With a passion for the arts and an eye for business, our friend and member Hope Donnelly founded 8-Count Productions in 2011. Donnelly quickly realized that to fully achieve her dreams of sharing the art she was creating and supporting other creatives in her local community, she would need a brick and mortar.
“I joke that the Rialto Theatre found me,” Donnelly said.
It was a little happenstance, a little fate and a lot of hard work, but she found this beautiful theatre that had been neglected for many years and saw its potential.
“I just knew it could really be something special. It had good bones. You walked in and you felt great energy,” Donnelly added.
She purchased the Rialto Theatre in 2013 and began the transformation into what you see today. Donnelly knew when she found the Rialto, she had found a gem, and it was important to her to respect the nature of the building, to keep the charm and character and to preserve something that has such a great history in Tampa.