Island Insider: Ken Sneeden

by SC Reporter Emilie Alfino

Ken Sneeden – videographer, documentarian, historian – has been chronicling the history of Sanibel and Captiva since 2016. He has produced 10 films so far, with two more in the works. He is one of the islands’ special people.

“I immerse myself in the topic when I’m doing a video,” Ken explained. “I did sort of become a researcher. I enjoy it so much, they become passion projects for me. The research component I have found to be a passion and that led me into me doing these documentaries.”

“What documentary filmmaker Ken Burns does to preserve our nation’s heritage, Ken does to tell our local story,” said Sanibel Historical Museum & Village (SHMV) board member Ginny Darby, who has worked closely with Ken on several projects. “We are so fortunate to have him. Like many islanders, Ken wonders about the lives of the pioneers who settled here and understands and appreciates that Sanibel’s and Captiva’s history is unique.”

Ken is an award-winning former broadcast journalist and television station executive. He is now semi-retired from the business he founded in 1991, Ken Sneeden & Associates LLC, a Fort Myers-based multimedia production company. He produced high-impact videos and multimedia presentations for a wide range of clients including nonprofit, for-profit, and government agencies.

Following his graduation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Journalism, Ken worked for 15 years as an anchor, reporter, and producer for television news organizations in Florida and North Carolina. His past work includes audiovisual production of high-profile events like the Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Awards, the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, the Chrysalis Awards, and the E-Awards hosed by Lee County’s Visitor and Convention Bureau.

“When I was doing events for the Horizon Council, the 100th Anniversary of Lee County, they wanted me to do a history piece, especially as it related to the business formation of Lee County,” Ken said. “Frankly, just by doing that research and going back and finding the old photos, it really got me interested.”

In 2016, the Captiva Island Historical Society (CIHS) called Ken, having gotten his name from a friend. He met with CIHS and loved the people. They told him what they wanted and a few documentaries resulted, some in partnership with the SHMV.

“At first, I was just going to be the video guy. But the more I got into it, the more interested I became in finding out information. I found it fascinating to go back to newspapers from the late 1800s, early 1900s and see all the articles. It became a fascination for me to do that,” Ken said.

There are so many tools today that weren’t there 10 years ago, particularly newspapers.com. “It was a skill that I had already. I always compare doing this research for historical documentaries to Law & Order: you talk to one person, it leads to another and another, you pull this thread.”

Of the 10 videos he’s produced, the most watched one is From Laughter to Legacy: Captiva’s Jensen Family – because everyone knew them and they were so popular, and so fun. But Secrets & Stories of the Sanibel Lighthouse, done for the SHMV, is his personal favorite.

Captiva is more events-driven and more aggressive about getting productions online, Ken said. Sanibel is more of a bricks-and-mortar operation.

“The CIHS is indebted to Ken,” said Tom Libonate, president, CIHS. “The CIHS was truly blessed when Ken brought his talents and love of history as our documentarian. Ken is a treasure – a true documentarian, his devotion to doing the archival digging and research brings the subject of our documentaries to life in a way that’s revealing, enlightening, and entertaining.

“Ken immediately took the production quality and content of our full-length documentaries to an entirely new level. Since then, Ken has written, directed, and produced four acclaimed documentaries in our ‘Captiva Memories’ collection, two of which have been selected for viewing at Fort Myers Film Festivals.”

“I’ve always enjoyed working as a team member,” Ken said. “They call on me now to help them generate ideas. I’m part of the sounding board.”

Prior to Hurricane Ian, Ken explained, there would be these nice, live events with about 250 people. “I enjoyed sitting in the back of the room watching the audience,” Ken said. “Some things I knew they were going to laugh at, but I would find them laughing at things I didn’t think were funny. So that gave me a charge.”

In many ways, Ken said he’s almost back in this television news days, because he’s interviewing people and developing a story. “I love storytelling,” he said. “I don’t care if you’re selling widgets, you have a story to tell.

And not only do you have a story to tell, but with today’s audiovisual tools, it’s a multi-sensory experience. It’s what keeps you engaged.”

The trick is getting people to see, hear, understand, and act, hearing them converse about it, say “I didn’t know that.” It’s neat, Ken said. “It’s part of the education quotient. We get the initial feedback. You also now have in your possession an archive that five, 10, 50 years from now, people can go back and see. Maybe they heard there was a big hurricane in 2022. Now they can go watch the video and learn how it transformed the island.”

Hopefully, people will enjoy themselves, learn something, and have information they can use. It gives them some information to be a resident of Sanibel and Captiva. Now there is a record to go back to.

Ken doesn’t have a formula for making these documentaries. “I let the story tell me,”he said. “I don’t have a script. I go interview the people first and do the research, and then the story starts to tell itself. And whatever comes out of that, the hardest thing is that first sentence. Same thing for the close of a documentary. I’m elated when I hear someone make the final comment.”

“My creative process is to listen to the people I’m interviewing,” Ken explained. “I’m authentic. What you see is what you get. I’m not looking to get a scoop or hurt people. I’m hoping they will help me tell the story. I am genuinely interested in what you have to day. I do like the way I can bring things out in people. It’s an intellectual asset I’ve acquired.”

Ken interviewed dozens of people for Storm Stories from Sanibel: Hurricane Ian (SHMV). “I didn’t want to do a documentary that was just about the damage. I wanted to show the resiliency, the future. There was some skepticism from the SHMV board – do we really want to do this? There is still so much trauma. But we found stories of hope and inspiration.”

What Ken heard during his interviewing was: We chose to be here, and we chose for this reason, and we’re still here. The people that stayed say Sanibel is a special place; storms don’t take away from why I’m here. We had a setback, but we’re still here and glad we came here. And now they have the lessons learned.

Ken said he’s going to go on making historical documentaries for Sanibel and Captiva. “This is my retirement,” he said.

“I just enjoy that passion CIHS and SHMV have for doing this work,” he continued. “And I’ve enjoyed working with both groups immensely. Nobody’s doing this because they have to make a living. They’re doing it because it’s a personal passion. Most are volunteers.

“I’ll be here on the islands as long as the people will have me,” Ken concluded. “Not just the board members but the tangential people too: government, nonprofit, business owners. I’ve gotten good feedback from both islands. They keep asking me to do things!”

Documentaries and other videos produced by Ken Sneeden for the Captiva Island Historical Society and the Sanibel Historical Museum and Village since 2016 – from most recent to least recent:
• Storm Stories from Sanibel: Hurricane Ian (SHMV)
• Wreckage, Resiliency, and Recovery: The History of Hurricanes on Sanibel (SHMV)
• From Laughter to Legacy: Captiva’s Jensen Family (CIHS)
• Secrets and Stories of the Sanibel Lighthouse (SHMV)
• Tight Lines and Big Fish Stories: The History of Angling on Captiva (CIHS)
• Sands of Time: The History of Erosion on Captiva Island (CIHS)
• Be Our Guest: The History of Lodging on Sanibel and Captiva (CIHS & SHMV)
• Buck Key: Island of History and Mystery (CIHS)
• Blind Pass: The Bridge that Connects (CIHS & SHMV)
• Visitor Orientation Video for SHMV (SHMV)

Currently working on an as-yet untitled documentary about Esperanza Woodring to premiere in March 2026 (SHMV). He’s also working on, for CIHS, a documentary about the interesting and unusual story of Captiva residents Ken Curtis, Alice O’Brien, Ding Darling, and Harold Bixby.