The Homer Theatre is undergoing a transformation, after former longtime owners Jamie and Lynette Sutton sold the building and business last week to a new local collective that is working to renovate the theater in time for a grand reopening in December.

When asked for their thoughts on the transition, as the theater went through the closing process, Sutton — speaking on behalf of his family and the former theater staff — said, “I think the core reaction on our part is that we’re delighted that the theater is being sold to someone to wants to continue the theater. I think they do, with enthusiasm and a new diversity, and (will) continue to have it as a wonderful, cultural, community feature that adds to the character of Homer.”

The theater now has four new owners — local community members Susannah Webster and Nate Spence-Chorman from Red Knot Real Estate, Baldur Neumann-Hunting, owner of Baldur’s Building, LLC, and Rosanna Hunting with South Peninsula Hospital.

Each member of the team brings their own kind of expertise to the project table. Webster began working with Spence-Chorman in November 2023 to put feelers out about the acquisition and put together financial projections and business plans, she said.

Prior to working for Red Knot, Spence-Chorman worked in Homer as a software developer.

“What I’m bringing to the table is, ideally, the tech side of things, because there’s going to be the projector to run, and the website and all those types of things, and I’ll hopefully solve those problems,” he said.

Neumann-Hunting has worked in Homer’s construction industry for the past six years and was initially approached by Webster and Spence-Chorman to provide estimates for the theater renovations. He will be doing the remodel work on the building; he also has background related to live performances and music.

“I’m really passionate about wanting to turn the space into a space that can also support live events like live music,” he said.

Hunting has administrative experience through working at South Peninsula Hospital and anticipates doing administrative work for the theater as well. She is also excited to utilize her background in film studies.

“I initially went to film school right after high school, so that’s something I’ve always been really excited about,” she said. “Doing movie theater stuff is very much in that vein.”

In their work to revamp the theater, they are also “dedicated to preserving this local institution while adapting to the changing entertainment landscape.”

The theater will be known in future as The Porcupine Theater.

The name is a nod to a story from Webster’s family history and to the theater’s resilience, despite years of financial struggles in the face of at-home streaming availability and the COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors.

Webster shared the story with Homer News during an interview on Aug. 28.

“My parents had a home at the bottom of East Hill Road, where a resident porcupine lived in a large spruce tree just outside their bedroom window. They used to sleep with the bedroom window open slightly at night, allowing their cat, Herbie, to come and go,” she said. “One night, there was a commotion at the window. My mom got up, intending to sort out the cat, but was shocked to find the porcupine trying to climb in through the window.

“She yelled, and my dad jumped out of bed to assist — please note, my parents sleep in the nude, which is not the best attire for battling a porcupine. After a struggle, they managed to wrestle the porcupine back outside, though they were left with a few quills as souvenirs.”

Webster’s father later fabricated a steel collar for the tree to discourage the porcupine from making its home so close to the house. In return, the porcupine moved into the attached workshop and took up residence under the floorboards.

“Some time later, my parents experienced a devastating house fire. The state fire investigator determined that it started in the workshop, likely caused by gnawed electrical wiring,” Webster said. “The porcupine had burned my parents’ house down.”

But, she continued, that still wasn’t the end of the story. Webster returned to the house a few weeks after the fire to retrieve some family photographs and found that the porcupine had taken up residence in her parents’ bedroom and had been coming and going freely through the broken window, as evidenced by porcupine scat on the ruined mattress and teeth marks where the door and window trim had been gnawed.

“Clearly an example of resilience and persistence, the porcupine has become our totem for this project,” she said.

In the spirit of such resilience, the new owners intend to both revitalize the physical theater space and change the focus from showing first-run films, as had been done in the past, to repertory and second-run cinema.

“We are really committed to preserving the legacy of the movie theater, but also understanding that we need to do a big thing in order to make it survive, to allow it to continue for future generations,” Webster said. “It can’t be static, and it can’t stay the same, it needs to change and evolve.”

The shift from first-run to repertory cinema is a move partially necessitated by the film studios.

“Most studios require that you pick a lane … and for new releases, the real kicker for a single-screen theater is that studios require that new releases play for two weeks minimum, and they have to play exclusively,” Webster said. “It’s not sustainable, especially with most studios now releasing new (films) to streaming almost immediately after that two-week period.”

By moving to second-run films, the team plans to offer “a more diverse selection” of films, to include a mix of Saturday morning cartoons, late-night horror flicks, classic films, indie breakouts, rom-coms, documentaries, action and adventure movies, and “everything in between.”

That doesn’t mean that new releases will stop coming to Homer.

“It’s not that we can’t show new releases, we would just choose to show them when (the studios) release them as second run, which might be a couple weeks,” Webster said. “For some studios, it might be a couple months. But if we choose the lane of second-run movies, we can offer much more content and we can show lots of movies throughout the week.”

Neumann-Hunting said he’s excited to have the flexibility to create more of a movie-going experience.

“One thing I’m excited about is having the chance, with our model, to create a space where you can show a movie that is a little challenging to watch, where you can have space afterwards where people can gather and talk about it,” he said. “It can be related to mental health or coming of age — there’s flexibility to reach out to the community and see where there’s interest to create showings with conversation before or after.”

The team hopes to increase screening to six days a week, with time for matinees and late shows.

“We like the idea of trying to utilize the space as much as possible. It’s a big space in the middle of town, there’s a lot of potential uses for it, and we really want to maximize that,” Webster said.

The new owners also envision the theater continuing as a community space — possibly expanding day use for business or nonprofit functions or training seminars — and becoming a hub for live performances, dining, and a range of arts and entertainment events including music, live theater, and dance.

Part of the planned renovations include adding cabaret seating in the auditorium, replacing the existing chairs, making repairs to the stage, and installing new curtains to protect the screen, an upgraded PA system and stage lighting. For the front of house, the team intends to improve accessibility, create larger bathrooms, upgrade the kitchen and electrical and plumbing systems, and create a more spacious lobby.

In future, they’d also like to continue the theater’s long-held traditions such as the documentary film festival or hosting events for local nonprofits.

“We want to continue doing what works and supporting the community in that way,” Webster said. “We really do see it as a space for the whole community. We’re going to count on community members to reach out to us to tell us about these things that are important to them.”

The team will be gathering data, ideas and suggestions through their website — currently under construction — at www.porcupinetheater.com. Community members are also invited to follow the project’s progress on Facebook or on Instagram, @theporcupinetheater.

“We want the community to be a part of what happens next. We have our vision, but we’re trying to create a space where there’s lots of room for other people’s visions,” Webster said.

The team will soon be launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise $33,000 to complete the auditorium renovations at the same time as the “essential” front-of-house updates.

“Because of the cost of what we’re considering the necessary updates, we’re reaching the maximum capacity of our ‘phase one’ budget. We had been planning all along to have a ‘phase two,’ which would include all of the work that would make (the theater) ideal for a live performance venue,” Webster said. “But if we can raise the money in advance, we can do it all at once. It would be better to do it all while the theater is already shut down so when we reopen in December, we can hit the ground running.”

Webster noted that contributors to the Kickstarter campaign will get something in return.

“There’ll be a series of rewards and perks, and some pretty cool swag and stuff we plan to offer to people if they contribute to the Kickstarter,” she said.

Find more information about the campaign at www.kickstarter.com/projects/theporcupine/new-stage. For other questions or to provide feedback to the project, email susannah@porcupinetheater.com.

(from left to right) Rosanna Hunting, Baldur Neumann-Hunting, Fox Strobel, Susannah Webster and Nate Spence-Chorman stand in front of the marquee sign on the porch roof of the Homer Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Diane Spence