Motion Picture, the First Magazine for Movie Fans, Launches on This Date (1911)

Motion Picture Magazine was an American monthly magazine for movie fans, published from 1911 until 1977. Motion Picture was established by Vitagraph Studios co-founder J. Stuart Blackton and his partner Eugene V. Brewster with the original title The Motion Picture Story Magazine. Unlike earlier film magazines such as The Moving Picture World, whose target audience was film exhibitors, The Motion Picture Story Magazine was aimed at regular moviegoers and is widely regarded as the first fan magazine.

The magazine was very successful from its inception, with an initial run of 50,000 copies and a circulation of 200,000 by 1914. Inventor and film equipment pioneer Thomas Edison was featured on the cover of the first issue of The Motion Picture Story Magazine. Contributing writers for the publication included Rex Beach, Will Carleton and Horatio C. King.