Biography
Edwin S. Porter (also credited as Edwin Stratton Porter) was an American film pioneer who worked as a director, producer, writer and cinematographer. He joined the Edison Manufacturing Company in 1900 and took charge of motion picture production at its New York studios.
Porter is best known for his work on The Great Train Robbery (1903), on which he served as director, producer, writer and cinematographer, and for Life of an American Fireman (1903). He also directed Electrocuting an Elephant (1903) and Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906). His films helped develop continuity editing and the use of the shot as a basic unit of film structure. Four of his films were later selected for the National Film Registry.
After leaving Edison in 1909, Porter formed his own companies and joined the Famous Players Film Company in 1912, where he directed several feature films including Tess of the Storm Country (1914).
