DYLAN SKOLNICK NEEDS TO RETURN TO THE CINEMA ARTS CENTRE
By Glenn Andreiev
It’s 1973, and Long Islanders are loving a new independent movie theatre founded by Huntington locals Vic Skolnick and Charlotte Sky. This modest art-house movie theatre started with a room, a borrowed 16mm projector and a print of LILITH, starring Warren Beatty. Vic and Charlotte showcased hard-to-find, exceptional films, and their Cinema Arts Centre exploded in popularity, expanding into a multi-screen filmgoer’s paradise.
Noted directors, actors, actresses, writers and political leaders came to the Cinema to lead unique after-film discussions with the audience. Many people met their spouses there. Some people moved to the town of Huntington just to be close to the Cinema. Vic and Charlotte’s son, Dylan, grew up around the Cinema and spent his life working there, becoming a friendly, walking encyclopedia of film. Dylan became the Cinema’s co-director in 2010, carrying on his parents’ artistic and business basis, very often working 50 to 60 hours per week. As the Cinema Arts Centre celebrated its 53rd year as a New York State cultural icon, Dylan was fired by a new Board of Directors.
Why was Dylan, beloved by audiences and film professionals, fired? The Board of Directors first stated Dylan was guilty of “serious misconduct.” That very vague accusation naturally led to some false on-line conclusions. “What serious misconduct?!” asked longtime local TV host/producer Donna Drake. “What did he do? Eat a projectionist?” The Board’s reason came out. Dylan was programming films for other theaters on Cinema computers, e-mails and property.
Serious misconduct? Independent cinemas are not rivals, but a nationwide network of arts venues that help one another. “By programming for theaters in other locations, Dylan bolstered the Cinema’s reputation and likely created opportunities for screenings and events that wouldn't have existed otherwise,” stated Jacob Steebs, a former Cinema employee who is now a director of a film-oriented non-profit. “It's a round-the-clock career. The board should have known that.” Dylan acknowledged booking films for other theaters was approved by the previous Board of Directors a decade earlier. Dylan is pursuing legal action against this Board, calling for his reinstatement and the resignation of the Board.
“I met Dylan when he was fourteen and had been told he was very smart,” recalled former Cinema employee Joan Seaman. “I wasn't expecting an entire college-level film course. As time went on, he learned about the programming, screening films, the industry negotiations, publicity and advertising. I've worked there! I've seen how many hours of work go into presenting one film that deserves to be seen. You're it! You turn it into a film that gets the public.”
Dylan was fired on September 1st, and within hours, the public reaction to Dylan’s dismissal was instant and raging. Patrons began cancelling their annual Cinema memberships, demanding refunds. Performers and lecturers who appear monthly now refused to return to the Cinema until Dylan is reinstated. These lecturers and hosts include silent film historian/musician Ben Model, who also performs at The Museum of Modern Art; Professor Foster Hirsch, who hosted a popular film noir series; film historian Philip Harwood with his Best of the Big Screen series; and this author with Sky Room Movie Talks. The Cinema Arts Centre’s Preview Club is a special advance screening series curated and hosted by distributor/producer Isil Bagdadi-Sergio. Every season at the Cinema, Ms. Bagdadi-Sergio spotlights seven new, award-winning and critically acclaimed independent films, documentaries and foreign-language films, followed by a lively Q&A discussion with talent, filmmakers & actors, which she moderates. Ms. Bagdadi-Sergio noted: “When I paused the program after Dylan’s firing, the entire history of Preview Club had been erased from the Cinema’s website, which is so sad, since Preview Club has been such an essential part of the Cinema experience for so many longtime members. The decision to pause the Preview Club was extremely difficult for me, but I felt like I had no choice, considering the current state of things at the Cinema. In fact, after Dylan's firing, I received no communication from the new leadership.” David Schwartz pulled his annual Jewish Film Festival at the cinema. Independent film booker Jessica Rosner arranged for so many films to play at the cinema. She was planning with Dylan a series of classic films by award-winning Polish film director Andrzej Wajda. The new board never followed up with Ms. Rosner, who stated she won’t work with this new Board. Magnolia Pictures pulled their new film, LATE FAME, starring Willem Dafoe, from the Cinema.
Perhaps one of the biggest cancellations was from famed actor/martial artist Dolph Lundgren, who was to appear at the Cinema with a screening of UNIVERSAL SOLDIER. Author, lecturer and two-time Emmy Award-winning independent producer Dr. Jud Newborn, who arranged that screening, stated, “My work is comprehensive: I research at least six months in advance to find out which celebrities may be making personal appearances, mostly when coming on tour in Manhattan. These celebrities include Tony Curtis, Dick Cavett, and Joel Grey. I find guests happy to come to the Cinema Arts Centre through my personal networks.” Dr. Newborn always reported to Dylan about a guest beforehand for approval.
Writer’s note: I’m a presenter at the cinema and my opinion is that working with the current Board of Directors would be like tracking down the schoolyard bully who beat up your kid brother and then buying the bully lunch.
Many people are fearful we may never see the Cinema’s former glory days. Some noted we may never see the Cinema at all. In 1984, then-unknown filmmaker Spike Lee was invited by Char and Vic to screen his short film JOE’S BED-STUY BARBERSHOP: WE CUT HEADS. A snowstorm raged the night of his screening, but yet this young filmmaker and his film drew a considerable audience. Co-founder Charlotte Sky remembered, “Spike Lee joked with the audience, saying even he wouldn’t come out in this snowstorm.” The night after Vic Skolnick’s passing in 2010, Academy Award winner Celeste Holm was to appear at a screening of the classic film ALL ABOUT EVE. Some people told Charlotte the audience would understand if she cancelled the event. Charlotte said, “Vic would have wanted the show to go on.”
The Cinema Arts Centre was born in the 1970s when New York City had a buffet of delightful independent theatres that showed indie, classic and foreign films. These city theatres included The Thalia, The Regency, Theatre 80 at St. Marks, Bleecker Street Cinema and more. The advent of cable TV and home video marked the end of most NYC indie movie houses. The cinema, under the guidance of the Skolnicks, survived. It was a struggle, but Dylan pulled the Cinema through the dark days of the pandemic, when many like venues perished.
I came upon the cinema as an eager film student in the late 1970s. At the Cinema Arts Centre, I saw rare films such as a student film by teenaged Orson Welles and unedited footage photographed by pioneering filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein. I got to talk one-on-one to such film directors as Kenneth Anger, Hal Hartley, George Romero and John Waters. Dylan became an instant best friend and the best boss I ever worked for. Through Dylan, I learned to love the works of Akira Kurosawa, Luis Bunuel, and Samuel Fuller. The Cinema helped me and so many other independent film-makers showcase our work, and I taught film workshops at the Cinema.
As co-director, Dylan worked long hours programming, hosting and building his parents’ Cinema, sometimes giving a presenter a late-night ride to the train station after an event. His salary was below average for a Long Island home-owner. The immense boycott of the Cinema continues. The new Board is made up of working professionals in fields other than film. Do they honestly have what it takes to book and showcase the right films? As with George Bailey in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, Dylan’s friends and customers came together. About 350 people attended a protest rally to bring Dylan back. David Schwartz’s petition to reinstate Dylan has reached over 3,000 signatures, and in one week, a GoFundMe campaign has raised over $11,000 to help Dylan with living costs and legal fees. Listen Up! The community demands that Dylan come back.
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