Having been talked into buying a projector during an interview with Thomas Edison, Blackton founded Vitagraph Studios in direct competition to the inventor. Initially on Nassau street, the partners moved to a studio in Midwood.

The Vitagraph Studios were considered leaders in the art of the silent movie in the early years of the 20th century. Between 1898 and 1926 the studio turned out hundreds of films that enthralled audiences nationwide

Specializing in short movies, the Vitagraph studios often employed vaudeville stars and well-known musicians. Capitalizing on their existing fame, Vitagraph was able to promote them throughout Europe and the Americas.

However, the salad days were not to last. With the onset of World War 1 (which disrupted Vitaphone's foreign distributors) and beginnings of the iron willed studio system, Vitagraph found itself squeezed on all sides.

Eventually, they were forced to knuckle under. Vitagraph was bought by Warner Brothers in 1925, and in 1928 they created a subsidiary that they called Vitaphone to exploit the new field of talkies. The first production was a short film showing the New York Philharmonic.

The Midwood studios were kept and the new Vitaphone movies were filmed there for years.