When I spoke with Hannah Hockman last month, it was just about a year since the August day when she and her family officially began renovating The Beach Theatre—right in the midst of Hurricane Debby and its aftermath.
“We’re not the best at timing,” quipped Hockman. Maybe not when it comes to hurricanes—Milton and Helene were still to come.
But judging by the crowds that have poured into the 85-year-old movie house since its grand re-opening in July, their timing has been just right. St. Pete Beach had endured years of ownership changes and sad neglect at the Corey Avenue landmark, so the news that the Hockmans were coming to the rescue sparked hope from the get-go, when Hannah’s parents, Ronald and Sissy, purchased the theater for $1 million in early 2024.
Now, moviegoers who remember the Beach’s earlier, scruffier incarnations are marveling at the spacious lobby, comfortable seating, and Art Deco-esque design details. Audiences are responding enthusiastically to the programming, which has emphasized films with local appeal like “The Green Flash,” a doc about an infamous young marijuana smuggler from St. Pete Beach, and “Summer Rental,” the 1985 John Candy comedy shot in several area locations, including the formerly cramped entryway of the Beach Theatre itself.
A large part of the Beach Theatre’s early success can be attributed to the savvy marketing sense and sheer ebullience of Hannah Hockman herself, who’s the venue’s director. In one of the many vlogs she shot during the renovation process (this one entitled “Life’s a beach & so is our floor”) she dons heart-shaped sunglasses and breezily observes, “It’s slightly terrifying, but it’ll all work out.”
Which it certainly did. “If there’s a driving force in this whole building, it’s her,” Ron Hockman told the Tampa Bay Times in July. Her age—26—is a frequent talking point in press coverage, but she says that “anyone who knows me is not surprised” that she’s spearheading a business venture.
“I started my first LLC when I was 16,” Hockman added, stressing that the Beach Theatre project is very much a family affair. Her parents have fond memories of movie dates there, and “Dad had looked into supporting it many years ago… This is also not our first project together. We have office complexes, real estate—all three of us have been entrepreneurs my whole life.”
Hannah’s first love, though, is theater.
“When I was a kid I would sketch out what my theater would look like,” and her mom encouraged her dreams with trips to the Straz and Broadway shows. At Eckerd College, where she majored in theater with a double minor in marketing and music, she directed a production of “Heathers” that was the first student-run musical at the school in 10 years. After Eckerd, she snagged an apprenticeship at American Stage, where she became friends with company manager Alexandria Hawkes and her husband, videographer Travis Hawkes. The couple’s production company, Lunar Speedboat Productions, made the excellent documentary “A New Wave: Revival of the Beach Theatre” that premiered during the theater’s opening week.
It’s important to Hannah that live performances as well as movie screenings be included in Beach programming. The Dunedin-based Celtic Conundrum played the theater’s newly restored stage in August, and Hannah has organized the Beach Theatre Play Festival (Sept 19-21), a weekend of new works by local playwrights Bill Leavengood, Jenna Jane and Alaina Rahaim Miller.
You can expect to see Hannah herself at the Beach at most screenings and performances. Coming from a theater tradition, she believes in the efficacy of a good pre-show curtain speech. On that opening weekend, she introduced herself to audiences while wearing a ruffly frock that had its own back story.
“That dress was actually given to me as a birthday present from my mom when I turned 25. It was a dream brand I’d never owned—Selkie. An hour after she gave it to me, we got the call [that the family’s offer for Beach had been accepted]. I said, “That’s the dress I have to wear opening night. So we’d better get this theater built so I can wear this dress.”
They built it, she wore it. We wager there are plenty more success stories to come.
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