Bay Area Silent Film Roots

In the Bay Area, silent cinema has roots in the town of Niles, which is now present day Fremont. Aside from San Francisco which had always been a hub for movies at the turn of the century, Niles became its own Hollywood and housed the most successful silent film company in the Bay Area, the Essanay. This is thanks to the first Western movie star cowboy, "Broncho Billy" Anderson, who chose Niles as a perfect location to shoot his westerns, and went on to make over 350 films there. Niles played an important role in early cinema history because it helped Charlie Chaplin start his career as a filmmaker, instead of just performing in someone else's film. In fact, the Essanay company hired Chaplin when his contract ended at a rival film company in Hollywood, and he went on to make five films that cemented his movie star status.