Steward of the Keys: Chris Sloan
Chris Sloan arrived in the Florida Keys the way most great love affairs begin — unexpectedly, on a whim, and without a hotel reservation.
It was Memorial Day weekend of 1990, not long after he'd moved to Miami from Oklahoma, when he pointed his car south and just kept driving. He bought a bicycle that morning, pedaled around Key West for the first time, had lunch at Pepe's, and then, discovering there wasn't a room to be had, turned around and drove all the way home, rolling into Miami at 4 a.m.
"You always want to leave them wanting more," Sloan said. "Key West left me wanting a lot more."
From a One-Day Trip to a 35-Year Love Affair
Today, Sloan — a videographer, producer, and founder of Miami-based 2C Media who also works as a correspondent in aviation media, owns a home in the heart of Old Town Key West, which he shares with his family and calls the Southernmost Sloan Home. He doesn't rent it out. He reserves it for family and close friends, people he wants to infect with the same passion he feels for the island.
"I've been to about 50 countries and all 50 states," Sloan said. "And I always say, if someone told me I could either have those 50 countries, or everything south of the Miami-Dade/Monroe County line, I'd choose the Keys. Without hesitation."
That belief in community is woven into everything Sloan does in the Keys. He and his family's philanthropic work is channeled through the Caleb & Calder Sloan Awesome Foundation, established in memory of his late son, Calder, nicknamed “Mr. Awesome.” The foundation supports Key West charities including Wesley House Family Services, the United Way, SOS, and Kids Come First.
YouTube: @TimeFliesTravelVideos
From Paradise Interrupted to Priceless Moments in Time
When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered Key West in 2020 and the Monroe County checkpoints sealed the Keys off from the rest of the world, Sloan didn't stay away. He brought a semi-truck full of food to Key West City Hall to help feed residents who were struggling, and then he picked up his camera.
What he found was an island unlike any he'd ever seen: its streets empty, its waters clear and tranquil, the quiet profound. He called it "a beautiful zombie apocalypse." He made a film called “66 Days: Paradise Interrupted,” chronicling what Key West looked and felt like during the lockdown.
But the film was only the beginning. Sloan had been flying drones recreationally for years, and COVID had given him a new clarity of purpose. He obtained his FAA drone certification, secured the necessary clearances to fly over one of the most regulated airspaces in America, and began what would become a four-year odyssey: documenting city blocks, landmarks, neighborhoods and waterways of Key West in high-resolution 4K timelapse video.
The result is a sweeping, soaring video series that covers Key West, Stock Island, Key Haven and the surrounding backcountry waters. The series required over a year and a half of editing by a small team that, along the way, fell as much in love with Key West as Sloan himself.
Sloan donated the complete video series to Visit Florida Keys for use on the destination's visitor information website. It is dedicated in loving memory to Cheryl Cates and her daughter, Crystal.
Q&A with Key West Storyteller Chris Sloan
What message do you want your actions and example to communicate to people you encounter or those that watch your videos?
Chris Sloan: I wanted a permanent, beautiful documentation of the way this place was in this era for people who had to leave because of the cost of living, or for people who want to show their grandkids what it was like. For snowbirds who daydream. And honestly, for all of us.
When you stand in one place for four hours waiting for the light — I'd have five cameras set up on the roof of the La Concha for a sunrise-to-sunset timelapse — you see things you never see as a passerby.
Key West is an onion. Every time I thought I was done, another layer revealed itself.
What is it that you love most about Key West?
CS: I call it Mayberry with margaritas. You can walk anywhere at any hour. It's this tiny, quirky, exotic, tropical civilization — but underneath the fun, there's history, hard work, sacrifice, and people who genuinely have each other's backs and support each other. It's like school spirit, but for a whole island.
What about the community lifted and inspired your already philanthropic spirit?
CS: Our family's philanthropic work is channeled through the Caleb & Calder Sloan Awesome Foundation, established in memory of our late son, Calder, nicknamed “Mr. Awesome.” We were so inspired by the supportive and giving spirit of the people we met in Key West that now the foundation supports local charities including Wesley House Family Services, the United Way, SOS, and Kids Come First.
What part of your giving back is particularly meaningful to you?
CS: My work with and support of Conch 5 Studios at Key West High School. Our foundation helps fund and mentor the school's incredible, award winning media production program, giving students the tools, training, and inspiration to tell their own stories. We always want to over-index and over-contribute. Key West has given so much to us. We don't want to be people who just come in and take."
Besides your videos, how do you share your love of Key West with the rest of the world?
CS: I travel a lot. My aviation media projects take me around the world and my favorite thing is to wear Key West Conchs shirts from Key West High School, Conch Republic hats and other island gear. I call it "Conch Pride Worldwide."
It's the ultimate icebreaker, and honestly, I don't care if they love Key West and want to tell me about that, or if they’ve never heard of Key West. I'm just happy to talk about it.
What aspects of the Keys way of life matter most to you?
CS: What I love is this one-human-family ethos — a small civilization where, despite all the squabbles that happen in any family, it is a family. Everybody has each other's back. It's non-judgmental. It's truly come as you are. It's an incredible mixing pot of people from around the world who've made a commitment to be here and contribute.
How do you personally work to "connect and protect" the Keys' unique way of life?
CS: When you teach someone about coral — how scientists are identifying genotypes that can survive heat waves or cold snaps, growing them and planting them back in the ocean — those people become connected. They planted a living animal in the sea. They want to come back to see how it's doing. They're invested. They care. They want the environment to stay healthy. My videos work the same way. They're meant to connect people so deeply to this place that they want to protect it.
What do you hope your cultural stewardship actions will help accomplish?
CS: I want this to be a permanent, beautiful documentation of the way Key West was in this era. History changes every day. I'd say I don't think there's ever been a city in America documented quite like this. And when people watch it, everybody has their own adventure with it. "Oh, I got married there." "That used to be a church." "That building's gone now." It becomes personal to them. And that's the whole point.
What's your favorite way to connect with Key West when you're at your island home?
CS: I tell people, don't bring a car. Don't bring a plan. Just walk outside and turn right or turn left. There's theater, music, history, culture — so much life packed into one mile by four. I challenge anyone, anywhere in the world, to find that density of beauty, diversity, and experience in any other place that size. And the mornings! The morning light, the morning smell. I tell people: if you come back and say you didn't enjoy Key West, you lack soul.
Explain your mantra: Go Out and Happen to Things
CS: On my website there’s a quote from Leonardo da Vinci: "It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."
It's more than a motto. It's a philosophy forged through grief and gratitude in equal measure. When our son passed away, it crystallized that life is finite, that every moment spent waiting is a moment surrendered.
We've got a pretty finite amount of time here; you're not guaranteed the next second. So don't waste a minute. The way to make a minute matter is not to just talk about things, it's to get out there and do, make, and create.
'I left it on the field.' And maybe, “Can I please get some overtime?"
In the meantime, Chris Sloan will keep pointing his cameras at the island he loves, keep wearing his Key West shirts in airports on the other side of the world, and keep finding new layers of the onion that is Key West.
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Instagram (@AirchiveSloan)
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