Who created the Famous Players Company in 1912 to secure exclusive contracts with actors?

• A. Adolph Zukor
• B. Irving Thalberg
• C. D. W. Griffith
• D. Thomas Edison

Answer: (A)

Building a stable of contracted stars and controlling talent was a hallmark of the early studio system. Adolph Zukor built this model when he founded the Famous Players Company in 1912, specifically to secure exclusive contracts with actors. By locking performers into long-term deals, he could guarantee a dependable lineup for his films and reduce competition for top talent, strengthening the production-and-distribution pipeline. This move helped lay the groundwork for the modern studio system and eventually led to Paramount Pictures. The other figures played different roles in early cinema—Thalberg as a later powerful MGM producer, Griffith as a pioneering director who sometimes organized productions but didn’t create this company, Edison as an inventor/businessman behind early film technology and distribution—so none of them started the Famous Players Company.