http://www.mpo-video.com/

(Extracts from "our history" section:)

It all started in 1947 when Larry Madison, Judd Pollack, and Paul O’Hare got together to create MPO Videotronics, a production film company established to create high-budget public relations films for major corporations.

Long before television became a central medium, public relations films enjoyed widespread use.  Starting with only one client, Pan American Airlines, MPO launched its forces into full speed with a promotional film called “Wings to Hawaii.”  The high-quality work quickly paid off, attracting new clients to its roster.   In the early 60’s, MPO adapted its talent in film production to television commercials.

Boasting a client list that included Texaco, General Motors, Ford, Monsanto, and U.S. Steel, MPO won almost every award in the industry for their outstanding work during the 60’s.  At one time, MPO had the largest film production studio in New York, incorporating nine stages, 20 editing rooms, a set construction department, special effects and an animation department.  The client list grew to include virtually every major advertising firm, including J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy & Mather, Compton, Grey, Young & Rubicam… to name just a few.

In 1961, while becoming a leader in the film industry, MPO was also developing another facet of the business: sophisticated, integrated film projector systems.  Developed by a team that included Henry Mestrum (a former associate of Thomas Edison), MPO introduced its first portable projector system, the Videotronic 8.

This lightweight, self-contained unit offered a unique opportunity to salespeople for showing demonstration films in the field.  Its design allowed the unit to play continuously, making it very practical for retail displays.  Within two years, the system had been adopted by major consumer product companies, such as Proctor & Gamble, General Foods, Ralston, American Home Products and Bristol Meyers.

Due to increasing competition and an explosion caused by a gas leak in its Manhattan studios, MPO sold its film studios to Screen Gems in 1974.  Continued success of the integrated projector systems throughout the 70’s focused the company on video technology.  MPO had  the foresight to see that the trend toward video communications would lead to video as the standard medium in business.

In 1983, under the design of President, Larry Kaiser, MPO produced the first ever, all-in-one TV/VCR combo unit.  The new product went after the same portable presentations market of the 60’s and 70’s, only this time the unit combined a high quality seven-inch monitor with a VHS player/recorder.  Again, MPO was revolutionizing the market for portable sales presentations, training units and retail displays.  This product line, consisting of 5”, 7”, 10”, 13”, and 19” monitors, has been so successful, over 100,000 of these units have been sold to date.  In fact, this product even spurred a new division dedicated solely to maintaining a rental pool of more than 10,000 combo units for point-of-purchase display and training rentals.  The new division became POP-TV or, Point-of-Purchase Television.

In the late 1980’s, MPO took its expertise in audio and video products to the next level.  In association with Turner Network’s “Checkout Channel,” MPO performed 12,000 U.S. installations in only 2 years.  MPO designed custom monitor systems that had ambient volume control so they could be placed strategically in the checkout aisles of supermarkets where Turner broadcasting would be heard by waiting customers.  MPO was so successful at executing the technical installations in such a short time frame, Turner hired us again to pioneer the “Airport Channel.” MPO designed and installed complete audio/video systems in over 400 airport gates nationwide with “Airport Channel” terminals.