Moviegoers Love Their Local Indie Theaters, With New Survey Showing a Boom in Younger Audiences

By Pat Saperstein

Pat Saperstein

Deputy Editor

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Independent theaters continue to be a vital asset to their communities, with a 9% increase in business in 2025, an encouraging sign for the sector, according to a recent survey. Results of the Art House Convergence‘s first National Audience Survey were released Monday at the IND/EX conference for independent film distribution.

In another hopeful trend for the independent theater business, 25% of those surveyed said they first began going to their preferred art house theaters within the last three years. These new art house moviegoers had an average age of 40, 11 years younger than the average age of all those surveyed, which is 51. Of those recent attendees, 68% were younger than 45.

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