Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa finds himself without adequate funding to finance his war against the military-run government. He also finds himself at odds with the Americans because of the William Randolph Hearst media empire's press campaign against him. To counter both of these threats, he sends emissaries to movie producers to convince them to pay to film his progress and the actual battles. Producer D.W. Griffith is immediately interested and convinces Mutual Film Studios boss Harry E. Aitkin to send a film crew. Aitkin's nephew Frank Thayer is initially a mere errand boy for the studio, but he makes a good impression with Villa, who demands that Thayer be placed in charge of the project. Thayer and a camera crew team film Villa leading his men to victory in battle. Despite the failure of this initial footage (which draws derisive laughter from potential backers) Thayer convinces Aitkin to invest even more money in a second attempt, and also convinces Villa to participate in making a more narrative film.