1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: Ephemeral is a production of iHeart three D Audio For. 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 2: Full exposure, listen with that phones. Last year, we ran 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 2: a series of episodes on the history and cultural significance 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 2: of video rental stores. In that series, we name drop 5 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 2: a number of iconic locations, one of which is the 6 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 2: Los Angeles based Vidiots. For decades, Vidiots has been an 7 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:35,199 Speaker 2: institution in Southern California's film community. It's also one of 8 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 2: the only female owned and operated video stores into country, 9 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 2: but due to the same struggles plaguing video stores nationwide, 10 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 2: it shuttered its doors in twenty seventeen. However, the Vidiots 11 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 2: team is hard at work planning a rebirth. They're nearly 12 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 2: ready to open their new location in Los Angeles along 13 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 2: with a restored neighborhood movie theater. So Today producer Trevor 14 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 2: Young Ray turns to chronicle the journey of one of 15 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 2: the country's most important video stores. 16 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 3: As I mentioned in our series last year, video stores 17 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 3: were instrumental in my upbringing. Without those spaces and the 18 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 3: people in them, I wouldn't have a fraction of the 19 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 3: love or knowledge of film that I have today. And 20 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 3: I'm not alone in that experience. 21 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: They're fucking fun They're inspiring. Who really truly wants to 22 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: sit at home and never talk with another person about 23 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 1: the thing that you love. I'm Maggie McKay. I'm the 24 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: executive director of Vidiots Foundation. 25 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 3: Maggie is the main person responsible for reviving Vidiots. She 26 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 3: says physical media spaces like vidiots are more important now 27 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 3: than ever before. 28 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: All you have to do to make people realize they 29 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: miss something is give them a taste of it. Record 30 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: stores are a perfect example. New bookstores are cropping up 31 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: now too. I've been trying to explain to my twelve 32 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,359 Speaker 1: and nine year old how much fun life was when 33 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: we were growing up, and we sincerely took it for granted. 34 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: I'm not a mall kid. I was never a mall kid, 35 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: but we were not sitting at home on a device. 36 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: I'm not saying that as an old lady. I'm not 37 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: doing the like in my day. It was just more fun. 38 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: All you have to do is give that back to 39 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: people in some way, and they gobble it up. 40 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 3: Like me. Maggie says her passion for video stores started 41 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 3: when she was very young. 42 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: I mean, I grew up in Lower Manhattan in Soho 43 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: before it turned into a high end shopping mall for 44 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: the one percent, and when I was growing up was scrappy. 45 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: It was a little scary down there. We didn't have 46 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: a ton of freedom. There definitely were limitations, especially after dark. 47 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: But there was this video store. It opened across the 48 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,079 Speaker 1: street from my house. The long gone but much beloved 49 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: Rare Bird video. Of anybody in the world remembers Rare 50 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: Bird video. I would love somebody to contact me and 51 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,399 Speaker 1: reminisce with me. I was also really lucky. I had 52 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: movie theaters that were not that far away. I could 53 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: like take a long walk or go a couple subway 54 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: stops and get to a movie theater. But the video 55 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: store was really the thing. Because I had agency in 56 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: a video store, I could go by myself. My clerks 57 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: at Rare Bird were not like the most like kid friendly, 58 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: but they tolerated my bulkkit and I just would hang 59 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: out for hours on end, and between that and access 60 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: to movie theaters, I was able to sort of find 61 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: myself some freedom and a hobby and an interest that 62 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: obviously led me down a lifelong path and gave me 63 00:03:53,680 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: a job. So I came into the videos universe in 64 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. I was long employed as a film festival 65 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: programmer and have always been pretty deep into the nonprofit 66 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: film exhibition space, film festivals and anything I could do 67 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,160 Speaker 1: to connect an audience to a film and its maker. 