A pair of entrepreneurs in Baltimore, Anthony Fykes and Robert Wright are the owners of NextAct Cinema, one of the few Black-owned movie theaters in the U.S.
The theater, located in the town of Pikesville in Baltimore County, re-opened recently after going through renovations.
Fykes and Wright, who opened the theater after working in healthcare, aimed to create something different.
“We didn’t want to be an AMC. We don’t want to be a Cine-Bistro. The idea behind NextAct Cinema is that you are coming to a theater that feels like your home,” Fykes told CBS News Baltimore. “We wanted it to be original and we knew that we wanted it to be very boutique.”
NextAct Cinema, which has taken over the building formerly known as Pikes Theatre, includes two theater rooms. The two rooms each include 43 seats. The theater provides a relaxing place where guests can their movies with snacks, a meal or wine. Customers can order concession items throughout the movie from their seats, according to the theater’s website.
NextAct Cinema also features some of the latest and most popular movies showing in the country.
“We have had great movies such as The Color Purple. We have had The Beekeeper. We had Beyonce, so it is all different cultures, ages and ranges,” Lea White Young, who is helping promote the theater, told CBS News Baltimore.
Fykes and Wright have faced numerous challenges, including the pandemic. Still, they have managed to keep the theater thriving.
“It was challenging— now because we’ve had so much community support. We’ve made it for five years. We actually can call up a studio, ask them for a movie and we usually don’t have an issue with getting it,”‘ Fykes said. “We are still around five years later, and we were able to celebrate another Black History Month. It is really special to us.”
White Young emphasizes the theater’s significance to the community.
“We know that movies are the thing that transforms families together,” she said.
The theater also provides an option for people to rent space for events and meetings. Additionally, the theater has implemented air filters throughout the building to keep guests healthy and safe.
Fykes and Wright aim to keep serving the community for years to come.
“I can’t sing and nor am I an actor, so I can’t accurately be in a movie, but one of the things I could do and provide, and provide as a resource to the community, is potentially open up a theater,” Fykes said.
