Before Hollywood, Florida was already making movies. A new exhibit tells the story
By Gloria Falach, Matthew Peddie
October 2, 2026 at 5:00 AM EDT
On "Florida Matters Live & Local," Rodney Kite-Powell with the Tampa Bay History Center discussed "Cinema in the Sunshine State" and how the visitors can learn more about Florida's legacy in the film industry.
Long before Hollywood became synonymous with moviemaking, filmmakers were bringing cameras to Florida.
Rodney Kite-Powell discusses the Tampa Bay History Center's exhibit of Florida's film history during a recent "Florida Matters Live & Local." (577x675, AR: 0.8548148148148148)
A new Tampa Bay History Center exhibit, "Cinema in the Sunshine State," explores those early film annals, the studios that operated here, the actors that took part and the importance of the 100-year-old Tampa Theatre.
Rodney Kite-Powell, director of the Tampa Bay History Center's Touchton Map Library and Florida Center for Cartographic Education, visited WUSF's “Florida Matters Live & Local”
and discussed the exhibit and the state's movie legacy.
Florida has been home to many major releases, including "Cocoon," "Moonlight," "Magic Mike", "Edward Scissorhands," "Spring Breakers," "Dolphin Tale" and "The Punisher." They included stars such as Elvis Presley, Lupe Vélez, Johnny Depp, Channing Tatum, Morgan Freeman and Burt Reynolds.
Kite-Powell referenced some of those and others who came to the state over the decades.
The following interview transcript was edited for clarity and brevity.
What can people expect to see in this exhibit?
It's really an overview of the film industry in Florida. And when we think about Hollywood dominating the film industry — and of course it does now — but in the early 1900s, as the film industry was just beginning, places like Jacksonville and even here in Tampa were home to movie studios.
You can go back even further to the beginning of motion pictures with Thomas Edison. He didn't invent it, but he perfected it. And in 1898, during the build-up of the Spanish-American War, he actually sent people from his team to film the soldiers here in Tampa. So some of the earliest moving pictures of Tampa date from that time, and we have some of that footage on display.
You can go to the Library of Congress and see a good bit of it, but we've captured some clips, and there's unfortunately nothing really recognizable because the soldiers were out in the woods, which is Tampa Heights now, or down in Port Tampa City. But it's great to see that.
And again, you think about all the different movies that were filmed here; some of them were great, and some of them were more infamous than famous.
There was one in the 1990s called "Cop and a Half," which starred Burt Reynolds, directed by Henry Winkler. Neither one of them were really doing great in their careers at that time. There's lots of scenes that were filmed around Tampa.
This archive image from 1913 shows the making of "Birth of a Race" (released in 1919), which was filmed in and around Tampa, including this scene in Sulphur Springs. The title, added probably after 1915, was a reference and rebuttal of D.W. Griffith's controversal "Birth of a Nation." (600x338, AR: 1.7751479289940828)
Tell us more about the "Birth of a Race" film.
One of the earliest, most iconic films that was not filmed here was "Birth of a Nation," directed by D.W. Griffith, and it was heavy with racial overtones. The response film that was made was filmed in Florida called "Birth of a Race".
Unfortunately, it didn't have the same traction and the same distribution that "Birth of a Nation" had. At that time, movie studios and movie theaters were nascent. I think it kind of proved the concept that African American filmmakers could produce films just like white filmmakers, and they could have a voice to them as well.
In the early 1900s, were there places in Florida that featured minstrel and vaudeville films and shows?
Here in Tampa, there were all kinds of vaudeville theaters. But the beginnings of movie theaters started in the early 1910s in downtown. Most cities of any size would have a small space movie theater with a very small screen to show these early films, but they also would have a stage where vaudeville acts could perform.
There was also a Black vaudeville troupe here: a man named Chappelle, an African American man who was a comedian and actor, had his own vaudeville shows that he brought through what was then Fort Brooke, which is now where the history center is and Water Street.
The audiences were pretty distinct from the standpoint of Black productions. Black theaters would play white movies, and so there's a great photograph of the Lincoln Theater on Central Avenue in the Black business district in Tampa, and you can see the movie posters from the 1920s or '30s of the movies being played around the country.
The Follow That Dream Parkway sign on State Road 40 in Levy County refers to the 1961 film starring Elvis Presley that was filmed in the parkway location. (3264x2448, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Were there any big actors who got their start in the Tampa Bay region?
