America 1919

The march was never the goal; the real purpose was to sit down with the big wigs from the major American studios and have a proper talk!

Donnie had already mentioned before that it was unlikely the major studios were unaware of Charlie Chaplin and the others' plans to organize three major unions and hold a march.

What Donnie hadn't expected was that these major studios wouldn't go to Charlie Chaplin and the others first but would come to him instead!

The big eight film companies in Hollywood: Paramount, Universal, Columbia, Warner Bros., Disney, MGM, United Artists, Fox.

As of now, Paramount, Universal, Columbia, and Fox had been established. At the same time, these four film companies had already made their mark in Hollywood; some were at the top tier while others were not quite there yet.

Although United Artists had also been established, it still couldn't compare with the top four mentioned.

As for the remaining three companies, their founders were either working at other firms or were cooped up in some corner, unknown as to what they were doing.

And today, the person who came looking for Donnie was Carl Lemore, the founder of Universal, which created Hollywood's first filming base!

Carl Lemore was born in Germany in 1867 and set foot on American soil at the age of 17.

Like many other film businessmen of his time, Carl Lemore's entry into the film industry wasn't in production but in movie theaters!

In 1906, he invested all his savings of 3,000 US dollars to open the first local movie theater in Chicago and subsequently built his own film distribution network, serving theaters in the Midwest United States and Canada.

However, Lemore faced challenges before he could even enjoy his first big earnings.

The great inventor Edison's Movie Patents Company, in association with other major companies like Kodak—the world's largest film producer at the time—almost monopolized the patents for all filming and projection equipment, making it impossible for smaller companies to survive.

And much like many other film companies, Carl Lemore, to avoid Edison's lawsuits, eventually chose to move his film company to Los Angeles.

However, at this time, Carl Lemore's film company was still called Independent Moving Pictures!

The name of the film company was chosen after moving to Los Angeles.

After the establishment of Universal in Los Angeles, the company developed rapidly as if it were a wild horse set free from its reins.

By 1915, he used the money earned from making movies to build on the outskirts of Hollywood a 0.93 square kilometer Universal City—with about 600 shooting locations and 90 stages, the film studio was open to the public, allowing audiences to peek behind the scenes of the movies.

This was the world's first Universal City.

One could say, Universal now is a classic Hollywood studio, encompassing production, distribution, and exhibition all under one roof.

Now, with Charlie Chaplin and others initiating a strike against these major studios, Universal was one of those most directly affected.

Facing this 53-year-old man, Donnie had Jessica Dole bring him some coffee!

"So this must be Miss Dole. I've seen your name in the newspapers before. Donnie bringing you along this time shows how much he appreciates you. If you're interested, our company is about to start shooting a film soon. You could come over and audition!"

Carl Lemore politely received the coffee from Jessica Dole's hands.

"Thank you, Mr. Lemore," replied Jessica Dole, graciously.

"Donnie, the Miss America pageant that your company organized was truly an eye-opener. Right from the preliminaries, I've said that Miss America would be a hit nationwide!"

Carl Lemore said to Donnie with a smile.

Donnie became more vigilant in the face of Lemore's show of goodwill, "Mr. Lemore, I think we should get straight to the point. Your visit today must be about the imminent strike march, isn't it?" Enjoy exclusive content from empire

Donnie held no particular sentiment towards Los Angeles; he just wanted to finish his business there quickly and then return to Atlantic City.

Carl Lemore hadn't expected Donnie to be so forthright, but since Donnie had laid his cards on the table, Lemore decided not to beat around the bush.

"That's right. We're aware that the planning behind this event originated from you, Donnie. So we hope you can persuade Charlie and the others to abandon this unrealistic idea. Hollywood has been difficult to build up. If everything falls apart over some grievances, the outcome will be bad for all of us!"

Donnie didn't like coffee, so he had Jessica Dole pour him a glass of whiskey.

"Where there's oppression, there's resistance. Maybe today's rebellion won't ruin the game but might instead expand the playing field!"

Carl Lemore shook his head confidently, "Donnie, you can't win this; everyone is contract-bound to us. No matter how they march, we'll keep them in check with those contracts!"

Confidence was evident on Donnie's face as well, "If you're so certain, Mr. Lemore, then why bother coming here today?"

Carl Lemore's face showed a hint of displeasure, as Donnie's attitude seemed to suggest that in this labor-versus-management struggle, Donnie's side was sure to win.

"Donnie, you've been doing very well with your business in Atlantic City; there's really no need for you to get involved in anything here in Los Angeles. And I know that what you're actually trying to achieve with this is to ensure that your Miss Americas have movies to star in Hollywood."