Proposed Screen Talent Studios 1922 Florida State Archives |
During the 1920s, the film industry flourished in Hollywood, California while South Florida land sales boomed. Some thought movies and Florida would make a good match. In 1922 Miami-based Barkdull Investment Company advertised lots in the Fort Lauderdale Herald (October 3, 1922) for a development that would house Screen Talent Studios. A ten-acre piece of land was purportedly bought for $3,000,000 (not verified) where a “Greenwich Village” was to house a production crew. Many residential lots sold for $50 each but the movie studio didn’t materialize in Oakland Park, now bordered by Fort Lauderdale. South Florida may have rivaled Hollywood in film making … or maybe not.
Tags: film industry Florida, Florida film industry research, early film makers in Florida, film, Fort Lauderdale history, Oakland Park history