San Antonio, Texas, played a pivotal role in the Hollywood industry from 1910-1911, when French filmmaker Gaston Méliès set up Star Film Ranch near the Missions in San Antonio. The company produced about 70 silent films, often produced by Francis Ford, starring Edith Storey and Francis Ford. The studio was a proving ground for filmmakers to learn how to shoot outdoors and scale up Westerns. However, San Antonio failed to sustain as a film hub in the mid-1910s, with filmmakers moving to California for more varied landscapes and cheaper land. Much of the history of the film industry has faded, with many lost or scattered films, and early figures like Francis Ford not promoting their work. The book "The First Movie Studio in Texas" by Kathryn Fuller-Seeley and Frank Thompson explores this period, but it is believed that more San Antonio-made films may still be in archives or private collections.