Alliances Quote by Edward Jay Epstein
“What guided Chaplin was the proper protection of self-interest (or craziness). So Chapling, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mark Pickford, with DW Griffith and William S Hart, made an alliance, called United Artists, whereby they would own a distribution company that would market their pictures, allowing them a greater return than if they leased the movies to some outside distributor.”
About This Quote
Source Film: United Artists founding story, 1919
Chaplin and peers formed United Artists to control distribution and secure better profits, protecting their creative and financial interests.
In simple terms: They created their own company to keep more earnings and control.
Key Takeaway
Own your work to protect your interests.
Themes
entrepreneurship
creative control
collaboration
Mood
determined
pragmatic
Type
historical
business.
When to use this quote
- independent filmmaking
- negotiating contracts
- building partnerships
- protecting intellectual property
Key Concepts
business strategy
artist rights
film history
Questions to Reflect On
- How does ownership affect artistic risk?
- What are the trade‑offs of self‑distribution?
A Different Perspective
May limit creative freedom due to business pressures.
![“[U]nless oppressed groups stick together, and on alliances of self interest rather than do-goodism; nothing can be accomplished in the long run to dismantle the apparatus of oppression.” quote by Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d7b/shulamith-firestone-12980_accomplished_u-nless-oppressed-groups-stick-together_5485.jpg)
