Updated: August 2026
Anna Maria Island has always had a way of stopping people in their tracks. The light, the water, the unhurried pace. It turns out Hollywood noticed long before Instagram did.
Two films and two television productions have used the island as a backdrop, decades apart and worlds apart in style. One brought MGM royalty to a remote barrier island in 1947. One brought Denzel Washington to the area in 2003. Two more brought HGTV cameras to real island homes. All four left a mark on its story.
On an Island with You (1948)
In the summer of 1947, Anna Maria Island became Hawaii.
MGM arrived with one of the biggest casts the island had ever seen: Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montalbán, Cyd Charisse, Jimmy Durante, and Xavier Cugat. The film, released in 1948 as On an Island with You, was a Technicolor musical romantic comedy that needed a tropical island setting. Anna Maria Island, with its white sand beaches and lush landscape, fit the bill perfectly.
Esther Williams led elaborate water ballet sequences in the Gulf while Cyd Charisse danced rumba on the sand with an orchestra playing nearby. For a small barrier island that had only had a bridge to the mainland for a few decades, the arrival of MGM was nothing short of extraordinary.
The filming did not come without drama. Cyd Charisse tore ligaments in her knee during the big ceremonial dance sequence on the island, ending up in a cast for two months. A substitute dancer finished her scenes, photographed from a distance so audiences would not notice. Esther Williams herself sprained her ankle during another scene. For a light and breezy musical comedy, it was a surprisingly eventful shoot.
What makes this chapter of the island’s story even more interesting: Esther Williams liked Anna Maria Island enough that she bought property here. Whether she ever lived on it remains unknown, but the island clearly made an impression.
The film itself is a charming relic of Hollywood’s golden era.
Out of Time (2003)
More than half a century later, Hollywood came back to the area.
Out of Time is a 2003 mystery thriller directed by Carl Franklin and starring Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, and Sanaa Lathan. Washington plays Matt Whitlock, the police chief of a small Florida town who finds himself framed for a double homicide and racing to clear his name before his own detective wife catches up with him. It earned a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes and solid reviews for Washington’s performance. Roger Ebert praised the Florida setting as an asset to the film’s neo-noir atmosphere.
Filming took place across several Florida locations including Cortez, the historic fishing village just across the bridge from Anna Maria Island, which I cover in depth in my The Historic Cortez Fishing Village” My Insider Guide, along with Casey Key, Boca Grande, and Miami.
Out of Time is a genuinely fun thriller: stylish, fast-paced, and well worth watching before or after a trip to the area.
House Hunters and Beachfront Bargain Hunt: Renovation
Anna Maria Island has made it to HGTV more than once.
In the episode “Coaches on Florida’s Coast” (Season 69, Episode 8), House Hunters followed Scott and Kim, two soccer coaches working long days at a Bradenton athletic training center, as they searched for a home on the island that would feel like a permanent vacation. Their budget forced a choice between more space or a spot right on the beach.
House Hunters returned to the area again with “Knock Down Walls vs. Cannonballs” (Season 244, Episode 4, aired December 14, 2023), which followed a family looking to relocate for more space and to be closer to the beach. One half of the couple wanted to renovate to get exactly what the family needed, while the other wanted something move-in ready with a pool for their young boys.
In 2017, HGTV also filmed an episode of Beachfront Bargain Hunt: Renovation called “Smilin’ on Anna Maria Island” (Season 2, Episode 8), which followed a woman and her grandmother as they searched for a beach home on the island and took on a tight-budget renovation to turn it into their seaside getaway. The episode aired July 15, 2017, and locals still remember it fondly, with a viewing party held at the Beachhouse restaurant the night it aired.
A Longer Film History Than You Might Expect
These productions are the most notable, but Anna Maria Island’s relationship with Hollywood goes back even further. In 1921, actor Paul Gilmore purchased 40 acres at what is now Coquina Beach with the intent to build a film colony: Paul Gilmore’s Oriental Film City. Only one film was ever made there before the Florida land boom crashed and the project collapsed. It was the island’s first brush with Hollywood, and it set a precedent for the productions that would follow.
Anna Maria Island has had its Hollywood moments in music too. Shinedown filmed the music video for “Second Chance,” released in 2008, on and around the island. The video follows a teenage girl pursuing her dream of becoming a dancer, and local residents appeared alongside the band. A few recognizable filming locations to look for:
- Periwinkle Plaza in Anna Maria
- Silver Surf Resort in Bradenton Beach
- Star Fish Company in Cortez
If you plan to spot any of these locations in person, my Things to Know Before Visiting Anna Maria Island: My Insider Guide is a good place to start planning your trip.
Watch and Stream Before You Visit
Both films are worth watching with Anna Maria Island in mind. One for the nostalgia of seeing the island stand in for a South Sea paradise, and one for the fun of spotting Cortez on screen. The HGTV episodes are worth a watch too, if only to see a few familiar streets and beach accesses on your screen before you walk them yourself.
In the meantime, if you want to explore the island’s story beyond the screen, The History of Anna Maria Island: My Insider Guide is a good place to start.
Coastal Close
Anna Maria Island has been quietly extraordinary for a long time. Hollywood figured that out in 1947 and came back decades later to confirm it. HGTV and streaming cameras have found it too. The island has not changed much since. That is exactly the point.
— izzy