Carole Skinner, president, The Flicks in Boise

If you saw it in a movie, you’d roll your eyes: A boy and girl go on a blind date. He asks her what she’d do if she could do anything she wanted. She tells him she’d open an art house movie theatre. He tells her he’s got the plans for one out in his car, and they live happily ever after.

But that’s just what happened when Carole and Rick Skinner met in the early 1980s. And despite the inroads of the Internet, Netflix, and the construction of hotels next door, she’s been successfully running The Flicks ever since.

Although we have many more home entertainment options now than when The Flicks opened with a single screen in 1984, that’s no substitute for seeing a movie in a theatre with other people who love film, Skinner says. “When you stay home, you’re thinking, ‘I should do the dishes, I should fold the clothes…’” she says. “It’s pulling you away from being immersed in the experience, as opposed to seeing it in a darkened theatre with other humans.”

Though it took until 1992 to break even, The Flicks is now successful enough that, in 2012, they bit the bullet and invested $285,000 in converting the by then four screens to digital, which also improved picture and sound quality.

Skinner says she got her personal philosophy from Yogi Berra. “When asked by a rookie what advice he had for him at his first time up at bat, Berra said, “Swing the bat as hard as you can.” When the rookie asked why, Berra said, “in case you hit the ball.”

With so many movies being created, how does Skinner choose? She goes to film festivals, such as the one she was attending in early January in Palm Springs, or the one she plans to attend in September in Toronto. “I read things. I get a lot of email and phone calls from distributors, and I weigh all that,” she says.

But ultimately, Skinner relies on her gut. “I’ve been doing this for a really long time,” she says. “I know what I want to see, and I have pretty broad tastes. And I assume if I want to see it, other people want to see it, too.” She’s hit the jackpot with movies such as The English Patient, The King’s Speech and, currently, The Big Short.

Outside the theatre, Skinner is active in other community organizations such as book clubs and discussion groups, as well as serving on boards such as the Boise Co-op and The Cabin. She has numerous awards including _{The Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, Boise Weekly’s Readers’ Poll Best Movie Theatre Award, United Vision for Idaho Award for Most Progressive Business Person, Community Heroine Treasure Valley Public Access Television Award, IBR’s Women’s Excellence in Businsess, and a Women’s and Children’s Alliance  TWIN award.}Skinner also acts as a mentor to other theatres, such as the Sisters Movie House in Sisters, Oregon. In addition, she enjoys travel and is planning an upcoming bicycle tour of Kyoto, Japan.

Though she has been running The Flicks for more than 30 years, Skinner has no plans to retire. “I’m going to do it as long as I can get up and go to work,” she says. “Even when we take a vacation, I feel like I really like to work. My job is fun. Why wouldn’t I do it as long I can?”