The Cinema

The past year has seen a great step taken in the direction of straightening out the cinema industry, and putting it on a business basis.

The magnitude and substantial character of the industry are shown by a few statistics recently compiled. The total investment in the business is approximately 1 1/2 billion dollars. About 300,000 persons are permanently employed by it, and some 700 "feature" pictures are produced each year. There are about 15,000 cinema theatres of all types in the country, and annual admissions paid to them total about $500,000,000. The average weekly attendance at these theatres runs about 50,000,000. Salaries and wages paid at the studios amount to $75,000,000 a year, and producers and exhibitors spend $5,000,000 each year in newspaper and magazine advertising.

The foreign business done by American producers is large. In 1923, some 200 million feet of American films were exported. In Great Britain, 80% of the films shown were made in this country.