68 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: And I had always known about Vidiots because Vidiots was 69 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: like a shining star in the history of la and 70 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: it was one of the first places I sort of 71 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,119 Speaker 1: pilgrimage too, because I'd always really kind of lived closer 72 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: to the East Side. It was exactly the kind of 73 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: place that made me fall in love with film when 74 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: I was younger, and a few people knew that I 75 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,039 Speaker 1: was getting restless in the job I was in and 76 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,840 Speaker 1: then I wanted to change, and those people connected me 77 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:46,840 Speaker 1: to Vidiots. And the first time I walked into Vidiots, 78 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: which I had not been in there in a long 79 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: long time, I just was like electrified by how incredible 80 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: a collection was and how big it was. And when 81 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,359 Speaker 1: I met our founders Patty and Kathy, I was like 82 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: cook Line and Sinker. I didn't know that Vidiots was 83 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: founded by women, not to mention like third generation Angelino's 84 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:09,719 Speaker 1: and two of the coolest people I've ever met in 85 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: my life, and I just was like enamored. I'm still 86 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: enamored of Patty and Kathy. I walked away knowing they 87 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,479 Speaker 1: needed an executive director really badly. They needed someone to 88 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: fundraise and expand the donor base and figure out what 89 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: this sort of year round programming approach would be. And 90 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: I walked away from that first encounter thinking like, if 91 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: I don't do this, some shadude in a trucker cap 92 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: is going to have this job for five minutes, and 93 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: videots is going to close. No offense to dudes and 94 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: trucker caps. But I could just see it becoming something 95 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: that somebody who thought it was cool would do for 96 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:51,679 Speaker 1: a minute, find out it was going to be really hard, 97 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: and then jump ship. And I was like, I'm not 98 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: gonna do that. And even under incredibly difficult circumstances up 99 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,600 Speaker 1: and down, that always gone back to that moment and 100 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: been like, if I do this, I got to do 101 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: it all the way. 102 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 3: Maggie says that very quickly Vidiots became a special place. 103 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: For her, aside from like how legendary it was and 104 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 1: how cool it was that neon and the look of it. 105 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: I walked in the first time to meet Patty and Kathy, 106 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: and they had a little office in the back, and 107 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: the first thing I noticed was I saw the documentary 108 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: section and I was like, oh, wow, this is really small. 109 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: I was shocked. I was like, it was seemed to 110 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: be one wall, and I was like, well, maybe that's 111 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: something I can work on because I really love docs 112 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: and I kind of part of my secret passion. And 113 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:46,600 Speaker 1: then I turned around and noticed that I was wrong 114 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: and that the doc section at Vidiots went all the 115 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:54,480 Speaker 1: way around the walls, and that I realized there was 116 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: an unparalleled commitment to documentary. And when I realized that, 117 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: I just was like, this is where I want to be. 118 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: This is where I had always wanted to be. I 119 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: never really felt a sense of belonging like I did 120 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: until not first encounter with Patty and Kathy. 121 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 3: Without a doubt, Maggie knows just about everything there is 122 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 3: to know about Vidiots, so I asked her to tell 123 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 3: us more about the store's history and about the founders, 124 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 3: Patti Pollinger and Kathy Towbert. 125 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: So Patty and Kathy have been best friends since they 126 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: were I think three. They've lived in La their whole lives, 127 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: and I love hearing about their high school stories. They 128 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 1: both had jobs. Kathy was in the music industry. She 129 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: worked for Frank Zappa and had been in the music 130 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: industry for a while. Patty worked for MGMUA, and they 131 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: both really kind of got sick of working for other 132 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: people and wanted to do something on their own independently. 133 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: They wanted not to work in male dominated industries anymore, 134 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: which was everything and remains everything. They looked around and 135 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: they were like, what can we do? And they noticed 136 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: that video stores were cropping up, but the video stores 137 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: that were around them had really limited offerings and certainly 138 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: not the kind of stuff they were interested in. And 139 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: they saw that gap and they knew that they could 140 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: not only fill it, but like do something pretty extraordinary 141 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: with it. So they opened with eight hundred tapes in 142 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five in our historical location at three to 143 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: Zo two Peko in Santa Monica, a couple of blocks 144 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: from the beach, and within a really short period of 145 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: time it was booming. But I can tell you that 146 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: it wasn't easy for them. When they went to get 147 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: their first bank loan, one of the loan officers told them, 148 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: why didn't you go ask your dads for the money. 