They were an interesting breed.  Part showmen, part gambler, part entrepreneur, part renegade, and 100% risk-takers.

They were characters, oddballs, inventors, and businessmen.  Many were immigrants with an entrepreneurial spirit. They made their money by the seat of their pants, not on superior business skills or outstanding movie making.  They did everything by instinct, opportunism, exploitation, and, many times, on just a whim.  Most of them failed miserably, some of them succeeded, and some built empires that endure to this day.

Nearly all of them have faded into history, just a footnote in some obscure book or website.  Though mostly forgotten, their stories, their work, their studios are the stuff that legends are made of, and are the foundation on which the entire entertainment industry is built.

Before we forget who they were, let's memorialize them and their stories.