Gen-Z is out of reach, so many distributors worry. They don’t care about that theater experience. But in St. Pete Beach, Florida, happened something remarkable: 26-year-old Hannah Hockman led to the renovation of an 85-year-old indie film. It was a 16-month process of internal demolition, design and reconstruction that she led and documented over a series of Youtube videos.
When Hockman opened her Restored beach theater On July 18 with a display of a documentary about its restoration, she took the stage to deliver remarks to a sold out audience. It was an extraordinary moment in cultural life at this little barrier island on Gulf Coast and a reminder that cinemas can be a hub for a whole society.
“There is definitely an idea of the children” today “who always looks at their phones,” Hockman told IndieWire. “But I think there is definitely a desire in my generation of wanting to communicate together and wanting to do it in a place that is safe and comfortable. We are the tail end on the generations that had trips to the shopping center, which very quickly passed away because I just started to become a teenager. Only if it is security, the economy, whatever, that type of society passed away.”
She believes that single experiences will drive their generation return to the films. Her strategy for the Beach Theater leans on repertoire titles (“We want to do film That you always wanted to see in a theater, but it came out before you were born. It really is what is reasoned ”) with a strong commitment to current independent film.
“People want an experience that they will not have anywhere else,” Hockman said. “Finding the niche things that every theater will not play is. Not every cinema will show the independent movie from the filmmaker along the neighborhood, which may be the second largest if you give them an opportunity to show it in front of an audience.”
At a time when film history seems in increasing danger of declining from our cultural memory, it is remarkable that she has such a nostalgia for this Art Deco cinema. Opened on January 15, 1940 with a show by Warner Bros. ‘John Garfield -Drama “Dust Be My Destiny”, the Beach Theater changed many, many times during the following decades before it became one of Tampa Bay Area’s real arthouses. I grew up in St. Pete, and I was ten years old when I saw my first foreign film, “Il Postino”, at the Beach Theater. That movie was a Gateway drug for a lifetime to enjoy the World Cinema. I may not have been a career as a film journalist without the Beach Theater.
But the last owner of the Strand Theater, Michael France, a screenwriter with credits for “Cliffhanger”, “Goldeneye”, as well as Ang Lee “Hulk” and 2005 “Fantastic Four”, had run out of money. It seemed like a cosmic irony as the last movie he showed before he closed his doors for good was David Ayer’s “End of the clock” in 2012. France died of diabetes -related complications just a few months later. The Beach Theater remained closed until Hockman’s parents Ronald and Sissy finally bought it in early 2024. Pricaget was $ 1 million.
Hockman’s parents funded the acquisition, but in all respects Hannah led the accusation in the theater’s rebuild.
And that was a task. After sitting resting for over a decade, it needed new walls, electrical wires, A/C and a roof. On one of her videos documenting the restoration, rain suddenly falls on her head as she goes through the interior: “An unintentional skylight,” she said.
Then Hurricane met Helene and six feet in water in the theater from storm wave. Thankfully, none of the new aesthetic elements were in place.
Making the theater beautiful was another challenge. She spent a lot of time considering curtain samples, picked out the gold shell foot light for the curved step, created a “sea glass” color palette and found 175 comfortable chairs that matched. Previously, beach theater chairs were known just to be clumsy and resilient, but some locals wanted some of them from nostalgia.
Hockman said she has received nothing but support from other indie theaters in the area. “It’s been zero competition. That’s when one of us succeeds, we all succeed,” she said. “I really want other Indie theaters to sell their next views. Because it will make people interested in independent film.”
At the large opening, the screen pulled back and a trio of singers took the stage to perform a pentatonix-style vocal version of the 20th century Fox theme. Since then, almost every show has ended. “There are people who come to us who can’t live in their houses yet because of their hurricane,” Hockman said. “But they will buy a cinema ticket.”
As he developed a business plan, Hockman studied Dallas Theater in Dallas, Georgia. The city bought and opened the theater again after being closed for a long time. It regularly sold its 500 seats and created a halo effect on surrounding cafes and shops. “The transformed city,” she said.
She hopes that the Beach Theater could do something similar for St. Pete Beach, who previously lacked any common gathering place.
The first movie Hockman ran after the opening week was “Goldeneye”, to honor former owner France. The presence was strong and enthusiastic. But Hockman knows that the movie alone may not be enough to maintain the theater. Life performances from vocal groups and theater companies will be important and there are already so many live performance on its upcoming schedule as film screenings. You can charge more and these are events that you can’t catch up anywhere else.
At the moment, Hockman plans at least one live performance experience every month and she eventually wants to create her own theater company. This pivot is not an anomaly for indie theaters: Egyptian theater in Park City, Utah, sits completely final SundanceAfter moving completely away from movie screenings in favor of live performances.
It is a good lesson for indie card owners: diversification of your offers can ensure that you have enough revenue streams to stay in business. Hockman believes that the desire for people to gather for a shared experience is something that will endure.
So much so that she left an inscription on the exposed plaster before the new floor was installed: “To the next girl tearing up on the floor, good luck to the bride.”
