American Film Manufacturing Company

The American Film Manufacturing Company was founded in Chicago in the fall of 1910 by four Midwestern businessmen: Samuel Hutchinson, John Freuler, Charles Hite, and Harry Aitken. The company quickly acquired a roster of directors, writers, and performers by taking advantage of the nearby Essanay studio. Marketed under a winged trademark that earned it the nickname "the Flying A," the company initially operated in the Southwest before relocating.

In 1912, American Film Manufacturing moved to Santa Barbara, where it experienced significant success. During the mid-1910s, the Flying A studio became one of the largest in the country, transforming Santa Barbara into a major filmmaking center, second only to Hollywood. J. Warren Kerrigan was a prominent matinee idol, and Margarita Fischer became the studio's leading attraction, starring in a large number of Westerns, comedies, and dramas, with over a thousand titles produced.

The company's survival was closely tied to the early film distribution system. American Film Manufacturing primarily distributed its films through the Mutual Film Corporation, but when Mutual collapsed in 1918, the Flying A lost its primary distribution channel. A new distribution deal failed to reverse the company's decline, as output steadily decreased amid the industry's shift toward Hollywood. After Margarita Fischer left in 1921, the company had little remaining value and was soon dissolved. Santa Barbara's brief period as a film capital ended with the company's closure, and the Flying A's legacy faded into obscurity, its winged brand remembered as a minor footnote in the town's history.