The Little Theater with the Big Heart

The theater at Flat Rock Cinema features both traditional and restaurant style seating.

In December of 2003, Howard Molton was delivering a Christmas gift at WTZQ when he ran into local radio legend, Frank “Hollywood” Jones. At that time, Hollywood was manager of the Skyland Arts Cinema in Downtown Hendersonville and Howard told him how much he and his wife Barbara loved the cinema. He casually added that he would enjoy doing something like that someday. Hollywood suggested he call the owner and inquire about the possibility of buying the theater.

Intrigued, Howard made the call. Three weeks later, he and Barbara were the new owners of Skyland Arts Cinema - and about to embark on an adventure full of many unexpected twists and turns that has spanned nearly two decades.

At the time of the purchase in January 2004, Barbara was doing medical transcription and taking care of children while working from home. Howard had recently sold a home security and home theater company and just started a title insurance company. Howard in particular was excited about the new venture. “Skyland was just a fun place. We always liked to go there and enjoyed the concept of tables and chairs and beer and wine and pizza and all the stuff that went along with it. Just a neat concept.” Barbara may have been a little more skeptical. When asked why they wanted to purchase a cinema, she immediately chimed in with “That’s exactly what I asked Howard!”

The Skyland was located in the space that currently houses the Appalachian Pinball Museum in downtown Hendersonville. The new owners jumped into the business full of excitement and optimism. And then … the first economic bump in the road came with the opening of the 12-screen EPIC Theater on Four Seasons Boulevard in 2005. Unbeknownst to the Molton’s, Skyland was within a 3-mile radius of the new theater, and due to licensing agreements with movie studios, Epic had priority for film distribution. The Molton’s quickly discovered they couldn’t get new release movies until they were several months old.

Fortunately for the Village of Flat Rock, Howard and Barbara are strong enough to meet unexpected challenges and difficult circumstances head-on. Even so, the timing of EPIC was tough. The Molton’s had incurred debt in the purchase of Skyland and when they tried to transition to art films, EPIC entered that market as well. Howard and Barabara realized they were out of options for the downtown location. “We knew our only hope was to get out of that 3-mile licensing zone.” After considering their options, they moved the theater to Flat Rock in July of 2006 and renamed it Flat Rock Cinema.

The Molton’s leased space in the relatively new Singleton Center - what is now Flat Rock Square. The lobby of the current theater had been used as an office for Bold Life Magazine and the Molton’s opened that space into the adjoining space to create the actual theater. “We did a build-out in about 90 days. I mean, we worked hard and fast,” says Howard.

Howard and Barbara Molton

Howard and Barbara are thankful for the growth of Flat Rock’s business district - and also proud of the role they and their cinema played in helping to create a vibrant and eclectic business district that provides Flat Rock with several terrific options for dining, shopping, and entertainment. “We were bringing in 20 to 25,000 patrons a year - and our customers really helped with the viability of a successful business district in Flat Rock,” says Howard.

The couple kept their day jobs and committed to working additional hours to sustain the cinema. Barbara explains that operating the cinema is both a business and a labor of love. “We have the best staff in town. They’ve been with us for years and we are like a big family. Our cinema is also about friendships and a family feel. We really get to know our patrons. I love that part.”

Howard credits much of the theater’s success to a keen understanding of what the Cinema’s patrons prefer to see on the big screen. Which, ironically, often flies in the face of critical - or lack thereof - acclaim. “Our clientele likes the romcoms and movies that are based on true stories,” Howard explains. And then he adds with a laugh, “If the critics don't like it because it's kind of sappy and predictable - bring it on! We'll take it.”

The dedication and experience of an excellent staff help keep the operation manageable from a time standpoint. “It’s never been a hard job for us,” explains Howard. “We can leave when we want and know the theater is in good hands with our staff. We are all able to cover for each other.”

As it turns out, the Cinema business model is predicated less on ticket sales and more on concession sales and fees for advertisements from local businesses that run on screen prior to the start of each movie. The movie has to be popular enough to bring people in to see the sponsor ads and buy food and drink according to Howard, “We used to joke, we are an advertising agency with a concession stand. The movie just gets people in the door to buy that stuff.”

As a small silver lining when the pandemic struck, the fact that Flat Rock Cinema is a licensed restaurant was a lifeline that helped keep the little theater afloat during the rough seas of an economic crisis. Under state guidelines for businesses, the Cinema is classified as a restaurant which allowed them to open at 50% capacity with the start of Phase 2. While other theaters were closed or had much more restrictive capacity requirements, FRC could soldier on. They removed seating to be in compliance and limited ticket sales to 30 per screening.

When asked if the pandemic was a time of treading water financially, Howard is quick with his retort. “I would call it more ‘drowning’” Did he ever think about closing down? “No.” And they remain optimistic about the future. In fact, in many ways, business has never been better for Flat Rock Cinema.

To help lure audiences back to the theater post-pandemic, the Molton’s dropped their ticket prices from $8.75 to $6.00. Compared to standard movie theater prices, that is a significant savings for their customers. “If a family of six goes to a big box theater they are going to spend $120 for tickets and concessions,” Howard explains. “They can come to our place and spend half that and still have a good time.”

Howard and Barbara have also reduced their overhead costs by cutting back on the number of showings per week - typically offering two shows a day for four days. Even with the limited schedule, they are still able to sell a comparable number of tickets each week. “Where we might have had 30 patrons per screening before, now we are more likely to have 60 a show,” says Howard.

Bottom line, the economics for Flat Rock Cinema are good again. “We are thriving better than we ever have at the moment,” says Howard. Which is a good thing, because they still have to repay loans used to bridge the lean times during the pandemic. Howard laughs, “The silver lining of the pandemic is now we can afford to pay back all the money we borrowed.”

Flat Rock Cinema continues to recapture its pre-2020 audience. Any fears that the public’s reliance on streaming services during the pandemic would keep patrons out of the theater have not materialized - at least not for the Cinema. Howard thinks people just wanted to be out in the world again. “There comes a time where you say, ‘I just want to get out and, and see people.’ And I think that's what's happened.”

These days, Howard and Barbara are hearing a lot of compliments from customers who realize, now more than ever, the special nature of a place like Flat Rock Cinema. And, after two years of struggling through the dark times of the pandemic, those compliments sound sweeter than ever. “We just look at each other and smile,” says Howard. “Hearing from happy customers never gets old.”

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