149 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: So they sort of opened videots in spite of real 150 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: gender bias and disparity, and they made it work. And 151 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: I think about that a lot as we're making progress 152 00:08:57,440 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 1: against a lot of odds. 153 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 3: Patty and Kathy always wanted the store to be a 154 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:04,080 Speaker 3: unique and exciting place. 155 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: They didn't just want to do something transactional. They wanted 156 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: to have a spot to party. They wanted to hang out, 157 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: wanted to meet dudes. They wanted to create something that 158 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: people would come to on a Friday night and hang 159 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: out at. And that is precisely what they did. And 160 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: one of the unique things that they did was they 161 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: designed the space to really be hospitable to a party. 162 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: One of the things that they did that we will 163 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,599 Speaker 1: absolutely replicate in the new space is that everything was 164 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: on rolling racks, so you could move the collection around. 165 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: And it was very much meant to be a place 166 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: that you knew you could go down on a Friday 167 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:44,680 Speaker 1: night and there would be a party at Vidiots, a 168 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: party with really interesting, open minded, inclusive people. They did it. 169 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: They made a space that people wanted to be at. 170 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: I'm perpetually amazed at how many people in La out 171 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:04,120 Speaker 1: of LA internationally know about Vidiots, remember it and revere 172 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 1: it and love it. That's always a really good thing 173 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: for me when I'm in the mire of fundraising and 174 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: buried under her pandemic shipping supply issues and how are 175 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,960 Speaker 1: we going to make the next one hundred thousand dollars? 176 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: When I hear that, I'm bullied by it. 177 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 3: Vidiots also made a point of amassing one of the 178 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,600 Speaker 3: most comprehensive video collections in the country. 179 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: When they started, they were going after the really hard 180 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 1: to find stuff, a lot of experimental film, a lot 181 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 1: of music video, which is some of my favorite stuff 182 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,959 Speaker 1: in the collection. They didn't go black market. They were 183 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,719 Speaker 1: sensible and they were thoughtful about their curation, but they 184 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: were going after things that they knew nobody else was 185 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:49,680 Speaker 1: going to have, and stuff they wanted to see, honestly, 186 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 1: and filmmakers they wanted to support. They knew that, especially 187 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: with their positioning in Los Angeles, they could be really 188 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: instrumental in helping emerging filmmakers get their work to audiences. 189 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 1: And so they became really known as a place where 190 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:07,559 Speaker 1: if you'd made something, or you'd captured some kind of 191 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 1: crazy footage, footage of the ninety two uprising, we've got 192 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: that at Vidiots. Because people had this stuff and they 193 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: didn't always know what to do with it, and some 194 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,679 Speaker 1: of those people have become really well known filmmakers. So 195 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: the collection holds a lot of history in the VHS, 196 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 1: and the VHS preservation is something that's really important to us. 197 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: I really wish there was more of a preservation focused 198 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:34,680 Speaker 1: on VHS because there are so many people who simply 199 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: were excluded from making work on film, and so when 200 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: VHS came along, when tape came along, they turned to 201 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: that and they were able to make work on that format. 202 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: If we don't preserve it, that work is going to 203 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: go away. So it's important to the history of LA 204 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: for sure. 205 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 3: Throughout the nineteen nineties, chain stores like Blockbuster and Hollywood 206 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 3: Video started to dominate the market, but Maggie says that 207 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:12,679 Speaker 3: wasn't much of a problem for Vidiots. 208 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: I mean, Patty and Kathy are brilliant businesswan. They understood 209 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: their community so innately, and actually the late nineties and 210 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: early two thousands were fantastic for Vidiots. They were cranking, 211 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,560 Speaker 1: enormously successful. I think two thousand and three was their 212 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:30,719 Speaker 1: peak year. And let me tell you, they made a 213 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 1: lot of money, a lot of employees. It was booming. 