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Thomas Brandon

1908 – 1982

Founding member of Workers Film and Photo League

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About Thomas Brandon

Lived 1908 – 1982 (aged 73–74).

Thomas J. Brandon (1908–1982) was a founding member of the New York Workers Film and Photo League. He later worked as a film distributor for Garrison Films, which distributed films such as People of the Cumberland and The Spanish Earth. Brandon then founded his own company, Brandon Films in November 1940 and acquired the Garrison catalog. During the 1950s, Brandon Films owned the largest collection of 16mm available for general release in the United States. He was the first president of the New York Film Council, and helped to found the short-lived Film Forum in 1933 with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sidney Howard. In 1968, Brandon sold his company to Macmillan; the new entity became known as Audio-Brandon. Audio-Brandon was later acquired by Films Inc.

Brandon's work in the 1970s to reclaim and publicize the history of 1930s film activism is an important source for film historians. Brandon's unpublished manuscripts and documents on radical film history are deposited at the New York Museum of Modern Art Film Study Center. Films from his collection were donated to several archives including the Museum of Modern Art and the U.S. Library of Congress, and others.

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Important facts

Born
1908
Birth century
Died
1982

People in Thomas Brandon's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Thomas Brandon's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Thomas Brandon?

founding member of Workers Film and Photo League

When was Thomas Brandon born?

Thomas Brandon was born in 1908.

When did Thomas Brandon die?

Thomas Brandon died in 1982.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Thomas Brandon

· Wikidata: Q20002636

· DBpedia: Thomas Brandon (film distributor)

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Thomas Brandon. https://biography.guide/thomas-brandon-1908/

MLA: "Thomas Brandon." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/thomas-brandon-1908/.

Chicago: "Thomas Brandon." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/thomas-brandon-1908/.

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