A single French company controlled half of the global film market before World War I

At the start of the 20th century, the global film industry was centered not in California, but in France. By 1913, Pathé-Frères, founded by Charles Pathé, controlled half of the international market and exported its productions to 85 percent of all screens. The company achieved this through vertical integration, manufacturing its own cameras, owning its own theaters, and operating a massive factory in Lyon that mass-produced film prints.