Editing La Mesa, California (section)

=== Silent film history ===
[[File:The Bandit of Point Loma poster.jpg|thumb|212x212px|''The Bandit of Point Loma'' (1912)]]
From 1911 to 1912, film pioneer [[Allan Dwan]] kickstarted his career in La Mesa, directing over 150 silent films produced by [[Flying A Studios]]. He often used local mentions in the title of his works such as ''Bonita of El Cajon'', ''Mystical Maid of Jamacha Pass'', ''The'' ''Bandit of Point Loma, The Land Baron of San-Tee'', ''and The Winning of La Mesa''. After Dwan moved to [[Los Angeles]] for the rest of his career, it was reported that La Mesa missed its chance to be "Hollywood before Hollywood."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Newland |first=James D. |date=2011-08-10 |title=Proto-Hollywood: 100 Melodramas Were Made In La Mesa 100 Years Ago |url=https://patch.com/california/lamesa/100-simple-melodramas-were-made-in-la-mesa-100-years-ago |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120214913/https://patch.com/california/lamesa/100-simple-melodramas-were-made-in-la-mesa-100-years-ago |archive-date=2015-11-20 |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=[[Patch Media]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Khari |date=2013-12-31 |title=La Mesa's Cinematic Past Focus of Silent Film Festivity |url=https://patch.com/california/lamesa/la-mesas-cinematic-past-focus-of-silent-film |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016151609/https://patch.com/california/lamesa/la-mesas-cinematic-past-focus-of-silent-film |archive-date=2015-10-16 |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=[[Patch Media]] |language=en}}</ref>