BoxOffice® Pro - December 2010

FRONT OFFICE AWARD
RISING SON
His brother, the movie theater
by Cole Hornaday
In 1973, Vic Skolnick and Charlotte Skye
moved their little family from the city to
the wilds of Long Island. They anticipated
a readjustment. They didn’t foresee the
whole family becoming the community’s
spearhead for arthouse and independent
film.
“My parents were accustomed to having
a wide range of movies to see,” says Dylan
Skolnick, Vic and Charlotte’s son. “All you
could see out on Long Island was the latest
Hollywood movies—there really wasn’t
much else.”
In the days predating VHS and cable
television, a true film connoisseur was hard
pressed to whet their appetite. The Skolnicks
were not only driven, they were resourceful.
“They decided to do something,”
says Dylan. “They borrowed a projector and
film from the Huntington Library, hung up
a bed-sheet on the wall, made up some fliers
and advertised the movies.”
And audiences came. The Skolnicks
rented a dance studio and threw their energy
into the makeshift theater. “They started
showing more and more films and adding
more days,” says Dylan. “First it was just
once a week. Then it became two days, then
four days—eventually it was seven days
a week, and it kept growing.” The theater
was a hit in part of Long Island’s layout.
Explains Dylan, “Everyone has to travel by
car and there’s not much life on the streets.
Therefore, what we’re doing is even more
important because it creates a place to
bring people out of their houses.”
Decades, later, the town offered the
Skolnicks’ film society a permanent space
at a disused elementary school.
“At this point we were known as the
New Community Cinema,” says Dylan.
“The elementary school was in pretty bad
shape, but we moved in. It was a big auditorium.
We fixed it up and built a projection
room and started showing films. From
there it really started growing and getting
much more professional.”
The New Community Cinema became
the Cinema Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) not-forprofit
facility sporting three theaters, 35mm
Dylan Skolnick Co-Director
Cinema Arts Center / Huntington, NY
Nominated By Paul Kazee
House Manager/Programmer
Proctors Theatre, Schenectady, NY
projectors, digital sound and comfy chairs.
Partially supported by a body of 8,000 annual
contributors, the Cinema Arts Center
has hosted guest filmmakers and speakers
from David Lynch and George A. Romero to
Kenneth Anger and Wim Wenders.
In many ways, the Cinema Arts Center
is Dylan’s younger sibling.
“I’m older than the cinema, so I was here
when it started and I’ve just continued,” he
says. Dylan made the natural move to study
film at the School of Visual Arts in New
York, completing his degree in 1987. “I focused
on filmmaking for a while, but kept
getting pulled back here,” says Dylan. “Now
I’m here full-time and this is what I do.”
As his industry peers will testify, Dylan
does that job very well. “Dylan is the go-to
guy for proper procedures on everything
exhibition,” says Proctors Theatre House
Manager and Programmer Paul Kazee. “If
you have a question or concern about the
availability of a title or where to locate it,
Dylan is the man to ask. If he doesn’t know
how to deal with a situation, nobody does.”
“Dylan works hard to bring interesting
cult celebs to Long Island and throw exciting
events,” says colleague Clinton Mc-
Clung, the programmer of Seattle’s Central
Cinema. “In lots of small towns, the art theater
is just doing standard current films, but
Dylan works to stretch the programming
with midnight movies, fun events and even
some cool prestige screenings.”
Sadly, though Dylan and his mother
Charlotte continue to act as co-directors of
the thriving movie house, Cinema Arts Co-
Founder and Director Vic Skolnick passed
away suddenly on June 10, 2010. Dylan says
Vic was working up until the last moments
of his life. Though a tremendous void was
left in their lives, now more than ever
Dylan is convinced that his choice to pursue
a path in exhibition was the right one.
“We do feel we serve an important role
in the community,” says Dylan. “A big part
of our mission is to get people out of the
house and down here doing something
communally—doing something together.”
32 BOXOFFICE DECEMBER 2010