Gen-Z is out of reach, so many distributors fret. They don’t care about the theatrical experience. But in St. Pete Beach, Florida, something remarkable happened: 26-year-old Hannah Hockman spearheaded the refurbishment of an 85-year-old indie movie theater. It was a 16-month process of interior demolition, design, and rebuilding that she spearheaded and documented over a series of YouTube videos.
When Hockman opened her restored Beach Theatre on July 18 with a screening of a documentary about its restoration, she took the stage to deliver remarks to a sell-out crowd. It was an extraordinary moment in the cultural life of this small barrier island on the Gulf Coast and a reminder that movie theaters can be a hub for an entire community.
“There’s definitely a perception of kids ‘these days’ always looking at their phones,” Hockman told IndieWire. “But I think there’s definitely a desire in my generation of wanting to commune together and wanting to do it in a place that’s safe and comfortable. We’re the very tail end of the generations that had trips to the mall, which very quickly went away as I was just starting to be a teenager. Just whether it’s safety, the economy, whatever, that kind of community went away.”
She believes that singular experiences will power her generation’s return to the movies. Her strategy for the Beach Theatre leans on repertory titles (“We want to do the film that you always wanted to see in a theater, but it came out before you were born. That’s really what’s resonated”) with a strong commitment to current independent film as well.
“People want an experience that they’re not going to get anywhere else,” Hockman said. “Finding the niche things that not every theater is going to play is that. Not every movie theater is going to show the independent film from the filmmaker down the block, which could be the next greatest thing if you give ’em an opportunity to show it in front of an audience.”
The Beach Theatre
At a time when film history seems in ever more danger of receding from our cultural memory, it’s remarkable she has such nostalgia for this Art Deco cinema. Opened on January 15, 1940 with a showing of Warner Bros.’ John Garfield drama “Dust Be My Destiny,” the Beach Theatre changed hands many, many times over the ensuing decades before it became one of the Tampa Bay area’s true arthouses. I grew up in St. Pete, and I was 10 when I saw my first foreign-language movie, “Il Postino,” at the Beach Theatre. That movie was a gateway drug to an entire lifetime of enjoying world cinema. I may not have pursued a career as a film journalist without the Beach Theatre.
But the Beach Theatre’s last owner, Michael France, a screenwriter with credits for “Cliffhanger,” “GoldenEye,” as well as Ang Lee’s “Hulk” and the 2005 “Fantastic Four,” had run out of money. It seemed like a cosmic irony that the last film he showed before closing its doors for good was David Ayer’s “End of Watch” in 2012. France died of diabetes-related complications just months later. The Beach Theatre remained closed until Hockman’s parents Ronald and Sissy finally bought it in early 2024. The pricetag was $1 million.
Hockman’s parents financed its acquisition, but in every sense Hannah led the charge in the theater’s redevelopment.
And it was a task. After sitting dormant for well over a decade, it needed new walls, electrical wiring, A/C, and a roof. On one of her videos documenting the restoration, rain suddenly falls on her head as she walks through the interior: “An unintentional skylight,” she said.
Then, Hurricane Helene hit and six feet of water poured into the theater from storm surge. Thankfully, none of the new aesthetic touches were in place.
Making the theater beautiful was another challenge. She spent a lot of time considering curtain samples, picked out the gold-shell footlights for the curved stage, crafted a “sea glass” color palette, and found 175 comfortable chairs that matched. Previously, Beach Theatre chairs were renowned only for being lumpy and springy but some locals wanted a few of of them out of nostalgia.
Hockman said she’s received nothing but support from other indie theaters in the area. “There has been zero competition. It’s when one of us succeeds, all of us succeed,” she said. “I really want other indie theaters to sell out their next showings. Because that’s going to make people interested in independent film.”
At the grand opening, the screen retracted and a trio of singers took the stage to perform a Pentatonix-style vocal version of the 20th Century Fox theme. Since then, nearly every showing has sold out. “There’s people coming up to us who can’t live in their houses yet because of their hurricane damage,” Hockman said. “But they’re coming to buy a movie theater ticket.”
When developing a business plan, Hockman studied the Dallas Theater in Dallas, Georgia. The city bought and reopened the theater after being closed for a long time. It regularly sold out its 500 seats and created a halo effect on surrounding cafes and stores. “It transformed the town,” she said.
She hopes the Beach Theatre could do something similar for St. Pete Beach, which previously lacked any communal gathering spot.
The first movie Hockman ran after the opening week was “GoldenEye,” in honor of previous owner France. Attendance was strong and enthusiastic. However, Hockman knows that film alone may not be enough to sustain the theater. Live performances from vocal groups and theater companies will be essential and already there’s as many live-performance dates on its upcoming schedule as movie screenings. You can charge more and these are events that you can’t catch up on somewhere else.
For now, Hockman plans at least one live performance experience each month and she eventually wants to create her own theater company. This pivot is not an anomaly for indie theaters: The Egyptian Theatre in Park City, Utah, is sitting out the final Sundance altogether, having moved entirely away from movie screenings in favor of live performance.
Hockman at the grand opening.
It’s a good lesson for indie cinema owners: Diversifying your offerings may ensure you have enough revenue streams to stay in business. Hockman believes the desire for people to gather together for a shared experience is something that will endure.
So much so that she left an inscription on the exposed drywall before the new floor was installed: “To the next girl who tears up the floor, good luck babe.”
