The Early Days
Charles Vaughn, Don Hudgins and Gene Nottingham formed what was to become Cinetron Computer Systems Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia around 1971..
But before that, Charlie and Don worked at Storer Studios in Atlanta for several years prior to the formation of Cinetron.
It was during that time that they were introduced to Gene Nottingham, an engineer at Lockheed Aircraft Company in nearby Marietta, Georgia. Charlie and Don were busy filming and directing Television Commercials and Industrial Films for Storer Studios and Gene was helping some instructors and artists at the Atlanta Art Institute with the creation of environmental sculptures when he wasn’t working in the Flight Test Lab at Lockheed.
But wait… There’s more to it than that and right about now is a good time to ramble a bit and give more details about the players in the early Cinetron story and shine a bit more light on Storer Studios itself and how it played a part in the eventual emergence of Cinetron.
Before the establishment of Storer Studios in 1966, Charlie was a staff photographer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, then
later cinematographer and Assistant to the News Director at WAGA-TV, the CBS television affiliate in Atlanta. The Miami based media giant, The Storer Broadcasting Company, owned WAGA-TV along with a number of other television stations, radio stations and several newspapers around the country as well as a regional airline.
During his time at WAGA-TV, Charlie and Bob (Robert M.) Storer, who was the son of the station owner and a salesman at WAGA-TV, became friends. Bob, himself an amateur photographer, had a fascination with motion pictures and a strong desire to become involved in movie production. It was inevitable, it seems, that and he and Charlie would collaborate on a moonlighting venture shooting TV spots and industrial films. Working out of the trunks of their cars, they shared shooting, lighting, editing, sound, grip and janitorial duties with Bob taking the lead in selling their somewhat constrained capabilities.
Eventually, their loose partnership gelled into a corporation: Storer Studios, Inc. Bob provided the financial backing for the venture and served as the company President and CEO while Charlie served as Vice President and handled most of the technical duties.