CLAY COUNTY — What do John Travolta, Brooke Shields, Denzel Washington, Richard Conte, Rob Lowe, Courtney Cox, Judge Reinhold, Selma Hayek, Meryl Streep, Jon Voight, Anne Bancroft, Timothy Dalton, Colin Ferrell, James Wood, James Cromwell, Clarence Williams, Rue McClanahan, Cole Hauser, Frances McDormand, Angela Bassett, Edie Falco, Timothy Hutton, Alan King, Mary Steenburgen, James Gandolfini, Paul Rodriguez, William Conrad and Samuel L. Jackson have in common?

They’ve all been part of a movie production in Clay County.

Before the pandemic, Florida was an ideal location for filmmakers because it had little to no union costs and plenty of state and local incentives. Clay had some distinguishing locations like the historic courthouse and jail, the St. Johns River,  the Black Creek and Camp Blanding that fit perfectly into several scripts.

Kimberly Morgan, the county’s Director of Tourism and Film Development, said while the state removed incentives after COVID-19, Florida remains a popular destination for moviemakers.

“There has been a revival because there are more independent filmmakers,” she said. “We are constantly getting requests coming in. When we do, we do our best to service them.”

Many requests are for national commercials that don’t list their specific requirements.

“It’s not easy when you don’t know how to prepare,” Morgan said. “It’s never dull.”

The county’s ties to Hollywood span the entire spectrum, including major releases, short films, television shows, music videos and a song that was part of a live album.

The movie business was entrenched in the county long before the first film, “Under the Gun,” was shot in the Historic Courthouse in 1951.

Richard E. Norman was born in Middleburg in 1891. He was among the first to produce “race films” starring Black characters in positive, non-stereotypical roles, including the 1919 silent film “Green-Eyed Monster.” The City of Jacksonville purchased his original five-building studio in the Old Arlington Jacksonville neighborhood, and it is now part of the National Register of Historic Places.

At the turn of the century, the Northeast Florida area around Jacksonville earned the title of “Winter Film Capital of the World.” With easy rail access, comfortable climate, natural surroundings, diversity of architecture and inexpensive labor, the area became home to more than 30 movie studios.

The industry eventually moved to Southern California for two simple reasons: Florida gets more rain, and Hollywood was better prepared for “talkies,” or movies with actors with speaking roles. At the same time, the Jacksonville area studios were still focused primarily on silent films.

Nonetheless, the county has a deep cinematic history with projects like:

“Under the Gun,” 1951. Richard Conte is a ruthless mobster who is eating dinner with Ruth Williams when an enemy walks through the kitchen door and Conte’s character, Bert Galvin, shoots and kills him. The trial is filmed at the Historic Courthouse.

“Creature from the Black Lagoon,” 1954. Members of the geological expedition start getting killed after they find a prehistoric hand. What they don’t know is one of the fossil’s ancestors has been watching and killing them. The crew shoots the Creature before he disappears into the murky black water. Portions were filmed along the St. Johns River.

“ZAAT,” 1971. It is so bad the movie now has a cult following. The movie was filmed in the St. Johns River in Green Cove Springs and is about a mad scientist who turns himself into a mutated walking catfish to gain revenge against those who’ve scorned him.

“Vengeance: The Story of Tony Cimo,” 1986. William Conrad, Frances McDormand and Brad Davis recreate the lives of a family from South Carolina after parents Bill and Myrtle Moon were murdered during a robbery. The stepson, Tony Cimo, hired Pee Wee Gaskins to kill the man. Many of the scenes were filmed in and around the Historic Courthouse.

“Illegally Yours,” 1988. Rob Lowe is a college dropout who gets called for jury duty. To his surprise, it’s a woman (Colleen Camp) who’s been charged with murder. He had a crush on her in elementary school and did some investigating on his own, with disastrous results, during the trial. The movie was based in St. Augustine, but some of the critical scenes were shot at the Historic Clay County Courthouse in Green Cove Springs.

“Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer,” 1989. Courtney Cox and Perry King starred in this film about the scandalous divorce between Roxanne and Herbert Pulitzer following their whirlwind romance. Reynolds Industrial Park and Ponte Vedra Beach were featured for scenes.

“Road Raiders,” 1989. A spoof where things are historically out of place and facts that were “borrowed” from “The Dirty Dozen” and “The A-Team,” this zany movie stars Bruce Boxleitner and Noble Willingham about a saloon owner who organizes a misfit group to fight in World War II. Viewers will recognize Reynolds Industrial Park in portions of the movie.

“Brenda Starr, 1989. Starring Brooke Shields as Brenda Starr, Tony Peck as artist Mike Randall and Timothy Dalton as the mysterious Basil St. John, Randall draws the Brenda Starr comic strip and she comes to life. She goes to the Amazon jungle (we know it as the Black Creek) to find a scientist with a secret formula and keep it from foreign spies.

“G.I. Jane,” 1997. Large portions of the movie starring Demi Moore and Anne Bancroft were filmed at Camp Blanding. The U.S. Navy starts a program to allow women into the services, with Moore’s character, Lt. Jordan O’Neil, as the trial candidate.

“First Time Felon,” 1997. As a first-time felon, a young gangster from Chicago’s West Side, Greg Yance (Omar Epps) can serve 120 days in an intensive military-style boot camp or five years in prison with no parole. He chooses boot camp and winds up helping to save a town from flooding. Many of the boot camp scenes were shot at Camp Blanding.

“The General’s Daughter,” 1999. Once again, Camp Blanding was an easy choice to film on a military base. Starring John Travolta, Leslie Stefanson, James Wood, Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell and Clarence Williams, two MP investigators (Travolta and Stowe) are ordered to investigate the murder of an Army captain (Stefanson). They find a possible military coverup. Some of the stories are portrayed at Club Continental in Orange Park.

“Safe Harbor,” 1999. The television series lasted just one season, but Episode 11 was filmed on Walnut Street in Green Cove Springs. The plot is about a widowed sheriff, played by Gregory Harrison, trying to rear three rambunctious sons at a hotel owned by his mother, played by Rue McClanahan.

“Tigerland,” 2000. This movie was set at Camp Blanding. Young foot soldiers played by Colin Farrell, Matthew Davis and Cole Hauser Jr. trained at muggy “Fort Polk” before being sent to Vietnam. Meanwhile, a nation remains divided over the war, and Farrell’s character, Roland Bozz, defiantly finds ways to get soldiers out of the army. Director Joel Schumacher also used the alley behind the Florida Theatre for one scene.

“Sunshine State,” 2002. This star-studded film included Angela Bassett, Edie Falco, Timothy Hutton, Alan King and Mary Steenburgen, and it is set in the fictitious town of Delrona Beach. Real estate developers come to town with promises of quick and easy money, but locals are torn between family obligations and skepticism of the outsiders. One of the scenes was shot at the former Orange Park Kennel Club.

“Basic,’ 2003. With many scenes filmed at Cecil Commerce Center, Tom Hardy (John Travolta), an ex-Army Ranger turned DEA agent, is drawn into an ever-widening mystery surrounding the disappearance of the feared and often hated Sgt. Nathan West (Samuel L. Jackson), as well as several of his elite Special Forces trainees, was involved in what appeared, at first, to be a routine training exercise during a hurricane in the jungles of Panama.

“Manchurian Candidate,” 2004. The remake of the original 1962 film starred Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Jon Voight and Liev Schreiber. Washington’s character has nightmares and doubts about one of his fellow soldiers after his squad was ambushed in the Gulf War. Washington’s buddy becomes a vice-presidential candidate, and Washington learns he has a chip embedded in his back to erase his memory. Scenes were filmed at the Reynolds Industrial Park in Green Cove Springs.

