The following is an encore presentation of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Hollywood is known the world over for being the center of the motion picture industry.

But did you ever wonder why the movie business is centered there

or why it hasn't moved somewhere else? Well, it all has to do with the clause in various union contracts.

Learn more about the 30 Mile Zone or the

T.M.Z. on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. To understand the 30-mile zone, we first have to understand how the movie industry came to be in Hollywood in the first place.

While we associate the movie industry with Hollywood, the very, very early motion picture industry was actually on the East Coast.

The invention of motion pictures is credited to Thomas Edison, who did in fact own a large

number of patents regarding motion pictures. And Edison was very aggressive in

enforcing his patents. Edison owned patents on cameras, projectors, and other parts of the motion

picture process. Edison would sue anyone who is trying to use competing cameras or projectors on the grounds of patent infringement.

In 1908, Edison joined with several other companies who held motion Picture-related patents to create the Motion Picture

Company.

Their goal was to create a monopoly on the Motion Picture Industry, which controlled everything

from manufacturing to film production and film exhibition. They would often

enforce this physically by sending thugs over to movie shoots to break up

filming and to confiscate cameras which they claimed were unlicensed.

Those who wanted to make films, but didn't want to pay fees to the Motion Picture

Patents Company, decided to get as far away from Edison and the Film Cartel as possible.

There was no air travel at this time, so getting from New York to

Los Angeles took quite a bit of time. Moreover, all of the federal offices and courts

on the West Coast were up in San Francisco. Best of all, if a production knew that the heat was on,

...