The New Moguls

]L-R, Lasky, Zukor, Goldfish, DeMille, Kaufman

The most critical of the newcomers were first generation Jewish immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe.  They understood that movies were about stories, actors, and distribution rights, not equipment.

The most important were Adolf Zukor, Jesse Lasky, Carl Laemmle, Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Meyer, The Warner Brothers, William Fox, and Henry Cohn.

These men were unsophisticated, lacking in formal education, and frequently in aesthetic judgment as well.  They were able to thrive in movies because film was too déclassé and risky for older money.