Film Booking Office of America

Encyclopedia : F : FI : FIL : Film Booking Office of America

Film Booking Office of America or FBO, was an American film studio and distributor -- founded in 1920 as Robertson-Cole and then became FBO in 1922 -- which specialized in Westerns produced cheaply. FBO was in financial trouble in late 1925 and asked Joseph P. Kennedy to help find a new owner. Kennedy liked the business so much he formed his own group of investors to buy it for $1.5 million.

Kennedy then moved to Hollywood in March 1926 to focus on running the studio. Movie studios were then permitted to own exhibition companies, and often found it necessary to own both the studio and the theater chain in order to get their films screened in major cities. With that in mind, Kennedy acquired the Keith-Albee-Orpheum (KAO) theater chain, which had more than 700 vaudeville and movie theaters across the United States. He later acquired another production studio Pathe Exchange, owned by the French giant, Pathé.

In October 1928, Kennedy merged FBO and KAO, along with RCA Photophone from RCA Radio Corporation of America, led by David Sarnoff, to form the new movie studio Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO).

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