Uptown Attends Nat’l Conference for Best Practices and Trends
by Renee Cho
If you still think movie-going is dead and there’s no future for arthouse cinema, think again…
Art house theater attendance grew nine percent in 2025—and independent theaters that are part of Art House Convergence, a national coalition of independent exhibitors, reported an 8.8 percent rise in yearly grosses last year, with a 38 percent increase since 2019.
The Uptown team was "in the house" at the recent 2026 Ind/Ex conference in Chicago, when reports were released about the resurgence of moviegoing. Here's Uptown vice president Adeline Monzier with Barbara Twist, Uptown advisory council member.
The sharp growth in movie-going was noted in results of a 2026 National Audience Survey, conducted by Art House Convergence and released at the recent Independent Film Exhibition Conference in Chicago (Ind/Ex). Among the attendees at this year’s conference were Uptown execs Ira Deutchman, Adeline Monzier and Beth Krieger.
National Audience survey results are based on responses from over 27,000 U.S. moviegoers from more than 50 independent cinemas, with questions about moviegoing preferences and experiences at their favorite indie theaters.
More than 70 percent of respondents said their preferred art house theater was “very” or “extremely valuable” to their quality of life; 88 percent called it a “cultural hub of the community.” These moviegoers attended more than ten movies a year at their indie theaters, saying they valued the “unique and high-quality films,” interesting programs, and events.
Moreover, of those surveyed, 25 percent of filmgoers began going to their favorite art house theaters in the last three years. These moviegoers had an average age of 40—11 years younger than the average age of all those surveyed. And of these recent attendees, 68 percent were younger than 45. In addition, 43 percent of respondents said they joined their theater’s membership programs to support the theater and get members-only screening and event perks.
The increase in arthouse movie-going audience bodes well for independent theaters across the country, but it is particularly meaningful for the Uptown Film Center. “When we first started fundraising in the fall of 2024 to purchase the former Metro theater, one of the biggest challenges was convincing donors that people would go back to movie theaters following the pandemic years,” recalls president Ira Deutchman. “But in only two years’ time, there’s been a significant rise in grosses at independent theaters, and a marked growth in the younger audience—which speaks volumes about the future of our business. People WANT to get out of the house, they want communal experiences, and they want to be in the conversation. We can’t wait to open to fulfill that need!”
ALSO READ:
Art House Theaters Beloved by Local Audiences; Younger Filmgoers Grow/Variety
Wait, Moviegoing Isn’t Dead? Our Critic Explains/New York Times