Back when Barak Epstein ('01) was a UNT student, the Denton Fine Arts Theatre sat mostly unused on Denton's Downtown Square.

Now, as the president of Aviation Cinemas, Epstein has spent the last several years involved in its renovation, alongside business partner Jason Reimer and Brad Andrus of Axis Realty.

"I think me and obviously lots of other people were like, 'Man, it would be great if this theater came back to life,'" he says.

Epstein is doing just that. He's always been a fan of cinema, taking film classes in high school, working in theaters and making films on VHS and Super 8 cameras as a teenager. In 2010, he and Reimer worked together on the renovation of the Texas Theatre in Dallas. He also co-founded the Texas Theatre's annual Oak Cliff Film Festival, taking place from July 30 to Aug. 2. All those experiences prepared him well for this current project.

Finding Your Footage

Much has changed since Epstein was a student in the late '90s, both in Denton and the film scene. He remembers when local bands played a part in getting students' work produced.

"We leveraged people who weren't in school to help with things," he says. "The indie DIY-movie scene and the house show-punk scene connected in a few different ways and had similar aesthetics and ideas of doing stuff."

In the years since, digital cinematography, effects and editing have transformed how films are made and what's considered feasible. Smartphones and software tools have put the power of filmmaking into the hands of just about everyone.

Despite these developments, Epstein feels that the resources and talent pool available in film school are still a necessary advantage for aspiring filmmakers.

"It's not like today where you can make stuff on your phone or everyone has a Canon or Blackmagic camera. Like, people didn't just have that in their back pocket in 1998. We needed the school. And I think you still do need school because school does have better gear. And then you can also connect with people who want to be on set and people can learn what they like to do."

Since he received his bachelor's in media arts at UNT, Epstein has started his own production company and supplies film equipment through his other business, Texas Film Gear. After several years working with film crews and supplying them with gear, he connected with Jason Reimer and found a new passion project in the renovation of the Texas Theatre in Dallas and the founding of Aviation Cinemas. Thus, the logistical foundations were laid for the eventual renovation of the Denton Fine Arts Theatre.

Breaking Ground

Church services were occasionally hosted at the Fine Arts Theatre when Epstein was a student, but overall, it was a shell of its former self. The Aviation team had been trying to get the renovation project off the ground since 2018, but the COVID-19 pandemic brought progress to a halt.

"April of 2024 is when the city of Denton got involved in a more substantial way and voted to support the Fine Arts Theatre," he says. "So that was huge and helped close the gap so the project could move forward."

Construction started in February 2025. This is the second theater they've worked on, and the project has had its fair share of challenges.

"The Texas Theatre, when we got there in 2010, the infrastructure of the building was OK," he says. "There were actually seats in the main theater. We didn't have to start from scratch."

But when they arrived at the Denton theater, they had their work cut out for them. A 1982 fire resulted in the interior being largely cleared out and a whole new stage needed to be installed.

"There's definitely some architectural and historical pieces that you'll be able to see and that we're going to call out," Epstein says. "But most of the infrastructure was redone, the roof had to be redone, the structural components had to be redone. The exterior mostly looks the same. But the inside? Complete redo. Almost new everything."

He says they intend to open this fall as a two-screen venue. It's still too early to say exactly what kind of content will be shown, especially given the costs associated with running an independent theater. The day-to-day programming will likely involve repertory and mainstream movie events, similar to the programming seen at the Texas Theatre.

However, given Denton's indie spirit, student film scene and the proximity of UNT's Department of Media Arts, Epstein hopes the theater will give local filmmakers and other artists an opportunity to showcase their work. Sometimes early indie collaborations are raw fuel for later professional undertakings.

"A lot of the people I went to school with at that time, I still talk to on a day-to-day basis today."