The First Hollywood

Shawn C. Bean

ISBN 10: 0813081041 / ISBN 13: 9780813081045

Published by University Press of Florida, US, 2025

About this Item

Florida Book Awards, Gold Medal for Florida NonfictionInside the filmmaking industry in Jacksonville before the rise of HollywoodJacksonville, Florida, was the center of the infant film industry. Devastated by fire in 1901, rebuilt in a wide variety of architectural styles, sharing the same geographic and meteorological DNA as southern California, the city was an ideal location for northern film production companies looking to relocate.In 1908, New York-based Kalem Studios sent its first crew to Jacksonville. By 1914, fifteen major companies-including Fox and Metro Pictures-had set up shop there. Oliver Hardy, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, and the Barrymores all made movies in the Florida sunshine. In total, nearly 300 films, including the first Technicolor picture ever made, were completed in Jacksonville by 1928.But the city couldn't escape its past. Even as upstart Hollywood boosters sought to discredit Jacksonville, the city's influence diminished from a combination of political upheaval, simmering racial tensions, disease, and World War I. Shawn Bean uses first-person accounts, filmmaker biographies, newspaper reports, and city and museum archives to bring to light a little-known aspect of film history. Filled with intrigue, backroom shenanigans, and missed opportunities, The First Hollywood is just the kind of drama we've come to expect from the big screen.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780813081045

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The First Hollywood
• Publisher: University Press of Florida, US
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813081041
• ISBN 13: 9780813081045
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.24W x 1.22H x 22.86D centimeters 15.24 centimeters width by 1.22 centimeters height by 22.86 centimeters depth

About this title

Synopsis

Florida Book Awards, Gold Medal for Florida Nonfiction

Inside the filmmaking industry in Jacksonville before the rise of Hollywood


Jacksonville, Florida, was the center of the infant film industry. Devastated by fire in 1901, rebuilt in a wide variety of architectural styles, sharing the same geographic and meteorological DNA as southern California, the city was an ideal location for northern film production companies looking to relocate.

In 1908, New York-based Kalem Studios sent its first crew to Jacksonville. By 1914, fifteen major companies—including Fox and Metro Pictures—had set up shop there. Oliver Hardy, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, and the Barrymores all made movies in the Florida sunshine. In total, nearly 300 films, including the first Technicolor picture ever made, were completed in Jacksonville by 1928.

But the city couldn't escape its past. Even as upstart Hollywood boosters sought to discredit Jacksonville, the city's influence diminished from a combination of political upheaval, simmering racial tensions, disease, and World War I. Shawn Bean uses first-person accounts, filmmaker biographies, newspaper reports, and city and museum archives to bring to light a little-known aspect of film history. Filled with intrigue, backroom shenanigans, and missed opportunities, The First Hollywood is just the kind of drama we've come to expect from the big screen.

About the Author

Shawn C. Bean is head of creative at Firecrown. Twice named Writer of the Year by the Florida Magazine Association, he is a former music and theater reviewer for the Miami New Times and former senior editor of Florida Travel + Life.