Established in Turin in 1906 by the pioneering filmmaker Arturo Ambrosio, assisted by cinematographers Giovanni Vitrotti and Roberto Omegna, the company initially produced large numbers of documentary and fictional short films, but its output quickly grew more ambitious.

The film was a major success, further enhancing the company's status and creating a fashion for Italian historical epics which other studios copied.

[1] The company built a large studio and picture house in Turin, and the city emerged as a major centre of the early Italian film industry.

In February 1909 Ambrosio took part in the Paris Film Congress, an attempt by leading European producers to form a cartel similar to that operated by the MPPC in the United States.

The company enjoyed success exporting its films to lucrative foreign markets such as Britain and America (Ambrosio opened an affiliate in New York).