STUDY: MONROE IS WEALTHIEST COUNTY IN FLORIDA

And Among The Most Generous

One of the many motion pictures that will be explored at the June 7 lecture about filmmaking in Florida is ‘Carib Gold,’ which was largely filmed in Key West. KEY WEST ART & HISTORICAL SOCIETY/ Contributed

On Wednesday, June 7, history and media studies professor David Morton will give a talk on the history of filmmaking in Florida as part of the Key West Art & Historical Society’s Distinguished Speaker Series. His lecture, “Motion Pictures at a Great Savings: A History of Florida’s Film and Television Industry,” takes place from 6 to 7 p.m. at Tropic Cinema, 416 Eaton St.

Often overlooked in its contribution to film history, Florida has played a key role in creating the modern entertainment industry. Morton’s presentation will discuss how Florida became a “third coast” to the American film and television industries over the past 100 years. Starting with the first film pioneers in Jacksonville during the 1900s and 1910s to South Florida’s television boom during the 2000s and 2010s, Florida has inspired countless stories captured by the camera.

“The history of filmmaking in Florida offers an alternate universe of sorts, raising the question, what might the American motion picture industry have looked like if it had not been encumbered by the hegemony of the Hollywood studio system?” says Morton. “Unlike California, where the center of production has consistently been centered around Los Angeles, at different times over the past century Florida has had several different major production hubs.”

Several films will be highlighted during the presentation, including “The Flying Ace,” “The Yearling” and “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” The program also will emphasize the motion picture “Carib Gold,” which was filmed largely in Key West during the 1950s. Starring Ethel Waters, Coley Wallace and Cicely Tyson, “Carib Gold” is a maritime-themed B-movie that tells the story of a sailor on a shrimp boat fishing off the Florida Keys who discovers a sunken treasure of gold while diving to repair some nets and tries to lay claim to it. Violence erupts onboard the vessel resulting in the death of the captain. A manhunt ensues through the Keys by the harbor police and in several local seedy bars until the killer is brought to justice.

Morton received his doctorate in texts and technology from the University of Central Florida in 2019, where he also is an instructor in both history and media studies. He was a recipient of the 2016-17 Fulbright scholarship and serves as program director for the Flickering Landscapes conference series. His forthcoming book, “Motion Pictures at Great Saving: A History of the Florida Film and Television Industry” is expected for publication in 2023 with University Press of Florida. Tickets are at kwahs.org/dss-morton and cost $12 for KWAHS members and $15 for non-members.

— Contributed

Anew study from SmartAsset investment website analyzed the places in Florida with the highest per capita wealth, and Monroe County tops the list.

A December 2022 study by the same group also ranked Monroe among the most generous counties in Florida, second only to Collier County, which is the second wealthiest county in the state.

To identify the wealthiest counties, SmartAsset compared all U.S. counties across three metrics: investment income, property value and per capita income.

“We started the analysis by calculating the Investment Index for each county by evenly weighing the ordinary dividends, qualified dividends and net capital gains. From there we calculated the median home value, and the per capita income for each county, and ranked them on all three metrics,” according to a press release.

“We calculated a wealth index for all U.S. counties based on a combination of these three metrics and ranked them accordingly to provide a holistic view of what areas of the U.S. are accumulating the most wealth.”

The generosity study measured how much people donate as a percentage of their net income and the proportion of people in each county who make charitable donations.

The top 10 wealthiest counties in Florida, according to the study, are: Monroe, Collier, St. John’s, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Martin, Broward, Sarasota, Seminole and Sumter counties.

The top 10 most generous counties, as of December 2022, are: Collier, Monroe, Martin, Palm Beach, Walton, Sarasota, St. John’s, Indian River, Nassau and Gadsden.

— Contributed