214 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: I think a police like Vidiots was naturally set up 215 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: to actually, in some weird way benefit from chain stores, 216 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:47,080 Speaker 1: because as soon as those chains started to really take over, 217 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,680 Speaker 1: people knew what they were missing, and they knew that 218 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,959 Speaker 1: Vidiots was the place to go for that. So at 219 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 1: that time, I mean, we had people driving down from 220 00:12:56,679 --> 00:13:00,319 Speaker 1: Santa Barbara on a regular basis because they knew that 221 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: they couldn't find what they wanted because chain stores had 222 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:07,319 Speaker 1: put so many independent stores out of business. But it 223 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: was their curation, it was what Patty and Kathy were 224 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: putting on the shelves. They had like resisted a lot 225 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: of populist stuff that they sort of like didn't think 226 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: was up to their artistic standards. And the Olsen Twins 227 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: were the moment. I don't see why we just can't 228 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 1: tell them the truth. You mean that were the witness 229 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 1: protection program. Oh, that's a big trend for guys. Hey 230 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 1: want to go see a movie. 231 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 3: Oh and by the way, we'll want to get here alive. 232 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: And at a certain point, like they started having kids, 233 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: their customers started having kids, and they were like, well, yeah, 234 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 1: of course we have to have the Olsen Twin videos, 235 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: and they stocked them and they rented. You'd be surprised 236 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: who was renting some of that stuff. So you take 237 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 1: home something really mainstream like that. But then you also 238 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: get to introduce your kid to something. You know, Miyazaki. 239 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,200 Speaker 1: I really love it here, but people don't seem to like. 240 00:13:59,240 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: Which is in this. 241 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 2: Town depends on the people. 242 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: Now take me for instance. 243 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:05,679 Speaker 2: I just met you, and I know I like you. 244 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: I do think that younger audiences are sort of an 245 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:15,680 Speaker 1: afterthought right now, certainly for streaming, because streaming is really 246 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 1: hard for little kids, and it's so easy to get 247 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: them hooked. So big streaming services are like, give them 248 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: one show and then have the next episode just automatically roll. 249 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:33,000 Speaker 1: It's so algorithmic. It's such a marketing thing that is 250 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:39,280 Speaker 1: really challenging to get younger people to discover anything new. 251 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: That's where physical media comes in. I use Moonstruck as 252 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: an example. I mean, you waited for the right man 253 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: the first time. 254 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 2: Why didn't you wait for the right man again? 255 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: Because he didn't come. I'm here you'll like Moonstruck was 256 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: not marketed to me when it came out in the eighties. 257 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: I was a kid. I liked the box art of 258 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: the VHS and so I took it home and watched it, 259 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: and it became instantly one of my favorite movies and 260 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: led me down this really interesting path something wild. I 261 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: saw really really young, the Jonathan Dummy movie because I 262 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: liked the box art, and it made me a much 263 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:20,200 Speaker 1: more interesting viewer because I was watching that was not 264 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 1: made for me. 265 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 3: Maggie says that when DVD rolled around in the early 266 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 3: two thousands, Vidiots was very smart about transitioning from tape 267 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 3: to disc. 268 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: If they knew that they wanted to bring DVD in 269 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 1: and they knew that it was going to have a 270 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: solid shelf life, they could move the VHS off. What 271 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: they did that was really smart was that they hung 272 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 1: on to vhs that didn't get a digital release, and 273 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: they also hung on to a lot of what I 274 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: think initially they thought was like crappy stuff that they 275 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: just didn't want to buy a DVD of it. They 276 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: didn't think it was a very good movie or a 277 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: good show, and they weren't gonna rent it much. Now, 278 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 1: some of that stuff is really interesting and really valuable 279 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: for us to have in the VHS archive because it's 280 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 1: out of print. That actually stands for some really popular 281 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: stuff too. I mean, recent news about Bruce willis everybody 282 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: went nuts about Moonlighting, while we've got every episode of 283 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 1: Moonlighting on physical media and go ahead and google how 284 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 1: expensive Season four of Moonlighting is if you can even 285 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: get it anymore. And that's a good show. 286 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 2: My goodness, mister Presto. 