Metro Pictures

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Metro Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company founded in late 1915 by Richard A. Rowland (1880-1947) and Louis B. Mayer (1885-1957). The company started out distributing films made by Solax Studios but Mayer left soon after operations began to form his own company in 1918. Richard Rowland would continue to produce a number of films in New York City, Fort Lee, New Jersey and in Los Angeles.

In 1920, the company was purchased by Marcus Loew as a supplier of product for his theater chain. A few years later, Loew merged it with his recently acquired Goldwyn Picture Corporation to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Although the Metro library and stars were merged with MGM in the early 1920's, Rowland's Los Angeles film studio continued a life of its own. It was known simply as Motion Picture Studios through the 1940's, and Desilu Studios through the 1950's and 1960's. Today it's called Ren-Mar studios. It's located on Cahuenga Blvd. north of Melrose Avenue in Hollywood (directly behind the Musicians AFM Local 47 on Vine Street).

Fairly recently, David E. Kelley taped several of his TV programs there, including, 'Picket Fences', 'Ally McBeal', and 'The Practice'.

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