At the end of the war, Sidney Morgan understanding
the situation with American films presenting better grade films, was a strong
spokesman in 1917 for the creation of 33% quota so the British film industry
could have a chance to catch up with technology advances that had taken
place during the war. The British film industry drug their feet and Morgan
became extremely disgruntled.
In 1918, Morgan, who had previously produced
films during the war under the names Renaissance Films
(1915-1916) and Unity Super (1916-1917), formed Progress Film Co. He used
his daughter Joan as the leading lady in the majority of his films. Joan
and Sidney are shown here at Shoreham.
In 1920, Morgan purchased Shoreham Studio
in Sussex and moved all of his production there. Morgan also expanded the
studio, adding several departments to keep overhead to a minimum. This drastic
step allowed Morgan to stay profitable while other similar production companies
were losing money. Morgan made arrangements with Butcher's Film Service
for all the distribution.
With the industry demanding a wider variety of films,
Morgan struggled to keep Progress going until the studio caught fire in
1922 and burned down causing Morgan to cease all production and closed Progress.
Here's what we have on Progress
in our archive
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