William Kennedy Laurie Dickson was an American inventor who is credited with the invention of the motion picture camera under the employ of Thomas Edison. In fact, Edison saw very little value in the contraption, but thought that it might be served to endorse his phonograph. On January 7, 1894 Dickson received a patent for motion picture film. It is generally believed that Dickson produced the world's first film, "Dickson Greeting", in 1891.