Cinema Arts Centre in Crisis After Co-Director Firing — SkimNews
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- Cinema Arts Centre placed co-director Dylan Skolnick on paid leave August 19 and fired him September 2, with a 15-page demand letter from board chair Matthew Daidola citing his freelance film-booking work via Cinema Arts Booking as a fireable conflict of interest.
- Dylan Skolnick earned a $75,000 salary at the CAC while booking films for theaters in Oklahoma, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Queens, arguing — and industry veterans confirm — that his $13,000-plus legal-fight GoFundMe and 3,100-plus-signature MoveOn.org petition reflect community support.
- Adam Birnbaum, who heads Nova Theater Circuit representing nearly 50 indie cinemas, told IndieWire that film programmers juggling multiple clients is "a very common practice" and an "economic necessity," calling the firing rationale "utterly baseless."
- Wim Wenders, Isabella Rossellini, and Edie Falco released statements condemning the dismissal, with Rossellini urging the board to "reconsider this disgraceful, cruel, and offensive decision" and Falco asking, "What is that place even, without Dylan?"
- Magnolia Pictures pulled Kent Jones's Willem Dafoe–Greta Lee film "Late Fame" from the CAC, actor Dolph Lundgren withdrew a scheduled appearance, and at least two subscriber film series lost their hosts in the fallout.
- The Cinema Arts Centre is facing a cash crunch as box-office receipts dropped steeply, subscribers demanded refunds, long-time donor Ellen Reynolds (38-year member, 25-year donor) pulled her August contribution, and the October 3 protest in Huntington drew 200–300 demonstrators.
- Skolnick's side work for other theaters — done partly from his CAC email and using CAC internet — allegedly violated a manual clause barring employees from holding any interest in a competing organization, though Skolnick told IndieWire, "Our competition is Netflix or Hulu."
Why it matters: A 53-year-old community institution is hemorrhaging subscribers, donors, and bookings over a freelance arrangement multiple industry veterans describe as standard practice in indie film, raising the question of whether board politics are endangering the very theater the board claims to protect as box office declines steeply and hosts and distributors walk away.
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