287 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 3: We're looking a little pale today, aren't we? 288 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 2: And who have we here? 289 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,800 Speaker 3: I don't know now now no reason to be Shylott's. 290 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 2: See a little confidence, a little charisma, a little dale kange, 291 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:46,479 Speaker 2: remember less than one. Imagine your entire audience is completely naked. 292 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:48,440 Speaker 3: Boggles the mind, doesn't it. 293 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: Another thing Patty and Kathy were really well known for 294 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: was I mean, they had it in print on all 295 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 1: their materials. If you can't find something, tell us we 296 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: have a friend who is friends with this incredible queer scholar. 297 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:04,640 Speaker 1: And they were saying that Vidiots was instrumental to their 298 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 1: graduate work because Vidiots was the only place they could 299 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: go and say, I can't find this thing? Can you 300 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: find it for me? And it was like a point 301 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: of pride for our clerks to be able to hunt 302 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: something down, find it and give it to the person 303 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,160 Speaker 1: who needed it, whether it was for someone really well 304 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: known whether it was for someone academic or whether it 305 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,919 Speaker 1: was just a fan, they were going to find it. 306 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 1: And we're still like that. I will spend an inordinate 307 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:35,919 Speaker 1: amount of time trying to find an obscure movie for 308 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: anybody who asks. 309 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 3: But when streaming started to take off in the twenty tenths, 310 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 3: vidiots prepared for disaster. 311 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 1: We knew was going to go south pretty quick. Community 312 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: that loved us. Many of those people were still there, 313 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:52,679 Speaker 1: but a lot of them were not. So many of 314 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,680 Speaker 1: those people had migrated off of the West Side because 315 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,679 Speaker 1: it became unaffordable. And that's not to say that we 316 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:02,680 Speaker 1: didn't still have a very devoted Santa Monica fan base, 317 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 1: but it wasn't enough to sustain. Yeah, it was really hard. 318 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:11,399 Speaker 1: It was really really difficult. At one point, Alejandro and 319 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: Yuriito came in, I believe, with his. 320 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 3: Son real quick. For anyone who doesn't know, Alejandro Inyori 321 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,439 Speaker 3: too is an Oscar winning director famous for films like 322 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:25,439 Speaker 3: The Revenant and Birdman. Those happened to be two of 323 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 3: my favorite films. So I really love this story. 324 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 1: They were browsing. I like, went in the office. I said, Patty, 325 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: go talk to him. You got to go talk to him, 326 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,200 Speaker 1: go talk to him. She went out and started talking 327 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:37,959 Speaker 1: to him. He was asking how it was going, and 328 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: she was like, yeah, it's really hard. Like I'm not 329 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:43,199 Speaker 1: gonna pretend that it's easy. And he gave us this 330 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,800 Speaker 1: amazing pep talk about how you have to suffer for 331 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: anything that's worthwhile, and like, all I can think of 332 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,399 Speaker 1: is like Leonardo DiCaprio in the woods fighting a bear, 333 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: and us like Haulling eleven thousand VHS tapes and fifty 334 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 1: thousand titles up Mountain. I returned to that image a lot. Yeah, 335 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,439 Speaker 1: it was really hard, and it's still really hard, but 336 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:06,639 Speaker 1: it's worth it. 337 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:14,640 Speaker 3: In twenty seventeen, Vidiots closed its iconic location in Santa Monica. However, 338 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 3: they always knew that this wasn't the end of Vidiots. 339 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,399 Speaker 1: So we shuttered the brick and mortar in seventeen. We 340 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: put everything into storage. I don't know if anybody else 341 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 1: thought it was visible, but I was hellbent on not 342 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: closing unless we did it with the intention of reopening. 343 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: So everything went into safe storage. We gave up the 344 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,119 Speaker 1: brick and mortar. We continued programming. We're doing stuff at 345 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: the Ace Hotel. During the pandemic, we were doing virtual stuff. 346 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:46,680 Speaker 1: I actually think that the future of film are spaces 347 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: like Vidiots and partnerships like the one that we have 348 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:58,480 Speaker 1: with Movie, with streamers and distributors that understand how amazing 349 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: and on lucrative it will be to forge relationships with 350 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,479 Speaker 1: brick and mortar spaces. I can tell you our partners 351 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:10,919 Speaker 1: at Movie are down with it. They get it, and 352 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,399 Speaker 1: I think that companies that don't get it are gonna 353 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 1: be sincerely disappointed when they don't have a future generation 354 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 1: of film lovers, because I really think these younger generations 355 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:26,760 Speaker 1: are the ones you need to look at. If you're 356 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 1: worried about the state of film economically, creatively, but especially economically, 357 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: better start paying attention to how these kids are being 358 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,160 Speaker 1: invited into this art form, because they are not being 359 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:38,200 Speaker 1: invited in right now. 360 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:43,120 Speaker 3: Maggie largely laments the rise of streaming. She says, well, 361 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,159 Speaker 3: it's not all bad. We've lost something very important in 362 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 3: physical media. 