated in Delaware but based in New York, this white-owned company worked with Black talent to produce films for the Black market. At one point, representatives of the company reached out to W. E. B. Du Bois in hopes of making a filmed version of The Souls of Black Folk.

Democracy Photoplay Corporation

Incorporated in Delaware but based in New York, this white-owned company worked with Black talent to produce films for the Black market.

One of the many enterprises founded by legendary Harlem power couple Jennie Louise Touissant Welcome (sister of James Van Der Zee) and Ernest Toussaint Welcome, the Toussaint Motion Picture Company produced a 12-part documentary about Black soldiers in World War I. Jennie Toussaint Welcome is rightly remembered as a pioneering woman in film. But the same could be said of her role in arts education, photography, and printmaking, the couple running an art school, a photographic studio, and a firm that sold close to one million postcards featuring Black fighting men.

Toussaint Motion Picture Company

Founded by Jennie Louise Touissant Welcome and Ernest Toussaint Welcome, the Toussaint Motion Picture Company produced a 12-part documentary about Black soldiers in World War I.

Founded by a group of prominent Black businessmen and entrepreneurs from Jersey City, the Frederick Douglass Film Company&#39;s stated aim was “to give the public motion pictures which do not degrade the race.&quot;  The company took great pains to ensure that audiences understood that it was &quot;owned and operated by Negroes,&quot; but the claim to authenticity did not guarantee success in an emerging industry. The company folded after producing just a handful of films.

354 Pacific Ave., Jersey City, New Jersey

Frederick Douglass Film Company

Founded by a group of prominent Black businessmen and entrepreneurs from Jersey City.

White Film Corporation

No Image Available 

Royal Gardens Motion Picture Company

The Downing Film Company produced a World War I documentary chronicling an all-Black regiment known as the “Harlem Fighters.” Downing created the propaganda film in cooperation with the Army in hopes of rallying support among African Americans for the war effort.

Our Colored Fighters

Downing Film Company

The Downing Film Company produced a World War I documentary chronicling an all-Black regiment known as the “Harlem Fighters&quot; in hopes of rallying support among African Americans for the war effort.

The New York-based REOL Productions was founded by Robert Levy and heavily promoted Edna Morton, one of the first Black movie stars. The company’s first film was Sport of the Gods (1921), based on the novel by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

The Sport of the Gods

Reol Productions Corporation

The Burden of Race set of lobby cards

The Burden of Race, Set of Lobby Cards

The New York-based REOL Productions was founded by Robert Levy and heavily promoted Edna Morton, one of the first Black movie stars.

The Monumental Corporation produced what was described as a weekly &quot;news reel for Negro movie fans.&quot; Newsreel subjects included: &quot;Negro political leaders... being received by President Harding; Negro children participating in a May Day festival in Baltimore;  President Harding&#39;s black cook; New York Giants (white)... play an exhibition game against a black professional team in Atlanta.&quot;

Monumental Corporation

The Monumental Corporation produced what was described as a weekly &quot;news reel for Negro movie fans.&quot;

Richard E. Norman (1891–1960), a white producer who traveled the country making films that featured local talent, saw an opportunity to make movies that appealed to the overlooked African American audience. Created at his studio in Jacksonville, Florida, the films featured Black characters who were ambitious and enterprising. He was best known for crowd-pleaser stories involving riding broncos, sailing the high seas, flying airplanes, and other hijinks. In addition to Regeneration (1923), this exhibition’s namesake, the Norman Company produced The Green-Eyed Monster (1919), The Flying Ace (1926), and Black Gold (1928).

The Green-Eyed Monster

Regeneration

The Flying Ace

Norman Film Manufacturing Company

Richard E. Norman (1891–1960), a white producer who traveled the country making films that featured local talent, saw an opportunity to make movies that appealed to the African American audience.

After the Lincoln Motion Picture Company closed in 1923, its secretary Clarence A. Brooks (1896–1969) produced, wrote, and acted in many more race films, such as Absent (1928) and Georgia Rose (1930), for other independent companies such as Rosebud Film Corporation and the Aristo Film Corporation. Georgia Rose, one of the first Black sound pictures, is not thought to have survived, but surviving lobby cards and script pages offer a peek into the production.

Georgia Rose

Aristo Film Corporation

After the Lincoln Motion Picture Company closed in 1923, its secretary Clarence A. Brooks (1896–1969) produced, wrote, and acted in many more race films for the Aristo Film Corporation.

Pyramid Picture Corporation

Loyalty Film Company

E.S.&L. Colored Picture Photoplay Company

Norman Films

Progress Pictures produced the first Black cast film in Kansas City, The Lure of a Woman. It was directed by John M. Simms and starred Regine Cohee and Dr. A Porter Davis.

The Lure of a Woman Theatrical Release Poster

Progress Picture Producing Association

Founded by actor Richard Maurice in Detroit, the Maurice Film Company produced three films, including Nobody’s Children (1920), for only which descriptions of the plot remain, and the avant-garde film Eleven P.M. (1928), which survives.

Nobody’s Children Advertisement

Nobody's Children Advertisement

Maurice Film Company

Founded by actor Richard Maurice, the Maurice Film Company produced three films, including Nobody’s Children (1920), for which only plot descriptions remain, and Eleven P.M. (1928), which survives.

