Miami Studios and Early Film Production in South Florida

Abstract

This article examines the history of silent film production in south Florida with a focus on production context. Interest in south Florida as a site for film production increased around 1919 and flourished for several years. Production activity in south Florida in the early 1920s centered around Miami Studios in Hialeah, built in the summer of 1921. Within four short years, the facility had become virtually unutilized for film production. By reconstructing the events and processes surrounding the production of motion pictures filmed in south Florida—utilizing contemporaneous newspaper and magazine reports, business records and correspondences, and other extant archives—this study questions why film producers were interested in Florida and seeks to elucidate why this interest shifted by the end of the silent era. Focus will center around the production of D.W. Griffith’s The White Rose, filmed at Miami Studios during the 1922–23 winter season. This investigation demonstrates that the seasonality of Florida film production, despite the presence of industry heavyweight Griffith, ultimately led to the failure of Miami Studios to sustain long term operations.