Looking Back #1 ~ Alexander Film Company

The Alexander Film Company was a mega employer in Colorado Springs and has had various incarnations through the years as the Alexander Aircraft Company, The Alexander Studios, Alexander Industries, Alexander Enterprises, and Alexander Film & Video Services.

Many of the original building from this mega-complex have been sold off. KKTV 11 studios were in the old sound stage and the middle of the lot is now an indoor and outdoor warehouse and storage facility.

**** Congratulations to crumbcrunchers for FTF ****

Alexander Film Company was founded by J. Don and Don M. Alexander, in Spokane, WA in 1919. The brothers purchased a defunct motion picture advertising firm and proceeded to build a successful commercial enterprise together.

Their thriving business quickly outgrew the Spokane facilities and in 1923 the Alexander Film Company purchased a studio in Englewood, Colorado. Covering nearly two full city blocks and featuring an imposing administration building, the larger facility enabled the firm to expand its sales. J. Don recruited ambitious salesmen through a liberal commission policy and developed sales manuals and training programs to increase their effectiveness.

He considered train travel too time consuming so he purchased a second hand airplane for their use on sales trips. Dissatisfied with the performance of the aircraft, however, he asked the company engineers to design a small, lightweight airplane that could be operated with a minimum of expense. The result was the Alexander Eaglerock which was first flown by Joseph Hammer, a test pilot, in September of 1925.

The Alexander Film Company and the Alexander Aircraft Company became divisions of Alexander Industries, which was established as a Colorado Corporation in 1924. After production began, sales of the Eaglerock boomed and the firm became the second largest builder of airplanes in the world with 33 distributors and 143 dealers throughout the nation.

Alexander Enterprises moved to Colorado Springs, CO in April 1928 to their 260 acres site on North Nevada. This new plant was under construction. The Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce had purchased an additional 90 acres of land for an airfield and had raised $50,000 in private subscriptions to insure the firm's relocation in the city.

Due to the popularity of movie entertainment during the depression years of the 1930's and the war years of the 1940's, the Alexander Film Company enjoyed a sustained growth in the production and sale of its advertising units. In October of 1939 the firm purchased its largest competitor, TAD Screen Advertising Incorporated of Dallas, Texas.

The market crash of 1929, however, ended the market for small aircraft. Sales of the Eaglerock and the Bullet dropped and orders were cancelled. To protect the profitable film company, which was now subsidizing the production of airplanes, the Alexander Aircraft Company and Alexander Industries filed for bankruptcy and liquidation of its assets in 1932.

By the early 1950's, the Alexander Film Company was producing between 2,000 and 3,000 films annually to meet the demands of its advertisers and to maintain a library of films covering 8,200 different subjects. Production facilities in Colorado Springs included a large stage capable of housing 32 full size motion picture sets; modern laboratories for complete black and white and color film processing; a sound recording department; and an art department capable of creating cartoon animation, stop motion, backgrounds and other special movie effects. The company also had its own maintenance and engineering department to repair and service equipment and to deign new stage equipment. All of the forms, contracts and company publications were printed in the on-site printing department. The company employed 600 people locally and the annual payroll exceeded $2,500,000.

The company was also producing film for 75 of the nation's leading manufacturers including General Motors, U. S. Rubber, Ford Motor Company, Philco, Hotpoint and Seven-Up. Regional offices in Dallas, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles were established to enable national advertisers to purchase film or film series featuring their product.

With the advent of television and the closing of neighborhood theaters throughout the country, Alexander Film Company turned to producing advertising films for the television market. However, the firm was a non-union organization and because its films did not have a union label they were blacklisted by union technicians and cameramen. When the management of the firm refused to allow its workers to unionize, it became impossible for national advertisers to use Alexander commercials. The firm did have some success in the local and regional television markets of Denver, Salt Lake City, Omaha, Dallas and Oklahoma City, but the competition of local producers pushed Alexander out of the market and the television production business.

J. Don Alexander, an aggressive businessman with a flair for public relations was also active in community affairs, particularly with the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, and Junior Achievement. He was also active in the Boy Scouts of America and in 1945 provided leadership and capitol for the establishment of Camp Alexander, a Boy Scout camp located near Lake George, Colorado.

Today, Alexander Film Company exists as Alexander Film and Video Services. Over the last couple of decades the primary business has been with film and tape transfers, duplications, and replications. The video production department was recently resurrected.

Our cache is located on Private Property but is outside of the locked and gated area. The business owners are supportive of the cache and are quite friendly. :)

If you find this cache interesting, the Penrose Library has an entire section on The Alexander Film Studios for your learning enjoyment. We have also attached several photos.

Please enjoy some history: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CO/Airfields_CO_ColoradoSprings.htm#alexander

Stay tuned for more caches in this series...