363 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:52,280 Speaker 1: The word everything is the problem. Right. We have incredible 364 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: relationships with some of the best streaming services out there, 365 00:20:55,840 --> 00:21:00,199 Speaker 1: Movie Criterion, we love Nightflight. We don't inherently have an 366 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:04,440 Speaker 1: issue with streaming services. It's a great way to expand access. 367 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: The problem is big corporate entities have blocked access not 368 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: just for physical media, but for theatrical as well. When 369 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: one point of access eradicates another, that's just bad for audiences, 370 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:24,200 Speaker 1: it's bad for filmmakers. And the word everything is a myth. 371 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: I mean everything is not digitized, everything is not available 372 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,480 Speaker 1: on a streaming service, and just inherently the way streaming 373 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: services are set up, everything can't stay on a streaming service. 374 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:40,480 Speaker 1: And more importantly, everyone can't afford all of those streaming services. 375 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:46,719 Speaker 1: And so what streaming, maybe not intentionally has done, especially 376 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,920 Speaker 1: with the quote streaming wars, it becomes about bottom line, 377 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: and when it becomes about what one company has over another, 378 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,160 Speaker 1: the people who lose out are audiences. And the people 379 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:06,200 Speaker 1: who really lose out are audiences that don't have the resources, 380 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: or the time or the inclination to know. Oh, if 381 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:16,520 Speaker 1: I want full access to a multitude of films, I've 382 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: got to have sixteen seventeen now streaming services. It's insane 383 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: and it's unaffordable. The other thing is like the human interaction. Yes, 384 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: when you take a home video home with you, you're 385 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 1: watching it and you know it's a different experience than 386 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: the theatrical experience when you're with a group of people, 387 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: but you still have a point of connection to another 388 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: human being while you're doing that. And some of the 389 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 1: most fascinating conversations I've had, some of the most inspiring, 390 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: have been in a video store with another clerk or 391 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: another customer, or I've overheard conversations between customers. So even 392 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,159 Speaker 1: with physical media that you take home and watch, you 393 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:02,720 Speaker 1: still have a point of connection to another person. Strangers 394 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:07,920 Speaker 1: talking to each other about something they have commonality around 395 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:13,440 Speaker 1: is how we prevent the world from syncing into oblivion. 396 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 1: I mean, maybe I'm a crazy person, but I think 397 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 1: this socio economic cultural divide we're looking at right now 398 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:25,960 Speaker 1: is not unrelated to the fact that access to the 399 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,880 Speaker 1: most popular art form for the last one hundred plus 400 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:33,120 Speaker 1: years has become really diminished. And I think that about 401 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:38,359 Speaker 1: record stores, and I think that about radio stations and 402 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,120 Speaker 1: non cable TV. I mean, it's all connected. When two 403 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,399 Speaker 1: people who seem to have nothing in common like the 404 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,919 Speaker 1: same thing, a lot of progress can be made. And 405 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 1: when you take those points of access away, it's a 406 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 1: shut storm. You have so much more in common with 407 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: someone you don't know. If you know they like something 408 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,120 Speaker 1: that you like, or they introduce you to something they 409 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: like you didn't know about. That's how it works. Bookstores, 410 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,399 Speaker 1: record stores, that's what they're designed to do. Help you 411 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 1: find something you're going to love or hate, but one 412 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 1: way or the other, you're going to talk to another 413 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:19,080 Speaker 1: person about it. 414 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 3: Luckily, Vidiots has been hard at work at making a 415 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 3: triumphant return, and they're planning for a major comeback. After 416 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 3: Vidiots closed in twenty seventeen, Maggie says they immediately started 417 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 3: looking for another location, and in twenty nineteen, Vidiots revealed 418 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 3: that they had finally found a new home. 419 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 1: Well, I came together because a lot, a lot a 420 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: lot of people said yes when I asked them for help. 421 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,120 Speaker 1: The first thing we did was shutter. The next thing 422 00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:57,679 Speaker 1: we did was we knew we had to come up 423 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,320 Speaker 1: with a new business plan, like on paper or with research. 