About

Our Mission

A community-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center is dedicated to presenting the past, present and future of the movies and to preserving and educating about films, filmmaking, and the film-going experience in its three state-of-the-art theaters and in the surrounding community. The Cinema engages its audiences and the community year-round through dialogue, discovery, and appreciation of the moving image – from blockbusters to student shorts and everything in between. Revitalized and reimagined through unprecedented community efforts to rebuild the iconic Main Street structure after a fire nearly destroyed it in 2016, SHC continues a tradition of entertainment, education, and enrichment in the heart of Sag Harbor Village.

Our History

For over a century, a theater in Sag Harbor has been a landmark in the lively and culturally diverse Main Street district of Sag Harbor, New York, long a haven for writers, artists, and independent thinkers.

Designed by renowned architect John Eberson—one of the great designers of atmospheric theaters—and beckoning moviegoers since the 1930s with its classic art deco neon sign, the original Sag Harbor Cinema stands as a symbol of the progression of 20th-century culture. It began as a vaudeville and burlesque theater in the 1890s, then became a silent movie house that evolved to show talkies, and after its purchase in 1978 became one of the few single-screen arthouse cinemas left in the country, thanks to the stewardship of Gerald Mallow, its owner and programmer for 38 years.

Because of the Covid pandemic and a nearly six month construction delay, what was projected as the theater’s reopening in April 2020 had to be postponed. The Cinema finally received its Certificate of Occupancy in fall 2020, and had its official opening in June of 2021.

In July 2016, the Sag Harbor Partnership had begun negotiating with Mr. Mallow to purchase the theater and preserve it as a non-profit “art-house” Cinema. But on December 16, 2016, the cinema was partially destroyed by a massive fire that ripped through Sag Harbor’s Main Street, damaging several adjacent buildings. Firefighters from 19 companies courageously stopped the blaze, icicles hanging from their helmets, after hours in extreme conditions.

The theater’s façade and lobby had to be demolished, but its auditorium remained standing and its iconic sign was salvaged from the rubble and repaired, gratis, by community volunteers Chris Denon of North Fork Moving and Storage and sculptor and ironworker John Battle. The fire in December altered negotiations, and the purchase of the Cinema was not finalized until April 2017.

After extensive consultation with successful art-house Cinemas like the Jacob Burns Film Center, the stewards of this volunteer effort by the Sag Harbor Partnership settled on a multiple screen cinema, reconstructed with the help of NK Architects and ConRac Construction Co. with three separate theaters, each with its own character, and with salvaged and replicated historic details to acknowledge its storied history. The original two-story building was also built up to three stories to maximize its potential and help ensure its sustainability.

Because of the Covid pandemic and a nearly six month construction delay, what was projected as the theater’s reopening in April 2020 had to be postponed. The Cinema finally received its Certificate of Occupancy in fall 2020, and had its official opening in June of 2021.

Genevieve Villaflor

Executive Director

Throughout her career, Genevieve Villaflor has been involved with film festivals, non-profit organizations, and specialty publicity firms, working in programming, PR, fundraising, special events, and artist support.  After college at the University of Virginia, she worked on early editions of the Virginia Film Festival before moving to New York City to start a 15-year tenure at Film at Lincoln Center (then The Film Society of Lincoln Center) during the opening of the Walter Reade Theater. While there, she held positions in PR, programming, and development, starting programs like Independents Night, the Grand Marnier Film Fellowships, and selecting shorts for the New York Film Festival.

Over the years, she served on juries, lectured on film festivals, and attended Rotterdam, Cannes, Toronto, San Francisco, and Sundance – where she was on the Advisory Committee for Features and Documentaries from 1995 -1998. In addition to working at The Hamptons International Film Festival, Film Movement, and Sundance Channel, Genevieve most recently worked at The Gotham where she managed the IFP/HBO New True Stories Funding Initiative, supporting non-fiction projects in the early development stage.

Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan

Artistic Director

Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan has served as U.S. Programmer and Selection Committee member of the Venice Film Festival since 2008. Her retrospectives have been featured at renowned institutions worldwide, including Film Forum, The Metrograph and the Museum of Moving Image in New York, the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, La Cinémathèque Française in Paris, and the Brisbane and Melbourne Film Festivals.

Among her books are monographs devoted to Clint Eastwood, John Carpenter, George Romero, Walter Hill, John Milius, Robert Aldrich, William Friedkin and John Landis. Her last volume, Altman, was published by Abrams Books in 2014. D’Agnolo Vallan covers the most prestigious film festivals and serves on international film juries.

Her involvement in the Sag Harbor Cinema started in 2009. She was responsible, together with producer Andrew Fierberg, for the original proposal that has served as the blue print for the new cinema

Julie O’Neill-Bliss

Director of Development

Julie comes to the Cinema with a love of the East End and its Arts Community. She is an accomplished business professional with a proven track record in development, business management and marketing.

