Hamden’s Best Video director to retire as video store, music venue looks ahead
HAMDEN — There have been times over Hank Hoffman’s nearly 30-year career with Best Video Film & Cultural Center when the institution’s future appeared bleak.
Since Hoffman started working there as a clerk in 1994, Best Video, which boasts a collection of 40,000 film titles, has acquired an in-house coffee shop, become a popular live music venue, transitioned to a nonprofit model and weathered a pandemic.
Even as the rise of streaming services ran other video stores into the ground, Best Video survived. Now, as Hoffman prepares to retire after serving as executive director since 2019, he was optimistic about the future of the institution he helped shape.
In an interview with the New Haven Register, he reflected on the changes the Whitney Avenue business-turned-nonprofit has undergone during his time there.
The mid-1990s “was at the height of video stores’ prominence,” Hoffman said. “VHS tapes were the ruling format at the time and, you know, blockbusters like ‘Jurassic Park’ - we’d probably buy like 40 copies to meet the demand.”
What stood out to Hoffman about Best Video was its standing as a “community institution.”
That’s why, even as he transitioned to a full-time job writing for the New Haven Advocate, he kept working at Best Video one day per week.
“It was a community institution, and when I for a few years worked full-time for the New Haven Advocate, I continued to (work) every Saturday night here because it was a throwback to a time when small businesses were a focal point for the community,” he said.
“Hank had created something really, really powerful,” Hoffman said, referring to Best Video’s founder, Hank Paper.
Eventually, Hoffman stopped working for the Advocate and began a full-time job at Best Video, he said.
Though streaming services started to eat at the business, he took note of the continued support from community members, who told him they did not want the store to close.
And so Best Video adapted. They got rid of most of their VHS tapes, Hoffman said, freeing up space for DVDs.
In 2011, Hoffman, who long had been tied to the local music scene, helped turn the video store into a music venue. The business began by playing host to weekly performances, he said.
Concerts became more frequent, and the store held other events, too.
“We had film screenings, we had literary readings,” he said. “It started building on and reinforcing that community vibe around Best Video.”
But business grew tougher, and it became clear that the store’s for-profit model no longer was viable.
And so, in 2015, Best Video officially became Best Video Film & Cultural Center, a nonprofit organization. Hoffman became its program director, while Richard Brown became its executive director.
The following years were not always easy.
“Probably the worst time was the summer of 2017 where it really looked like we wouldn’t be able to keep it going,” said Hoffman. “We appealed to the community. … We said, ‘we’re really in a crisis point here.’ We encouraged people to become members and to donate.”
At that point, the nonprofit was about $12,000 behind in its bills, according to Hoffman.
But “the outpouring was just incredible,” he said. “I think we ended up raising about $35,000, which was a major boon to us and, I think, probably a key turning point.”
Hoffman became executive director in 2019, not long before the pandemic brought another challenge, forcing the store to close for more than two months in 2020.
Best Video adapted yet again, investing in an outdoor raised patio for musical performances.
“We were able to put in outdoor, socially-distanced music concerts,” Hoffman said. “People loved it. It was like people had been hiking out in the desert and came upon an oasis.”
The nonprofit also saw tremendous generosity from donors during The Great Give, doubling its previous fundraising record, according to Hoffman, who feels optimistic about the nonprofit’s future as he prepares to retire in June.
“There are definitely times when I didn’t think we would get to this point, and I don’t want to underplay challenges that an institution like Best Video faces,” he said. “But I believe that there’s still a strong demand and need for what we do.”
Best Video’s board of directors is launching a search for a new executive director. For the first time, it is looking outside its current team.
“We’ve always had these home-grown leaders, people who have lived and breathed Best Video, very passionate about the greater Hamden and New Haven region,” said Crystal Cathcart, the board’s vice president. “Our members know them, they come in and chitchat about their kids, all sorts of different things.”
“With this executive director search, we are in a position where we’re looking outside of Best. We don’t have that next Hank or Richard, that homegrown leader to take over,” she said.
The board, which expects to have a job description ready by the end of the month, is looking for someone who will protect Best Video’s foundation while bringing fresh ideas to the table, according to Cathcart.
Ideally, the new director will receive mentorship working alongside Hoffman until he leaves in June, she said.
happy November!! i hope everyone has a wonderful month and makes the most of it! here’s some pictures from my first college campus tour of this year! my mom, dad, and i drove up to Quinnipiac University to take a look around and go on a tour and tbh i’m now obsessed with it. if anyone has any experiences with that school, please let me know!!
today’s seltzer: i’m going to have some sort of seltzer when i get home but no idea what flavor
