Dylan Skolnick coming back to Cinema Arts Centre

Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre and former co-director Dylan Skolnick issued a joint statement Thursday announcing his return to the nonprofit theater two months after his firing sparked outrage among the local arts community.

Skolnick’s return marks "a new chapter for one of Long Island’s most treasured institutions," according to the statement.

The statement says that Skolnick will return as director of the Cinema Arts Centre. It also states that a new co-director will join will work with Skolnick and that the board of directors will welcome several new members. 

Skolnick, whose parents founded the cinema in 1973, had been running the theater since 2010 but was fired Sept. 1 for what the board called "serious misconduct." Skolnick said he had been dismissed for moonlighting as a film booker for other theaters but maintained that he had received permission to do so years ago and his side work did not compete with the cinema.

His firing met with swift blowback from cinema members who requested their fees back, called for a boycott and held a demonstration last month to demand Skolnick’s reinstatement. Guest lecturers and programmers vowed not to work with the venue, and even high-profile members of the film industry such as such as directors Martin Scorsese and Wim Wenders and actor Isabella Rossellini, who lives in Bellport, called for Skolnick’s return.

Mediation between Skolnick and the board was arranged through a group of cinema members who feared for the theater’s financial viability. An online petition encouraging mediation gathered more than 600 signatures since its launch in mid-October.

Thursday’s joint statement from the cinema and Skolnick acknowledged, "the past several months have been challenging" but added: "The Cinema Arts Centre belongs to this community, and together we will ensure that its best days are ahead."

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com