The most famous actors and actresses to come to the area was in 1929 for a movie called "Hell Harbor" that was released in 1930. There was a woman named Lupe Vélez, and she was really one of the biggest stars of the time. The film was filmed in Florida but was set in the Caribbean.
"Hell Harbor" is a good example that Tampa was kind of a surrogate for the Caribbean in general. "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954), which is one of the most iconic Florida films, Wakulla Springs kind of doubled as the Amazon.
With "Hell Harbor," they did need some local extras, and one person they found to be kind of the heavy in the movie, almost kind of borderline monster, but really just more of this kind of intimidating character, was a local man named Rondo Hatton.
He had this condition (acromegaly) where the cartilage in his body kept growing, and he actually himself kind of kept growing a little bit. So he was a very large man, and so he was perfect for this heavy role. But then he actually went onto a pretty marginal kind of B-movie career as a monster, as it were.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4UcUTx2j4k
Musician and actor Elvis Presley was a huge star in the '50s, starring in "Follow That Dream" and other films all filmed in the Central Florida area. Tom Petty, another famous singer, actually got his inspiration after seeing all the attention that Elvis drew from filming "Follow That Dream."
What about the activity happening with animation, television and production in Orlando with Disney and Universal?
That was a real high point of Florida. This comes much later in the '80s and '90s, early 2000s. Because Universal is such a huge movie studio, utilizing that space and utilizing all of the talent that is in Central Florida for both entities. Obviously, they're very different —Disney and Universal — but both of them have film arms, and so it was a very important studio space.
Never quite rivaling Hollywood, but there also were a lot of incentives in place at the time to bring that level of movie-making to Florida.
Do you have a favorite part of the exhibit?
I am really proud of our partnership with the Tampa Theatre. So we, in addition to talking about movies being made here and Florida being the setting for these movies, we also look at the theaters.
The Tampa Theatre is such an icon, not just in Tampa, but in the whole region. Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, we really wanted to bring it into the exhibit as well.
So we have in the history center's collection some of the original building plans from John Eberson, who designed the theater, as well as some architectural elements and furniture that the theater has given to us, large tapestry that was originally in the theater that they replaced during the remodeling.
"Cinema in the Sunshine State" at the Tampa Bay History Center runs through March 21.
This story was compiled from interviews conducted by Matthew Peddie for "Florida Matters Live & Local." You can listen to the full episode here.
Rodney Kite-Powell discusses the Tampa Bay History Center's exhibit of Florida's film history during a recent "Florida Matters Live & Local." (577x675, AR: 0.8548148148148148)
A new Tampa Bay History Center exhibit, "Cinema in the Sunshine State," explores those early film annals, the studios that operated here, the actors that took part and the importance of the 100-year-old Tampa Theatre.
Rodney Kite-Powell, director of the Tampa Bay History Center's Touchton Map Library and Florida Center for Cartographic Education, visited WUSF's “Florida Matters Live & Local”
and discussed the exhibit and the state's movie legacy.
Florida has been home to many major releases, including "Cocoon," "Moonlight," "Magic Mike", "Edward Scissorhands," "Spring Breakers," "Dolphin Tale" and "The Punisher." They included stars such as Elvis Presley, Lupe Vélez, Johnny Depp, Channing Tatum, Morgan Freeman and Burt Reynolds.
Kite-Powell referenced some of those and others who came to the state over the decades.
The following interview transcript was edited for clarity and brevity.
What can people expect to see in this exhibit?
It's really an overview of the film industry in Florida. And when we think about Hollywood dominating the film industry — and of course it does now — but in the early 1900s, as the film industry was just beginning, places like Jacksonville and even here in Tampa were home to movie studios.
You can go back even further to the beginning of motion pictures with Thomas Edison. He didn't invent it, but he perfected it. And in 1898, during the build-up of the Spanish-American War, he actually sent people from his team to film the soldiers here in Tampa. So some of the earliest moving pictures of Tampa date from that time, and we have some of that footage on display.
You can go to the Library of Congress and see a good bit of it, but we've captured some clips, and there's unfortunately nothing really recognizable because the soldiers were out in the woods, which is Tampa Heights now, or down in Port Tampa City. But it's great to see that.
And again, you think about all the different movies that were filmed here; some of them were great, and some of them were more infamous than famous.
