Small Florida Town Set The Stage For Tim Burton Classic

A favorite fun fact among Lutz and Tampa residents, the Tim Burton film Edward Scissorhands was filmed 30 years ago in the Carpenter’s Run subdivision.

In the summer of 1990, Burton chose Carpenter’s Run as his film site and a Tampa-based casting director to source local actors/extras.

Kathy Lockwood, who still lives in the area and works at the University of Tampa, was cast by Rosen and was on the set almost daily during filming.

“I think it was just a generic, Springfield USA type of a place” Lockwood said. “I’m walking along and I’m thinking, this is a world that we’re creating, but someday it’s going to be out there. People are going to be fans of it and it’s just cool to think that I’m here in this world”.

While most of the filming locations have changed or are long gone, a few remain almost untouched, including the large vault in front of which Edward Scissorhands applied for a bank loan. To this day, that vault is located in the management officers of Rivergate Tower in downtown Tampa, which some call the Sykes building. Another filming location that has hardly changed is the Southgate shopping center in Lakeland, which Burton chose because of its retro look and was the site of a hair salon in the movie.

"Any time you watch Edward Scissorhands, I can see where I'm at. I can see where my store is at," said Faye Doppelheuer, who used to own a business across from the shopping center before moving into Southgate in 1998. "Almost weekly, we have someone in our center that wants to know, 'Where was the movie filmed? Where was the beauty shop located?'" All these years later, what still stands out is the movie's message, straight from the director's heart. "I think this is a very personal movie for Tim," Rosen said. "I think it told his personal story of growing up in the suburbs and being ostracized for his creativity and his uniqueness."