Presenters at Huntington's Cinema Arts Centre reconsider appearances after Dylan Skolnick firing

Several longtime presenters at Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre are reconsidering future appearances after the firing this week of former co-director Dylan Skolnick.

Some said they would not return unless Skolnick is reinstated, while others said they want more information before deciding whether to continue working with the theater.

The Cinema’s board said Wednesday that it fired Skolnick over what it believed was “serious misconduct,” but it has not publicly explained the allegation. Skolnick had told Newsday a day earlier that the board “didn’t give much of a reason” for firing him.

Skolnick declined Thursday to comment on the board’s allegation.

“It’s been very heartening that there’s been such a groundswell of support from the general public, cinema members and presenters,” Skolnick told Newsday on Thursday. “The only good thing that has come out of this is all the kindness and love that I’ve been hearing.”

The firing prompted criticism from several longtime presenters and former colleagues of Skolnick, the son of Vic Skolnick and Charlotte Sky, who in 1973 launched a makeshift cinema in a friend's dance studio and built it into the Cinema Arts Centre, an art-house theater.

After his father died in 2010, Dylan Skolnick, 58, stepped in as co-director alongside his mother. The Cinema’s programming has included silent films, current releases, foreign titles and campy favorites like “Escape From New York.” When theaters closed during the pandemic, Skolnick oversaw a $300,000 renovation that included new seats, soundproofing, lighting and restrooms.

In its Wednesday statement, the board said “the Cinema parted ways with Mr. Skolnick after discovering and communicating to him what it believed to be, and continues to believe was, serious misconduct.” The board offered no further explanation. Skolnick’s mother, 95, no longer serves as co-director.

“It’s hard to conceive of the Cinema without him,” said David Schwartz, director of programming at New Jersey’s Barrymore Film Center and a former programmer at Manhattan’s Paris Theater. “There’s almost nobody with that kind of longevity and just a pure belief in the mission of the Cinema.”

Schwartz, who regularly curates and hosts the Cinema’s Long Island Jewish Film Festival, said he would not return next year unless Skolnick was brought back.

“I don’t intend to do that again until this is fixed,” Schwartz said.

Foster Hirsch, a film professor at Brooklyn College for roughly 60 years who has written more than a dozen books and presented films at the Cinema for decades, described Skolnick as one of the most respected figures in his field.

“I do events in Portland, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and he is known around the country,” Hirsch said.

He added: “For myself, I can’t continue to go to the Cinema without Dylan.”

Glenn Andreiev, a Kings Park filmmaker and film historian, said that he was scheduled to give a presentation titled “Theodore Roosevelt — The First Presidential Movie Star” at the Cinema on Sept. 15 and hoped Skolnick would be back by then.

“We can probably get the event played at other places,” Andreiev said. “I’ve had ideas for presentations and for guest speakers that I don’t want to go forward with until Dylan is back. It just doesn’t feel right.”

Philip Harwood, an adult reference librarian at the Elmont Memorial Library who frequently presents classic films at the Cinema, said he plans to continue hosting his current monthly series of classic movies there.  “But I need to know exactly what is going on before I make a final decision,” Harwood said. “I believe in Dylan, he’s a friend. But I feel there should be a follow-up talk between the board and Dylan."

Former Cinema board member Jude Schanzer, who previously worked with Skolnick, said she had received numerous calls, texts and emails from people asking about the firing.

A Cinema spokesman said in an email that “we are reaching out to all of our frequent presenters, and we hope they will continue to present programs at the Cinema going forward. As we have mentioned, our commitment to independent film and cultural programming remains unchanged, and we plan to continue to present the programs that people so greatly value.”

Responding to a question about members asking for their fees back to protest Skolnick’s firing, the spokesman stated: “We have received refund requests from a small number of members. This is something our team is reviewing."

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com