Hannibal Williston Goodwin (April 30, 1822 – December 31, 1900), patented a method for making transparent, flexible roll film out of nitrocellulose film base, which was used in Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope, an early machine for viewing motion pictures.

Goodwin began studying at Union Theological Seminary in New York City to become an Episcopal preacher.

In 1867, Goodwin came back to New Jersey settled down as the fifth rector of the House of Prayer Church in Newark, where he would serve the next twenty years.

[2] Goodwin was motivated to search for a non-breakable, and clear substance on which he could place the images he utilized in his Biblical teachings.

[2][4] He set up a chemistry lab in the attic of the Plum house rectory and sawed a five foot hole in the roof for better sunlight.