Brooksville screening previews local film that later premieres on Broadway

A sold-out room at Beacon Brooksville Cinemas gave Hernando County an early look at a film that would later open on Broadway in New York City. The one-night Feb. 28 screening of The Python Hunt drew a limited crowd of 100 ticket holders and put local guide, hunter and writer Toby Benoit in the same theater with fellow python hunter Jimbo McCartney and director-producer Xander Robin.

The Brooksville event was more than a preview. After the film, Benoit, McCartney and Robin stayed for a question-and-answer session that tied the documentary directly to the people and places that shaped it. For local viewers, the night made clear that this was not an abstract environmental story. It was rooted in Florida fieldwork, local expertise and the kind of hands-on knowledge that has long defined the state’s response to invasive Burmese pythons.

The film follows the Florida Python Challenge, the annual contest centered on removing Burmese pythons from South Florida. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the snakes are an invasive species found primarily in and around the Everglades ecosystem and a threat to native wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says Burmese pythons became established in southern Florida by the 1980s, can grow to more than 17 feet long and may produce up to 100 eggs a year. It also says they have contributed to sharp declines in native mammal observations.

That local Brooksville screening came before a larger national rollout. The Python Hunt opened in theaters May 8 through Oscilloscope Laboratories and later played at Angelika Film Center & Cafe in New York City on Broadway. Xander Robin’s official site lists the film as a feature documentary and says it won a Special Jury Award at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival.

The Hernando County connection mattered because the people on the Brooksville stage were not outside observers. Benoit was identified locally as a guide, hunter and writer who has published several books, and McCartney’s presence linked the film to the same real-world python hunting culture the documentary portrays. The 2025 Florida Python Challenge removed a record 294 invasive Burmese pythons, according to the South Florida Water Management District and the FWC, with 934 participants from 30 states and Canada taking part. From Brooksville to Broadway, the film’s path mirrored the reach of the issue itself.