William D. Foster and Noble Johnson are among the many African-Americans noted for their parts in the birth of filmmaking and credited for featuring length films. Foster founded Foster Photoplay Company in Chicago in 1910. He was the first black man to found a film production company and would become the first black director two years later after directing a short two reel comedy, The Railroad Porter in 1912. His career began as a sports writer for a local black newspaper. Foster proved temporarily fruitful as a producer quickly churning out three short films in 1913 that were directed, written, and starring all black members. After Foster’s company failed due to distribution issues, other enthusiasts followed in his footsteps in 1915. Actor Noble Johnson and his brother George founded The Lincoln Motion Picture Company to produce black films, by black people, starring black actors. In 1916, the brothers relocated from Omaha, Nebraska to Los Angeles where they joined actor Clarence Brooks, and local entrepreneurs, Willies O. Tyler, Dr. James Thomas Smith and Dudley A. Brooks. Together they, they managed and produced “race films” or films for black audiences usually meant for distribution through “Midnight Rambles,” segregated midnight showings of films to black audiences. The Lincoln Company produced socially conscious films like The Realization of a Negro’s Ambition (1916) and the ambitious The Trooper of Company K (1917), which told a story of the real life troops K and C of the all African American Tenth Calvary in the Mexican-American war.
African American Filmmakers
in Black History