There was one in the 1990s called "Cop and a Half," which starred Burt Reynolds, directed by Henry Winkler. Neither one of them were really doing great in their careers at that time. There's lots of scenes that were filmed around Tampa.
This archive image from 1913 shows the making of "Birth of a Race" (released in 1919), which was filmed in and around Tampa, including this scene in Sulphur Springs. The title, added probably after 1915, was a reference and rebuttal of D.W. Griffith's controversal "Birth of a Nation." (600x338, AR: 1.7751479289940828)
Tell us more about the "Birth of a Race" film.
One of the earliest, most iconic films that was not filmed here was "Birth of a Nation," directed by D.W. Griffith, and it was heavy with racial overtones. The response film that was made was filmed in Florida called "Birth of a Race".
Unfortunately, it didn't have the same traction and the same distribution that "Birth of a Nation" had. At that time, movie studios and movie theaters were nascent. I think it kind of proved the concept that African American filmmakers could produce films just like white filmmakers, and they could have a voice to them as well.
In the early 1900s, were there places in Florida that featured minstrel and vaudeville films and shows?
Here in Tampa, there were all kinds of vaudeville theaters. But the beginnings of movie theaters started in the early 1910s in downtown. Most cities of any size would have a small space movie theater with a very small screen to show these early films, but they also would have a stage where vaudeville acts could perform.
There was also a Black vaudeville troupe here: a man named Chappelle, an African American man who was a comedian and actor, had his own vaudeville shows that he brought through what was then Fort Brooke, which is now where the history center is and Water Street.
The audiences were pretty distinct from the standpoint of Black productions. Black theaters would play white movies, and so there's a great photograph of the Lincoln Theater on Central Avenue in the Black business district in Tampa, and you can see the movie posters from the 1920s or '30s of the movies being played around the country.
The Follow That Dream Parkway sign on State Road 40 in Levy County refers to the 1961 film starring Elvis Presley that was filmed in the parkway location. (3264x2448, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Were there any big actors who got their start in the Tampa Bay region?
The most famous actors and actresses to come to the area was in 1929 for a movie called "Hell Harbor" that was released in 1930. There was a woman named Lupe Vélez, and she was really one of the biggest stars of the time. The film was filmed in Florida but was set in the Caribbean.
"Hell Harbor" is a good example that Tampa was kind of a surrogate for the Caribbean in general. "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954), which is one of the most iconic Florida films, Wakulla Springs kind of doubled as the Amazon.
With "Hell Harbor," they did need some local extras, and one person they found to be kind of the heavy in the movie, almost kind of borderline monster, but really just more of this kind of intimidating character, was a local man named Rondo Hatton.
He had this condition (acromegaly) where the cartilage in his body kept growing, and he actually himself kind of kept growing a little bit. So he was a very large man, and so he was perfect for this heavy role. But then he actually went onto a pretty marginal kind of B-movie career as a monster, as it were.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4UcUTx2j4k
Musician and actor Elvis Presley was a huge star in the '50s, starring in "Follow That Dream" and other films all filmed in the Central Florida area. Tom Petty, another famous singer, actually got his inspiration after seeing all the attention that Elvis drew from filming "Follow That Dream."
What about the activity happening with animation, television and production in Orlando with Disney and Universal?
That was a real high point of Florida. This comes much later in the '80s and '90s, early 2000s. Because Universal is such a huge movie studio, utilizing that space and utilizing all of the talent that is in Central Florida for both entities. Obviously, they're very different —Disney and Universal — but both of them have film arms, and so it was a very important studio space.
Never quite rivaling Hollywood, but there also were a lot of incentives in place at the time to bring that level of movie-making to Florida.
Do you have a favorite part of the exhibit?
I am really proud of our partnership with the Tampa Theatre. So we, in addition to talking about movies being made here and Florida being the setting for these movies, we also look at the theaters.
The Tampa Theatre is such an icon, not just in Tampa, but in the whole region. Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, we really wanted to bring it into the exhibit as well.
So we have in the history center's collection some of the original building plans from John Eberson, who designed the theater, as well as some architectural elements and furniture that the theater has given to us, large tapestry that was originally in the theater that they replaced during the remodeling.
"Cinema in the Sunshine State" at the Tampa Bay History Center runs through March 21.
This story was compiled from interviews conducted by Matthew Peddie for "Florida Matters Live & Local." You can listen to the full episode here.