May 1, 1901: Khan, Simeon and Harry Mankewitz arrive at Ellis Island, New York. At the processing station, Khan tells his brothers to forget their miserable, horrible, disgusting past and focus only on the future. They will become 'big deals' in America and make their deadbeat father and mother proud.

Mankewitz is shortened to 'Manka' by the Immigration Officer.

The Mankas (Khan remained 'Mankewitz' - only later, reluctantly, accepting Manka for business reasons) arrive in the Bulgarian secion of New York (along Avenues B and C at 3rd and 4th Streets).

Over the next couple of years, the brothers perform as juggling clowns on the streets for pennies.

The next year, Harry sees 'The Great Train Robbery.' He becomes hysterical believing the train on the screen is going to hit and kill him. He vowed never to see another 'moving picture' believing they would lead to the complete breakdown of society.

After being told this story, Khan Manka, on a whim, steals his much weaker brother Simeon's horse (and only friend) Princess and sells it to buy a movie camera. Simeon is completely devastated and, some say, he never recovered.

(After a lifetime of mental illness and several ill-advised movie projects, Simeon died in 1956 on Hollywood Blvd. wearing only a "Benny's World Of Beef" sandwich board advertisement.)

Khan Manka's first movies with his new camera were of his brother Simeon crying. These films were mildly successful with the public but not enough to pay the bills.

It wasn't until Khan filmed himself beating his brother Harry over the head with a juggling club (until he was unconscious) that they had their first breakout hit.

The Mankas were on their way!

The public's appetite for the Manka Bros.' funny violent films was so great, Khan had to invest some sort of softer whacking device so that his brothers could survive the daily pummeling. With the invention of the breakaway club, Khan had secured his legacy and earned his first patent.

Over the next couple of years, the Mankas were able to continually raise the admission prices to their movies because the demand was so high.

One night, after waking from a particularly violent nightmare, Simeon has the idea to sell everything they own to buy two more projectors, setting them up in nearby storefronts (effectively inventing the 'wide release').

The Khan Mankewitz Moving Pictures Company was up and running.

Christmas Day, 1910: The Manka Bros. move west to California, settling in the Bulgarian section of Los Angeles (3rd and Fremont - present day 3rd and Hill). But Khan grew tired of only making movies of his brothers getting beaten. He wanted more.

The decision to make 'more important movies' nearly ruined the company. They spent almost everything they had saved on a series of shorts about recent Turkish repression of the Bulgarians and the valiant way the Bulgarians  heroically fought and died.

They sold eight tickets. The company would probably have to shut down forever.

In an incredible stroke of luck, Simeon (while in an asylum to calm his nerves) filmed a basket of kittens playing with a ball of twin. It was this film - 'Kittens Playing With Balls Of Twine' - that pulled the Manka Bros. out of the poor house and back into the money.

Over the past 100+ years, Manka Bros. Studios has maintained its position as the World's Largest Media Company, bringing the world the greatest entertainment every produced - over 15,000 films, 500,000 hours of television, and hundreds of thousands of books, magazines, music copyrights and games - and all available whenever you want, however you want and on every platform imaginable.

And Manka Bros. is just getting started!