THE “FILM KING”

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8810, 13 August 1914, Page 6

THE “FILM KING”

M. Siegmumd Lubin, who is known in America as “the Moving Picture King,” controls bn© of the largest moving picture businesses in tha world, employing over 700 people, at a yearly salary list of over £loo,* 000. M. Lubin has been “in” moving pictures while the industry has grown from an infant into a giant. Many years ago, when he was a humble Ger.man optician, he helped to perfect the cinematograph by inventing a practical lens; in recent years he has invent, ed mc.uy improvements. “I paid £200,000 for my present studio in Philadelphia.” M. Imbm told an interviewer, “and it is one ol the largest and best, equipped of its kind. With the exception of one wall, it is built entirely of steel and glass. The lower floor will stage four different companies at the same time, and the top floor, which is probably the largest in the world, has a capacity for scenes employing 500 people. On this floor we are able to use four mo-tor-cars at once. “Then we have an engine-room, fitted with machinery for making every kind of projector and lenses, and a dark room in which over a hundred employees work. 1 Our wardrobe room contains several thousand costumes, and we are increasing our stock daily. “lu addition to my Philadelphia sudio, I own Betzwood, an estate in. Pennsylvania. The estate cost mo over £4.00,000, and comprises more than 500 acres of picturesque land. Wo have four complete farms, a largo mansion, two -miles of the Schuylkill river, a deer-park, and all manner of livestock.” For Western pieces, a hundred Texas-bred horses are made use of, and the properties also include an aeroplane and a dozen automobiles