A handful of significant literary works and authors are associated with Jacksonville and the surrounding area.
Perhaps the most important is James Weldon Johnson, who moved North and was influential in the Harlem Renaissance.
In 1920 he also became the first African American to lead the NAACP civil rights organization.
His first success as a writer was the poem "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" (1899), which his brother Rosamond Johnson set to music; the song became unofficially known as the "Negro National Anthem."

Already famous for having written Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), northern writer Harriet Beecher Stowe published Palmetto Leaves in 1873.
A travel guide and memoir about her winters in the town of Mandarin, Florida, it was one of the first guides written about Florida and stimulated the state's first boom in the 1880s of tourism and residential development.

Jacksonville embraced the movies.
Sun-Ray Cinema, also known as the 5 Points Theatre and Riverside Theatre, opened in 1927.
It was the first theater in Florida equipped to show the new "talking pictures" and the third nationally.
It is located in the Five Points section of town and was renamed as the Five Points Theater in 1949.

The Florida Theatre, also opened in 1927, is located in downtown Jacksonville and is one of only four remaining high-style movie palaces that were built in Florida during the Mediterranean Revival architectural boom of the 1920s.
Since that time, Jacksonville has been chosen by a number of film and television studios for location shooting.
Notable motion pictures that have been partially or completely shot in Jacksonville since the silent film era include the classic thriller, Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).

Since the late 20th century, the city has attracted numerous film companies, which shot The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988), Brenda Starr (1989), G.I. Jane (1997), The Devil's Advocate (1997), Ride (1998), Why Do Fools Fall In Love (1998), Forces of Nature (1999), Tigerland (2000), Sunshine State (2002), Basic (2003), The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Lonely Hearts (2006), Moving McAllister (2007), The Year of Getting to Know Us (2008), The Ramen Girl and Like Dandelion Dust.

Notable television series or made-for-television films that have been partially or completely shot in Jacksonville include Inherit the Wind (1988), Orpheus Descending (1990), Saved by the Light (1995), The Babysitter's Seduction (1996), First Time Felon (1997), Safe Harbor (2009), Recount (2008), American Idol (2009), and Ash vs Evil Dead (2015).
A handful of significant literary works and authors are associated with Jacksonville and the surrounding area. Perhaps the most important is James Weldon Johnson, who moved North and was influential in the Harlem Renaissance. In 1920 he also became the first African American to lead the NAACP civil rights organization. His first success as a writer was the poem "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" (1899), which his brother Rosamond Johnson set to music; the song became unofficially known as the "Negro National Anthem."
Already famous for having written Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), northern writer Harriet Beecher Stowe published Palmetto Leaves in 1873. A travel guide and memoir about her winters in the town of Mandarin, Florida, it was one of the first guides written about Florida and stimulated the state's first boom in the 1880s of tourism and residential development.
Jacksonville embraced the movies. Sun-Ray Cinema, also known as the 5 Points Theatre and Riverside Theatre, opened in 1927. It was the first theater in Florida equipped to show the new "talking pictures" and the third nationally. It is located in the Five Points section of town and was renamed as the Five Points Theater in 1949.
The Florida Theatre, also opened in 1927, is located in downtown Jacksonville and is one of only four remaining high-style movie palaces that were built in Florida during the Mediterranean Revival architectural boom of the 1920s. Since that time, Jacksonville has been chosen by a number of film and television studios for location shooting. Notable motion pictures that have been partially or completely shot in Jacksonville since the silent film era include the classic thriller, Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).
Since the late 20th century, the city has attracted numerous film companies, which shot The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988), Brenda Starr (1989), G.I. Jane (1997), The Devil's Advocate (1997), Ride (1998), Why Do Fools Fall In Love (1998), Forces of Nature (1999), Tigerland (2000), Sunshine State (2002), Basic (2003), The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Lonely Hearts (2006), Moving McAllister (2007), The Year of Getting to Know Us (2008), The Ramen Girl and Like Dandelion Dust.
Notable television series or made-for-television films that have been partially or completely shot in Jacksonville include Inherit the Wind (1988), Orpheus Descending (1990), Saved by the Light (1995), The Babysitter's Seduction (1996), First Time Felon (1997), Safe Harbor (2009), Recount (2008), American Idol (2009), and Ash vs Evil Dead (2015).
Jacksonville, Florida