A hundred years ago he was one of the biggest names in show business, the godfather of documentary filmmaking. The first person ever to make travel films, BURTON HOLMES invented the genre and coined the word “travelogue” in 1893.
He traveled over 3 million miles in a filmmaking career that would span six decades. Holmes personally narrated his travelogues live, from the stages of packed auditoriums in cities across America – thousands donned their formal evening clothes and paid six dollars a head to hear his dramatic storytelling about his adventures, experience his larger than life white-tie-and-tails persona and watch his silent films, in a time when the latest Hollywood blockbuster could be seen for a quarter. Holmes made the first motion pictures ever taken of Imperial Japan, the Great Wall of China, the Giza Pyramids and much of the First World War. He documented the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 1904 and rode on the very first full running of the TransSiberian Railway across Asia – with nothing but a movie camera, his tuxedo and one spare change of clothing because he had emptied his trunk in Moscow in order to bring as much unexposed film with him as possible.
Although Burton Holmes died in the late 1950s, his production company, Burton Holmes Travelogues, survived into the 1980s. I was privileged, in the early days of my career, to work there, under the watchful eyes of some of the greatest documentary filmmakers Hollywood has ever produced, some of whom had worked with and been trained by Holmes personally. I have many times visited Holmes’ estate in the heights of the Hollywood Hills (before it was torn down and the property “developed”). In that elegant era, grand houses had names, not merely address numbers; Holmes named his house “Topside” due to both its altitude and its panoramic views. That unique and wonderful place, and the adventures and spirit of a man I never met but felt I knew well, have always inspired me to do my best work as a filmmaker: to astutely observe the world and tell its story on the screen – to work to an exacting and professional standard of technical expertise yet keep the story, not just the information, front and center by making sure it is delivered with an exciting and engaging style. I have made that my life’s work and I still do it to this day – albeit with more modern methods: on digital video instead of nitrate film and on the Internet instead of places like Carnegie Hall. Today I apply the skills I learned and the talents I developed at Burton Holmes Travelogues in the service of business clients, worthy causes and non-profits. I branded my company in honor of Topside, and can only hope to live up to Holmes’s legacy. Whether your story is The Next Big Thing or a timeless classic, contact me and I’ll help you tell your story to the world.