Huntington meeting a show of support for Cinema Arts Centre's fired co

Dylan Skolnick, the recently fired co-director of the Cinema Arts Centre, speaks at a meeting in Huntington Tuesday called to find ways to pressure the venue’s board into reinstating him. Credit: Rick Kopstein

A crowd of about 150 people gathered in a room at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Huntington on Tuesday night to support Dylan Skolnick, the recently fired co-director of the nearby Cinema Arts Centre, and make plans to pressure the venue’s board into reinstating him.

The meeting was organized by Chris Thaler, a founder of local arts group The Burrow, who described himself as a lifelong member of the Cinema. By a show of hands, nearly the entire crowd were also members. As one supporter after another spoke at a microphone at the front of the room, Thaler encouraged everyone present to write letters to the Cinema’s board and to spread the word of a demonstration against the venue in the coming days.

"One hundred people isn’t going to make a difference," Thaler said. "We need 500, 1,000 people to show up."

Skolnick’s firing from the Cinema on Sept. 1 for what its board called "serious misconduct" caught Long Island’s arts community by surprise and generated a backlash even before the nature of the alleged conduct was made public. Longtime presenters at the Cinema announced they would not return, members called to demand their fees back and distributor Magnolia Pictures withdrew its latest release, "Late Fame," from the theater. Actor Dolph Lundgren, who was scheduled to speak at the Cinema next Monday with his film "Universal Soldier," canceled his appearance due to the controversy, according to Jud Newborn, who had booked the event.

An online petition to reinstate Skolnick had drawn more than 2,000 signatures by late Tuesday.

"People need to boycott," Skolnick said at one point during the meeting as the audience applauded. "Financial pressure is key."

A call to Michael Kornfeld, the interim co-director of the Cinema, was not returned late Tuesday night. On Sept. 2, Kornfeld told Newsday he was "legally precluded from making any more comment." Two days later, the theater issued an email to members stating: "Out of respect for privacy, and in accordance with our legal and ethical obligations regarding personnel matters, we cannot publicly discuss the specific details of any individual's departure."

Skolnick on Monday provided Newsday with what he said was a letter from Cinema’s board detailing the complaints against him. According to Skolnick, they included operating a side business booking films for other theaters, doing so on company time and using his company email to conduct his outside business. In an interview with Newsday on Monday, Skolnick admitted those allegations were true but countered that his business did not compete with Cinema Arts Centre and took only minimal time away from his work week, which he said typically extended past the 50-hour mark. His Cinema email has for years been essentially his only email, Skolnick said, used for both personal and professional matters.

His annual salary at the Cinema — an estimated $75,000 — led him to seek extra income to "make ends meet," Skolnick added, also asserting the board had given him permission to do outside work roughly a decade ago.

Emily-Sue Sloane, a Cinema member since the 1990s, said she was "pretty furious that the board took this action" and added, "They’re wrecking the organization they say they want to protect."

Front and center in the audience was Charlotte Sky, Skolnick’s mother, who founded the Cinema in 1973 with her partner Vic Skolnick and for a time helped her son run the theater. Sky, 95, said she was "horrified" by the board’s actions.

"We have to do something to resurrect it," she said of the Cinema. "We can’t just let it die."