KEY WEST, Fla. — A new documentary chronicling the musicians who helped Jimmy Buffett develop his signature sound will begin its theatrical run Saturday in the island city where much of that sound was born.
“Occupational Hazard: The First Coral Reefers” will screen at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Key West Theater, 512 Eaton St. The 92-minute film will be followed by a question-and-answer session and a live musical performance featuring some of Buffett’s original bandmates.
The documentary journeys through the 1970s and early 1980s, exploring the musicians, friendships, recording sessions and often-chaotic years on the road that laid the foundation for what became the Coral Reefer Band — and eventually a sprawling Parrot Head culture and Margaritaville business empire.
Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges, the film incorporates rare archival footage and interviews with founding band members, tour managers, producers and musicians. Kenny Chesney, Mac McAnally and songwriter Keith Sykes are among those featured.
The film was directed by Key West resident John H. Cunningham, an author and filmmaker known for the “Buck Reilly Adventure” series. Cunningham produced the documentary with Ted E. Haynes.
Cunningham has described the original Coral Reefers as a collection of talented, irreverent and hard-partying musicians whose chemistry helped establish Buffett as one of the country’s most successful touring artists.
The Coral Reefer Band formed in 1975 and remained Buffett’s backing band throughout his career. Its name combined a reference to the coral reefs surrounding Key West with 1970s slang for marijuana, founding member Roger Bartlett explains in the film.
Bartlett and fellow early Coral Reefer Josh Leo are scheduled to join Cunningham, Haynes and Key West musician Chris Robinson for the discussion after Saturday’s screening. Bartlett, Leo and potentially other participants will perform afterward.
The documentary includes appearances by Buffett and longtime Coral Reefers Michael Utley, Doyle Grisham, Mac McAnally and Nadirah Shakoor, along with Deborah McColl, David Wegman, Bob Liberman, Vaughn Cochran and others.
Buffett, whose songs turned Key West’s tropical eccentricity into a musical identity recognized around the world, died in 2023 at age 76 following a battle with Merkel cell skin cancer.
“Occupational Hazard” premiered in February at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and later appeared at the Sarasota and Florida film festivals. Its Florida Film Festival screening sold out. The Key West engagement launches the film’s theatrical rollout, with screenings planned in New York, Los Angeles and other cities.
A second Key West screening has been added for Monday, Sept. 7.
The documentary is expected to become available through transactional video-on-demand services in the United States and Canada later this year.
Tickets and additional information are available through the Key West Theater.
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