Industrial Films

Industrial films showing factories and the process of tasks would often be repurposed to outside audiences to highlight the company and quality of goods.

Industrial films had a variety of business applications, as this advertisement emphasizes, so put them to work for you!

Application of film to the needs of business through industrial and training films happened early in the development of the nontheaterical space. Eager to convince private enterprise of the worthwhile benefits of investing in film, nontheaterical filmmakers began creating works for businesses by the 1890s.⁶⁷ Large corporations were the primary targets of early filmmakers due to the costs of creating films and procuring equipment. Trade publications were influential in the early spread of new industrial film techniques and business support.⁶⁸ To serve their clients, production companies sprouted up around areas of concentrated manufacturing and industrial production, like Detroit.⁶⁹ The field would see significant growth as 16mm and 8mm film and projectors were introduced. Lessening the costs for content creation and exhibition was crucial for growth within industrial films as businesses calculated their returns on investments. In 1947, costs for nontheaterical film production were estimated to be about 1,000 dollars per minute. The use of animation, a frequent in industrial films as a demonstration aid, expanded that number even higher, with estimates of $3,000 to $10,000 per minute depending on the quality of animation. Animation ballooned costs due to the need for 24 individual drawings made per second.⁷⁰ Supplemental materials, like discussion plans and printed materials, often created in connection with the films themselves could also cost extra.⁷¹ As industrial nontheaterical films were shown to audiences for free, the return on investment could only be rationalized if a high number of people could view the film, providing a low cost per view.⁷² To limit costs, production and distribution companies would reuse films, edit existing films to fit new needs, and share existing films with other companies through film catalogs.⁷³ By the second half of the 20th century, a flourishing industrial film market would take shape.

Industrial films are a broad grouping of films which all serve to further specific aspects of a business or broader industry. While nontheaterical film scholars debate specifics on subgroupings of industrial films, generally films are grouped by scholars depending on the intended audience for the project.⁷⁴ Films made for internal audiences, individuals within a given business, focused on increasing efficiency and productivity. Two of the major film types for internal audiences were time-motion studies and training and demonstration films for employee education.⁷⁵ Time-motion studies, pioneered by Frank and Lillian Gilbreath, spread the efficiency hunting of Taylorism to film by examining tasks through reviewing film of a worker performing a task.⁷⁶ Training and demonstration films assisted employees by explaining a task with visuals. The creation of a moving image filming the specific operations in sequence are often referred to as process films, as the product demonstrates the procedure of creating a product or conducting a task.⁷⁷ On the other hand, films for external audiences, individuals outside of a business, consisted of films to promote sales or the company’s image.⁷⁸ Showings to the general public varied, with a few industrial films shown as prefeatures in movie theaters.⁷⁹ It should be noted that industrial films were frequently made, or repurposed, for multiple audiences.⁸⁰ A training film demonstrating how a machine works could be shown to new workers learning their position, as well as presented to the general public as a promotional film to highlight the products and company. Categorizing industrial films is difficult as the number of industrial nontheaterical films, which, along with educational films, make up the most populated categories of nontheatrical film.⁸¹ The depth and variety of industrial films continued to diversify as the twentieth century progressed. 

Some industrial film listings were placed next to educational and science films, due to their similar potential uses in schools for potential future employees.

The field saw notable growth after the end of World War II. During the War, the US government funded numerous industrial process and other training films to assist with production in wartime activities. No small feat, with a plethora of citizens in wartime production and more than 10 million active military members entering new duties, securing victory in the war required ample training resources.⁸² These films demonstrated the potential of the genre to private businesses, free from economic rationalizations. After the war, companies specializing in industrial films and business advertising saw expansion across the country. One of the most notable was Centron Films.⁸³ Far from the traditional centers of film creation, Centron Films was based out of Lawrence, Kansas. Actually advantageous to Centron Films, the location allowed for cheap labor costs and a central distribution location to much of America.⁸⁴ Growth was quick, going from six employees and a revenue of $4,000 in 1947 to 36 employees and just over a million dollars in revenue by 1970.⁸⁵ With the industrial film business highly dependent on economic conditions, many film companies like Centron diversified into other nontheatrical film categories.⁸⁶ While growth in industrial nontheaterical film continued into the 1970s, new video technologies would spell the decline for film-based content. Centron Films would be no exception, ownership elected to sell the company to Coronet in 1981 with mounting financial pressures and greater competition in television segments.⁸⁷