Co-director of Huntington's Cinema Arts Centre, Dylan Skolnick, fired after more than 25 years

The longtime co-director of Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre has been fired from the movie house his parents founded more than five decades ago, both he and a theater spokesperson told Newsday late Tuesday.

Dylan Skolnick, who spent more than 25 years as co-director of the movie theater, said a board member called him earlier Tuesday to tell him he was terminated. The board member, Skolnick said, "didn't give much of reason."

“After more than 50 years, I feel I deserve something more than that,” Skolnick said. “It’s just insane.”

The Cinema Arts Centre, long considered one of Long Island's premier venues for independent and foreign films, was the creation of Skolnick's parents, Vic Skolnick and Charlotte Sky. The venue on the edge of downtown Huntington has hosted film festivals for children and adults, and held discussions with noted directors, actors and screenwriters.

Nate Close, a Cinema Arts spokesperson, confirmed Dylan Skolnick’s firing to Newsday in an email but did not specify a reason.

Close said the theater “remains committed to film and the community,” and will continue its programming “without interruption.”

He added in the email: “The Cinema Arts Centre is currently undergoing an organizational restructuring. Our Co-Director Kelsie Greene is still in place, and will be joined in an interim capacity by former Board Co-Chair Michael Kornfeld, who will serve as Interim Co-Director.

Vic Skolnick, a Brooklyn born, lifelong film buff who once told Newsday his love of movies had gone beyond a hobby, died in 2010 at the age of 81.

Charlotte Sky is now 95. Dylan Skolnick said late Tuesday he hadn't told her his time at Cinema Arts was over.

“I’m sure she’s going to be shocked,” he said.

According to the nonprofit’s most recent tax return document from July 2024 through June 2025, Skolnick earned $72,099 as the nonprofit’s co-director and chief financial officer. 

On he and his parents efforts over the decades to bring independent and sometimes obscure films to the heart of Long Island, Skolnick said: “I think we made an impact on the community, bringing artistic cinema to Huntington and creating a community. … people who come together to watch these movies, to experience them, often to discuss them and talk about them.”

When asked about what he wants for the future of the theater his parents founded, Skolnick said: “I want them to rehire me."