• Warner Brothers is one of the world's oldest and most-respected producers of film, television and music entertainment. Founded in 1923 by brothers Sam, Jack, Albert and Harry Warner, the studio revolutionized the movie industry with the 1927 release of the first "talkie," The Jazz Singer. Film Site: Film History

  On January 20, 2009, the studio announced that it would lay off 800 employees, or roughly 10% of its total staff.Deadline Hollywood: Warner Bros Announces 800 Layoffs (January 20, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Annual revenue: $43.6 billion (2005)
  2. Headquarters: Burbank, California
  3. Parent company: Time Warner Inc.
  4. Chairman and CEO: Barry Meyer
  5. Feature films in library: 6,650
  6. Television titles: 40,000
  7. Animated titles: 14,000

• Early History

  The Warner brothers did not begin producing films until 1918, but they had been distributing them for two decades prior to that, by traveling across Ohio and Pennsylvania exhibiting short silents such as The Great Train Robbery to audiences. When they realized they could make more money by creating films themselves, they moved to California and set up a small studio in Culver City.

  By 1928, the company had opened a large studio in Burbank where the headquarters remains to this day. Many of the best-known actors in history were hired as "contract players" for the early Warner Brothers, including Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Errol Flynn. By the 1930s, Warner Brothers had branched into animated films, creating the legendary characters of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, among others, for its Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series.

• Films

  Some of the greatest films of all time have been produced by Warner Brothers, including The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, A Streetcar Named Desire, Rebel Without a Cause and My Fair Lady. Warner Brothers entered the fledgling market of television in the Fifties and has since produced iconic hit shows such as Dallas, The Waltons and Murphy Brown.

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