Julie spent her early career in NYC where she developed and quickly tripled revenue for an international fashion retail and wholesale business. Her love for fundraising and charity work developed from her work as Director of Sponsorship and Marketing for the Shelter Island 10k Run, then serving as a committee member and board member for various local non-profits. In addition to her work with the 10k and 5k runs, her East End experience includes owning and running a successful and much loved restaurant for 11 years and leading the growth of many local businesses with her marketing and development acumen.

She moved to Shelter Island over 20 years ago to escape the city grind and has never looked back. She met and married her husband Sebastian in Shelter Island where they are raising their two children.

Thierry Balihuta

Director of Operations

Thierry is an amateur photographer hailing from Butare, Rwanda. In 2005, he moved from Houston, TX to Sag Harbor, NY to attend the Ross School. He subsequently attended the University of Maine in Orono, ME and Suffolk Community College in Riverhead, NY. More recently he has worked as the manager of The UPS Store in Sag Harbor while also developing his photography skills. Thierry loves Louis De Funès and Bourvil (the greatest French Comedians), documentaries, and most of all soccer. 

Sara Meyers

Technical Director/Projectionist

Sara has been a 35mm film projectionist since 2007. She graduated with a BA in Film Studies from Suffolk University, Boston in 2011 and went on to receive a Certificate in Film Preservation from the L. Jeffrey Selznick School in 2013. Sara has filled positions at a number of non-profit cinemas, film archives, and international film festivals, most recently working at the Museum of Modern Art as an audio visual technician. Outside of motion-picture related endeavors, Sara enjoys making visual art and music.

Meghan McGinley

Director of Education

Meghan McGinley (she/her/hers) is the Director of Education at Sag Harbor Cinema. She is a specialist in French film, focusing on the French New Wave. Her doctoral work explores the weaponization of play in the post-WWII era and how it shaped French visual culture of the late 1950s and 1960s.

As an educator, McGinley’s teaching practice is student centered and community driven. She prizes transformative learning, guiding students to critically assess their individual and collective relationships to the world around them. At Vanderbilt University, she was honored for her pedagogical ingenuity and excellence in the classroom.

When she isn’t watching movies, McGinley enjoys making visual art, playing the violin, and taking walks with her dog Moon Bear.

Sam Hamilton

Communications Manager

Sam was born and raised in Sag Harbor. After graduating from the Ross School, he received his degree in Film Studies from Columbia University. Sam works as an assistant editor on documentary films and television shows, directed and edited Our Own Main Street Fire, a short documentary about the fire that burned down the former Cinema and creates the Sag Harbor Stories short films series spotlighting the local characters that make our village unique.

Joe Salerno

Box Office Manager

Joe Salerno is the manager of the Box Office at Sag Harbor Cinema. Before coming to the cinema, he worked for a number of years in the hospitality business in Manhattan, most recently for Executive Chef David Pasternack and restauranteur Joe Bastianich at Esca in the Theater district.  Joe is looking forward to welcoming you to the beautiful Sag Harbor Cinema.  Favorite film: Raging Bull.

Executive Committee

Directors

John Alschuler, President
Susan Mead, Treasurer
Hilary Mills Loomis, Secretary
Wendy Keys, Development Co-Chair
Gregg Winter, Finance Chair

Bill Collage, Education Chair
Nick Gazzolo, Development Co-Chair
Philip I. Kent, Governance Chair
Susan Lacy, Advisory Board Chair

Diana Diamond
Francois deMenil
Andrew Finkelstein
April Gornik
Michael Haggiag
Suzanne B. Harwood
Jennifer L. Morgan

Esther R. Newberg
Minerva Perez
Lisa Perry
Carl Quintanilla
Ricki Roer
Shawn Sachs
Jason Weinberg

Julie Andrews
Carter Burwell
Robert Caro
Anne Chaisson
Blythe Danner
John DeLuca
Jules Feiffer

Andrea Grover
Chris Hegedus
Linda Leroy Janklow
Katie Lee
Jaqui Lofaro
Rob Marshall
Bob Shaye

Darren Star
Bettina Stelle
Leila Straus
Shaun Woodward
Harris Yulin

Mirra Bank
John Connor
Myrna Davis
Alexandra Dean
Emma Walton Hamilton
Jack Heller
Tara Fordham
Gail Gallagher
Gina Bruer Hadley

Adam Haggiag
Stephen Hamilton
Joe Lauro
Don Lenzer
Barbara Moss
Jesse Matsuoka
Fred Murphy
Nigel Noble
Carol Ostrow

Ned Rifkin
Lauren Ritchie
Adam Schwartz
Leslie Shatz
Robby Stein
Bob Weinstein
Jayne Young