Alfred Weiss(III)
- Producer
A pioneer in the film distribution business, Alfred Weiss was an executive many times over in and around the motion picture industry from the 1900s through the 1930s.
Weiss came to movies from the phonograph business. Based in New York City, Weiss was an influential figure in the early days of motion picture distribution. He was associated with the Triangle Film Corporation in the 1910s, and later joined the Goldwyn Distributing Corporation as a vice-president. In 1922, Weiss left Goldwyn and soon joined low-budget Artclass Pictures as president and general manager. In the 1920s Weiss also became president of the American Multi-Color Corporation (a printing company) as well as the Agfa Raw Film Corporation.
In October 1926, Alfred Weiss put up the money to save distributor Red Seal Pictures and animation studio Out-of-the-Inkwell Films from bankruptcy. (Both companies at that time were run by animation innovator Max Fleischer.) Weiss became president of both Red Seal and Inkwell Studios, with Max Fleischer kept on as vice-president. Fleischer's Inkwell Studios produced the "Out of the Inkwell" cartoons, starring the popular Ko-Ko the Clown character, as well as the successful "Ko-Ko's Song Car-Tunes" series of sing-along shorts. In early 1927, Weiss was able to secure a new distribution deal for the Inkwell films through Paramount Pictures, and the Red Seal venture was eventually abandoned. (Inkwell founders Max and Dave Fleischer each left the company by early 1929, over contract disputes with owner Weiss, and would found their own Fleischer Studios and continue their relationship with Paramount into the 1940s.)
The motion picture industry began transitioning to synchronized sound in the late 1920s. At this time Alfred Weiss teamed up with independent producer Phil Goldstone on a sound film venture. Weiss served as president of the Biophone Corporation (originally known as Tonefilm), and Goldstone ran the newly-renovated, sound-equipped Metropolitan Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where a slate of Biophone films would be produced starting in late 1928.
The Biophone sound-on-disc system was one of several competing technologies available to studios and exhibitors at the time. In January 1929, Biophone licensed a sound-on-film attachment from Cinephone, making Biophone's reproducing equipment versatile enough to handle any kind of synchronous (as well as non-synchronous) playback.
Goldstone sold his Biophone interest to Weiss in April 1929, leaving Weiss in control of both the Biophone Corporation and the Metropolitan soundstage in Fort Lee.
Still head of Inkwell Studios, Weiss began releasing sound cartoons in 1929, with soundtracks recorded at Metropolitan Studios. Some were reissues of silent Inkwell cartoons with newly-added soundtracks. In January 1930, a year after the departure of the Fleischers and coming on the heels of the October 1929 stock market crash, Inkwell Studios filed for bankruptcy.
In the 1930s, Weiss was president of the Film Circulation Corporation, which sold 16mm film projectors and rented a library of 16mm film titles for use in schools, homes, businesses, etc. By the late 1930s, Film Circulation Corp.'s equipment was compatible with both silent and sound film projection.
Alfred Weiss and his wife Helene had two daughters, Irene and Elsie. Weiss died at his New York home on November 20, 1940, at the age of 67.
Weiss came to movies from the phonograph business. Based in New York City, Weiss was an influential figure in the early days of motion picture distribution. He was associated with the Triangle Film Corporation in the 1910s, and later joined the Goldwyn Distributing Corporation as a vice-president. In 1922, Weiss left Goldwyn and soon joined low-budget Artclass Pictures as president and general manager. In the 1920s Weiss also became president of the American Multi-Color Corporation (a printing company) as well as the Agfa Raw Film Corporation.
In October 1926, Alfred Weiss put up the money to save distributor Red Seal Pictures and animation studio Out-of-the-Inkwell Films from bankruptcy. (Both companies at that time were run by animation innovator Max Fleischer.) Weiss became president of both Red Seal and Inkwell Studios, with Max Fleischer kept on as vice-president. Fleischer's Inkwell Studios produced the "Out of the Inkwell" cartoons, starring the popular Ko-Ko the Clown character, as well as the successful "Ko-Ko's Song Car-Tunes" series of sing-along shorts. In early 1927, Weiss was able to secure a new distribution deal for the Inkwell films through Paramount Pictures, and the Red Seal venture was eventually abandoned. (Inkwell founders Max and Dave Fleischer each left the company by early 1929, over contract disputes with owner Weiss, and would found their own Fleischer Studios and continue their relationship with Paramount into the 1940s.)
The motion picture industry began transitioning to synchronized sound in the late 1920s. At this time Alfred Weiss teamed up with independent producer Phil Goldstone on a sound film venture. Weiss served as president of the Biophone Corporation (originally known as Tonefilm), and Goldstone ran the newly-renovated, sound-equipped Metropolitan Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where a slate of Biophone films would be produced starting in late 1928.
The Biophone sound-on-disc system was one of several competing technologies available to studios and exhibitors at the time. In January 1929, Biophone licensed a sound-on-film attachment from Cinephone, making Biophone's reproducing equipment versatile enough to handle any kind of synchronous (as well as non-synchronous) playback.
Goldstone sold his Biophone interest to Weiss in April 1929, leaving Weiss in control of both the Biophone Corporation and the Metropolitan soundstage in Fort Lee.
Still head of Inkwell Studios, Weiss began releasing sound cartoons in 1929, with soundtracks recorded at Metropolitan Studios. Some were reissues of silent Inkwell cartoons with newly-added soundtracks. In January 1930, a year after the departure of the Fleischers and coming on the heels of the October 1929 stock market crash, Inkwell Studios filed for bankruptcy.
In the 1930s, Weiss was president of the Film Circulation Corporation, which sold 16mm film projectors and rented a library of 16mm film titles for use in schools, homes, businesses, etc. By the late 1930s, Film Circulation Corp.'s equipment was compatible with both silent and sound film projection.
Alfred Weiss and his wife Helene had two daughters, Irene and Elsie. Weiss died at his New York home on November 20, 1940, at the age of 67.