Headed by Swan Micheaux, brother of Oscar Micheaux, and bankrolled by white investors, the Dunbar Film and Theatrical Company was allegedly formed after a falling out between the brothers. Dunbar produced one feature film, 1928&#39;s The Midnight Ace, which featured a multiracial cast.

Dunbar Film and Theatrical Co.

Headed by Swan Micheaux, brother of Oscar Micheaux, and bankrolled by white investors, the Dunbar Film and Theatrical Company was allegedly formed after a falling out between the brothers.

Acme Film Distribution Corporation

Whilco Film Corporation

North State

Gate City Feature Film Company

Colored Feature Photoplays

Bookertee Film Company

Blackburn Velde Productions

Ben Roy Productions

The Kansas City production company released what many argue may be the first film produced by a Black woman Maria P. Williams&#39; The Flames of Wrath (1923).

1515 East 10th Street, Kansas City, Missouri

Western Film Production Company

4001 Cottage Grove Ave., Chicago, Illinois

Fife Production Company

Famous Artist Film Company

Cotton Blossom Film Corporation

Black Western Film Company

A producer of newsreels for Black audiences. Sample subjects included: Harvard-educated track-and-field athlete Ned Gourdin setting a world record; child actress Florence Parlam; the 10-year-anniversary of the Tuskegee Institute.

Peacock Photoplay Company

A producer of newsreels for Black audiences. Sample subjects included: Harvard-educated athlete Ned Gourdin setting a world record and the 10-year-anniversary of the Tuskegee Institute.

Founded by a San Antonio pharmacist his policeman brother, the Lone Star Motion Picture Company was active between 1919 and 1923 and produced several one-reel shorts for the Black market.

Lone Star Motion Picture Company

Colored Motion Picture Producers of America

After the Lincoln Motion Picture Company closed in 1923, its secretary Clarence A. Brooks co-founded Rosebud Films which produced race films such as Absent (1928) and Georgia Rose (1930). The latter is one of the earliest sound films and is not thought to have survived, but surviving lobby cards and script pages offer a peek into the production.

Absent

Rosebud Film Corporation

Absent Reprinted Articles

Absent Advertisement

Rosebud Company Announcement

After the Lincoln Motion Picture Company closed in 1923, its secretary Clarence A. Brooks co-founded Rosebud Films which produced race films such as Absent (1928) and Georgia Rose (1930).

Ted Sarandos

Miky Lee

Kimberly Steward

Jim Gianopulos

Patricia Bellinger Balzer

Jason Blum

Arnaud Boetsch

Laura Dern

David Dolby

Sidonie Seydoux Dumas

Sid Ganis

Olivier de Givenchy

Ray Halbritter

Tom Hanks

Dawn Hudson

Bill Kramer

David Linde

Eva Longoria

Ryan Murphy

Dominic Ng

Katherine L. Oliver

Alejandro Ramírez Magaña

David Rubin

Regina K. Scully

Emma Thomas

Kevin Yeaman

Doris Berger

Donald Bogle

Cara Caddoo

Rhea L. Combs

Terri Simone Francis

Michael Boyce Gillespie

Whoopi Goldberg

J. Raúl Guzmán

Shola Lynch

Ron Magliozzi

Ellen C. Scott

Jacqueline Stewart

Gary Dauphin

Lauren Girard

Erwin Hines

Yosuke Kitazawa

Kit Masaracchia

Adriana Siu de Olaso

Emily Rauber Rodriguez

Mike Schiro

Agnes Stauber

Chandini Tirunagaru

Connor Uretsky

Mike Vazquez

Savannah West

Dan Yalg

Something Good Negro Kiss

Bert Williams and Odessa Warren Grey in Lime Kiln Club Field Day (dir. Edwin Middleton, T. Hays Hunter, 1913), film stills. Courtesy Museum of Modern Art.

Bert Williams and Odessa Warren Grey in Lime Kiln Club Field Day

Louise Beavers in Reform School (dir. Leo C. Popkin, 1939), film still. Courtesy Academy Film Archive.

Fredi Washington (center) and Duke Ellington and his band in Black and Tan (1929). Core Collection, Production Files, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences


Fredi Washington (center) and Duke Ellington and his band in Black and Tan (1929)

Bill Robinson and Lena Horne in Stormy Weather (1943). Courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Sidney Poitier with Diahann Carroll in Paris Blues (1961)

I am Somebody

Explore how race film production companies spread beyond Hollywood and across the United States throughout the early 20th century.

Mapping the History | Years

Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971 is the recipient of the 2018 Sotheby’s Prize. The Sotheby’s Prize was founded to support and encourage museums to break new ground by recognizing curatorial excellence and facilitating an upcoming exhibition that explores overlooked or underrepresented art history. The Sotheby’s Prize was awarded by a jury of museum curators and directors comprising Sir Nicholas Serota, Donna De Salvo, Okwui Enwezor (1963–2019), Connie Butler, Emilie Gordenker, and chaired by Allan Schwartzman.

Regeneration is made possible in part by major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Technology solutions generously provided by Christie®.

Lead support provided by Campari® and J. P. Morgan Private Bank.

Generous support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, and Octavia Spencer.

Accompanying exhibition catalogue supported in part by a grant from Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

Academy Film Archive restorations are funded in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation.

Academy Museum Digital Engagement Platform sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies.