La chrysalide et le papillon (ou les modèles économiques du cinéma de 1895 à 1914)

The purpose of this article is to establish a typology of the major business models developed in the motion pictures industry between 1895 and 1914. After a relatively short period dominated by business models built on the exclusive possession of a technical system, the industry was organized around two markets, the market for equipment and the market for films (selling prints). Business models in France, in the United States and in Britain were diversified and specialized : production equipment alone, film production alone, or production equipment and films. The screening of films is organized like a roving mode (fairground model). It is only in effect from 1905 that the projection becomes permanent (Nickelodeon, etc..), with the development of distribution business and rental films. Then the general shift in the film rental completely transformed the organization of the industry, leading to a general redefinition of existing business models. In the United States, however, the conflicts around the Edison patents gave rise to other business models, directly related to the holding of patents, to the collection of "rights", and to the attempt at monopolizing the whole industry (with the Motion Picture Patents Company), a situation unknown in Europe.