After funding difficulties, Winston-Salem’s beloved a/perture cinema announces new director

Winston-Salem’s independent movie theater, a/perture cinema, has a new executive director.

The announcement on Thursday comes less than three months after the former director and founder of a/perture, Lawren Desai, announced that she was stepping down.

According to the organization’s release, Leigh Dyer, who formerly led teams at the Mint Museum in Charlotte and GreenHill Center for NC Art in Greensboro, will be the new executive director.

“I’m thrilled to lead this celebrated nonprofit into a critical new phase of growth and support for the art and craft of independent filmmaking,” said Dyer, who began work this week. 

In addition to working in arts nonprofits, Dyer also worked as a journalist for several years at the Winston-Salem Journal.

In September, when Desai stepped down, the nonprofit organization announced that it would need to raise $100,000 by the end of the year to continue operations. According to the recent release, the response to the campaign has been “enormously positive.”

As a/perture’s new director, Dyer will be tasked with announcing the results of the campaign in the new year.

On Dec. 18, the cinema will be screening Dyer’s favorite movie, Casablanca, and hosting a free meet-and-greet with the new director. More info can be found on the organization’s website.

The independent cinema, which is one of the only ones that exists in the state, raised alarm when it announced that it was going through financial difficulty. Founded in 2010, the theater has been a mainstay in downtown Winston-Salem, helping usher in the city’s revitalization efforts.

But changes in society and culture led to a change in people’s preferences when it comes to movie-watching. Streaming became the norm for many households and after the pandemic, less and less people returned to theaters.

Now, with their campaign to raise $100,000 by the end of the year, the organization looks to continue operating for the foreseeable future.

“[W]e still have work to do to ensure our role as a sustainable nonprofit for years to come, so we encourage further support of a/perture via donations, memberships, or just simply visiting us at the movies,” Janice Tsoules, chair of a/perture’s board of directors said in the statement.

Learn more about a/perture cinema at their website here.