Trivia

He already realised first short movies in 1906 and with "Von Stufe zu Stufe" (08) followed the first public showing and is regarded as the birth of the Austrian film.

After his death in 1922 his wife Luise Kolm got married with the director Jacob Fleck and was well-known under her new name Luise Fleck from now on.

Vita-Film produced a number of films there, such as the epic Samson und Delila (1922), but like many other European film-related businesses was forced into bankruptcy in 1924 by the flood of cheap American films, with which the European film industry was mostly unable to compete.

In 1910 he founded together with his wife and Jacob Fleck the "Erste österreichische Kinofilms-Industrie", renamed to "Wiener Kunstfilm-Industrie" in 1911. Kolm occupied himself principally with the finances and the direction of the business, and was only actively involved in a part of the firm's productions, while his wife, one of the earliest female film directors, was responsible for the creative work.

In 1919, with his wife and with financial support from the Depositenbank, he re-founded the Wiener Kunstfilm-Industrie as Vita-Film. Work immediately began on the construction of the Rosenhügel Film Studios, which were already in use before their completion in 1923.

Besides has financial activity he also realised three movies as a director.

A skilled photographer, he started to make short films privately from as early as 1906, but these were not intended for cinemas.

The photographer and film producer Anton Kolm belongs together with Jacob Fleck and his wife Anna Kolm to the founders of the Austrian film business.

His role in the film business was especially the financial part whereas his wife took over the art direction.

Anton Kolm had disposed of his interest in the Vita-Film company in 1922, after disputes over financial matters. He died on 11 October 1922 and did not see the closure of Vita-Film. His wife Luise and his business partner Jacob Fleck moved to Berlin, where they married the following year.

Anton Kolm's son by Luise, Walter Kolm-Veltée, was also involved in the film industry, and among other things established a film academy at the University of Vienna.

Anton Kolm was an Austrian photographer who became one of the first film directors and film producers in the history of Austrian cinema.

Inspired by his father-in-law the pyrotechnist Louis Veltée (who showed Lumière's first living pictures to a larger audience in his "Vienna City Panopticon" on Kohlmarkt), he acquired a camera in Paris and began using film as early as 1897.

In 1915, Kolm produced the first major films, including the film "Der Traum eines österreichischen Reservisten" for which C. M. Ziehrer wrote the first specially composed film music.

In 1906, he and his wife Luise started shooting short daily scenes on video. Due to a lack of financial support, it was mostly static urban life in and around Vienna. Horse races, swimming afternoons, and other events.