Edwin Stanton Porter (1870 - 1941) pioneered American film as a cinematographer, producer, director, and studio manager. His one-reel film, The Great Train Robbery, had a running time of twelve minutes. Even by today's standards, it's a true action movie containing plenty of suspense and mayhem.

Wikipedia contributors, "Edwin S. Porter," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edwin_S._Porter&oldid=809899422 (accessed March 13, 2018). Photo: By Unknown - The theatre of science; a volume of progress and achievement in the motion picture industry by Robert Grau. p. 68. First published 1914, now PD., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4846250