Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial
| Company type | Partnership |
|---|---|
| Industry | Newsreel, Film production |
| Predecessor | Hearst-Selig Polyscope Company alliance |
| Founded | October 29, 1915 |
| Defunct | 1916 |
| Successor | Hearst-Pathé collaboration |
| Headquarters | Brooklyn , United States |
Key people | Gregory La Cava (animation division supervisor) |
| Products | Newsreels, Animated shorts |
Number of employees | 56 cameramen (production team) |
The Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial, also referred to as the Hearst-Vitagraph News Reel, was a brief-lived newsreel enterprise formed on October 29, 1915, through a collaboration between Brooklyn's Vitagraph Studios and the Hearst Corporation. Its inaugural reel was released in February 1916, yet the company discontinued its activities within the same year. Before this partnership, Hearst had an alliance with the Selig Polyscope Company starting in 1914, and following the conclusion of the Vitagraph arrangement, Hearst entered into a collaboration with Pathé.
Included within these newsreels were animated shorts created by Hearst's animation division, International Film Service, overseen by Gregory La Cava. This studio specialized in transforming popular comic strips from Hearst newspapers into film adaptations. Among the featured animations were Parcel Post by Frank Moser, multiple Krazy Kat episodes by George Herriman, And Her Name Was Maud and Happy Hooligan by Frederick Burr Opper, Daffydil and Judge Rummy by Tad Dorgan, The Katzenjammer Kids by Harold Knerr, Bringing Up Father by George McManus, Joys and Glooms by T. E. Powers, as well as Jerry on the Job by Walter Hoban.
The production team comprised approximately 56 cameramen who captured significant scoops, including footage of the 1914 sinking of the British vessel HMS Audacious and the 1915 destruction of the German ship SMS Blücher.
External links
- Library of Congress collection of silent animated films, featuring selections from Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial