This story, which you find on Wikipedia and elsewhere, isn't true: in 1896 the vaudeville performer, cartoonist, illustrator, and reporter J. Stuart Blackton interviewed Thomas Edison and was so inspired by Edison's movie studio that the following year he and his vaudeville partner, magician Albert Smith, started their own.
American Vitagraph, Shakespeare Movie Pioneers
American Vitagraph, Shakespeare Movie…
American Vitagraph, Shakespeare Movie Pioneers
This story, which you find on Wikipedia and elsewhere, isn't true: in 1896 the vaudeville performer, cartoonist, illustrator, and reporter J. Stuart Blackton interviewed Thomas Edison and was so inspired by Edison's movie studio that the following year he and his vaudeville partner, magician Albert Smith, started their own.