“Things That Hang From Trees,” 2006. Connie Mae is a single mother and lingerie model in a Bible Belt 1960s southern town, a one-woman scandal. She struggles to keep her life afloat amongst judging small-town eyes that both resent and love her beauty. Portions of the movie were filmed at several sites around Green Cove Springs, including a tree behind the Walgreens on Orange Avenue.

“Lonely Hearts,” 2006. Cecil Commerce Center was the backdrop for one of the scenes about a true story about two homicide detectives, played by John Travolta and James Gandolfini, who track Martha Beck (Salma Hayek) and Raymond Martinez Fernandez (Jared Leto), a couple known as the “Lonely Hearts Killers,” who lured their victims through personal ads.

“Comics Open,” 2012. Starring Judge Reinhold, James Adomian, Paul Rodriguez and Ellia English, a group of golf-crazed stand-up comedians stage a golf tournament to save an old comedian’s retirement home from the collaboration between the mayor and a developer. The movie was shot at Magnolia Point Golf and Country Club in Green Cove Springs.

“Hopscotch,” 2014. Filmed in Orange Park and Green Cove Springs, the movie is a thriller about a hooker named Bridget who is lured to a beautiful house by two women. Tension rises when one of the hosts realizes she knows and dislikes Bridget from school.

“That’s No Bear,” 2016. Buddies Sam Campbell and Mitchell wanted to spend a weekend in the woods (in Green Cove Springs) hunting, but they soon realized something was out there in the fog hunting them. The movie was part of Baron Von Laugho’s Halloween Spook-A-Thon.

“Cirque du Mors,” 2016. Director Taylor Walsh used a home in Green Cove Springs as the house where the lead, Alayna Decelles, lived. She was an imaginative young girl who had to fight against the malicious madman before she lost her soul forever.

“Rumorsa,” 2018. An investigative reporter has a website that debunks common legends and myths. The reporter, Carter Burwell, believes there are no such things as monsters or ghosts until he gets an email from someone challenging him to contact “the filmer.”

“Broad Day,” 2023. Based on the story of a local drug lord named Ellis Jones, portions of the movie were shot in Green Cove Springs. It follows his ins and outs as he opens his heart and learns about the people who betrayed him.

“Right This Way,” 2023. Filmed in Orange Park, Director Kane Bumpers made a four-minute dark comedic short between an antagonist (Matthew Adams) and protagonist (voice of Bumpers).

“The Creature From Beyond The Woods,” 2023. A mad scientist accidentally creates a monster from a formula he intended to use on himself. The monster arises from “Lake Carpenter” to wreak havoc. The movie was shot primarily around Green Cove Springs, a mix of comedy, horror and science fiction. It was a low-budget project that won LOL awards for best makeup and costumes.

“Rights of a Father,” 2024. The newly-released film features scenes from the Historic Courthouse, and it makes the thoughtful argument of both sides of a man’s and a woman’s feelings and thoughts on abortion for their unborn child.

Clay County also has been home to music videos, like:

“Poseidon’s Warriors,” 2010. The video highlights the eight-book series written by Alyssa Day of a beautiful kingdom under the seas and a few warriors who act as sentinels for humans in the new world. The video was filmed at the Historical Jail, St. Augustine Lighthouse and St. Augustine Beach.

“Cover Girl,” 2022. This poignant song was filmed at Ronnie’s Wings and Oyster Bar (now Roger That Wings and Things) in Green Cove Springs, and it deals with a model’s battle with domestic abuse. Coached by voice coach Marie Hardway, singer LeeAnn Purvis implores the model to expose his violence, to blow his cover … girl.

And the county was home to a music recording. The live album, 38 Special Live From Texas, was released in 2011 and included a 2009 Clay County Agricultural Fair song when Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant joined his older brother Donnie Van Zant and the rest of 38 Special to perform “Help Somebody.” Twenty songs were recorded in Texas, but the seventh track came from the Cattleman’s Arena. If you pay attention, you can hear Johnny say, “Sing with us, Clay County,” in the middle of the song.”