Colleen Barstow, co-founder of the Omaha-based ACX Cinemas and key board member of Cinema United, died this past Saturday at the age of 64.
Barstow co-founded ACX in 1988 with her husband, Bill, when they answered a newspaper ad for a single-screen theater in Nebraska. Originally named Main Street Theaters and financed through borrowed credit cards, the Barstows grew the company into ACX Cinemas, with seven locations in Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois.
While raising her three children — Michael, Andrea and Amy — Barstow oversaw the operations of ACX and eventually became a key advocate for independent cinemas. During the pandemic, she worked alongside Cinema United leadership to help secure federal relief funding for shuttered venues and independent theaters.
Afterwards, Barstow became a board member of Cinema United. At the time of her passing, she was the organization’s Treasurer of the Executive Board of Directors and Chair of the Independent Theatre Owners Committee.
“Colleen was a tireless advocate for independent theatre owners,” Cinema United CEO Michael O’Leary said in a statement. “I had the privilege of working with her closely and she always brought energy, ideas and commitment to everything she did on behalf of our industry. Of course, her greatest joy in life was her family – her husband Bill, her children, and beautiful grandchildren – to whom we extend our deepest condolences and support.”
She is survived by her husband Bill, their children Michael, Andrea and Amy, and grandchildren Viola, Eliza, Simon and Callum.