424 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: We did a year and a half of market research 425 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: to figure out what the best path forward would be. 426 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,920 Speaker 1: We innately knew it needed to move towards the east Side. 427 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: We did some walk arounds of neighborhoods on the east 428 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:16,720 Speaker 1: Side and Patty and Kathy were like, yeah, this feels 429 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,440 Speaker 1: like Santa Monica in the eighties. This is right, this 430 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:22,760 Speaker 1: is where it needs to be. And once we sort 431 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:26,880 Speaker 1: of solidified that, we knew that there were not enough 432 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,720 Speaker 1: screening spaces on the East side of Los Angeles. I 433 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,919 Speaker 1: mean now post COVID, it's like the entire city is 434 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,680 Speaker 1: a movie theater desert right now. On the other hand, 435 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:39,480 Speaker 1: there's been a great revival of Rep Cinema, which I 436 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:43,679 Speaker 1: think is amazing, but it doesn't counterbalance what we've lost. 437 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:48,160 Speaker 1: And there was a lot of work put into bringing 438 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 1: together an advisory council and building up the board of directors, 439 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 1: going to everybody I knew who had some level of 440 00:25:55,600 --> 00:26:00,720 Speaker 1: expertise who could offer a point of view. We rewrote 441 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:02,879 Speaker 1: a business plan with our friend Jenny Jacobe, who was 442 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,920 Speaker 1: going through her master's program at UT Austin and had 443 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,000 Speaker 1: a ton a ton of experience with draft House, where 444 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:10,920 Speaker 1: she'd been for a long time. We were friends with 445 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,920 Speaker 1: Tim League. We went to Tim. He was our first funder. 446 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:18,119 Speaker 1: When we started to put money together for the relaunch. 447 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:21,680 Speaker 1: We thought we would do like black box theaters, We'd 448 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 1: go into something like a warehouse. I was very fixated 449 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,680 Speaker 1: on auto body shops because they have high ceilings and 450 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:32,080 Speaker 1: then the Eagle over an Eagle Rock, which is a 451 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,320 Speaker 1: movie theater that opened in nineteen twenty nine and ran 452 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:37,800 Speaker 1: until the year two thousand that I had driven past 453 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,480 Speaker 1: every day for the last ten years of my life, 454 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: had a fur least sign on it. And I went 455 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: straight to jeff Or Walter, who is really our partner 456 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: on everything Vidiots and is renovating the building with us, 457 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:54,720 Speaker 1: and said, I think it's this. I think it's this, 458 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:56,879 Speaker 1: or it's nothing. And then we went in the building. 459 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,280 Speaker 1: I was like, Yep, it's this or nothing. Jeff is 460 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:04,480 Speaker 1: a former Vidiots customer, are architects, former Vidiots customers, landlords, 461 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: former Vidiots customers, So that all really beautifully fowl into 462 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:13,920 Speaker 1: place was sprinklings of magic. We are definitely a phoenix. 463 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 3: Maggie says. They are hard at work at creating an 464 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 3: all new experience in the Eco Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles. 465 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,200 Speaker 3: The space will be a hybrid including a large theater 466 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 3: and a video store. 467 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,119 Speaker 1: We have these two things that seem obsolete right now, 468 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:34,040 Speaker 1: and they shouldn't seem obsolete, but circumstances are such that 469 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 1: they seem antiquated. You've got this old single screen movie 470 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:41,240 Speaker 1: theater that's been dark for twenty years, and you've got 471 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:45,760 Speaker 1: a revered but long shuttered video store, and you put 472 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:51,080 Speaker 1: them together and you get this incredible new, soon to 473 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:55,879 Speaker 1: be thriving hub for the film capital of the world. 474 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,080 Speaker 1: Two hundred and fifty seat state of the art movie 475 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: Theater thirty five I DCP A big lobby. That was 476 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: the thing that we knew the Eagle had to offer. 477 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: The Eagle had operated as an eight hundred to nine 478 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 1: hundred seat movie theater for most of its life, so 479 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,960 Speaker 1: it's really really big space. It doesn't have the decorative 480 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:17,439 Speaker 1: elements of the Vista. It's not something like a movie palace. 481 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,159 Speaker 1: It has that feeling of scale that something like the 482 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: Vista has. It's really big, and it's very hard to 483 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: tell from the outside of the building how big it is. 484 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,479 Speaker 1: And we knew that the scale would allow us to 485 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: make some subtle but really meaningful changes, which mostly involved 486 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,240 Speaker 1: expanding the lobby. When we took over the building, the 487 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: lobby was basically a hallway. I can't even imagine how 488 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 1: it operated. I've heard amazing stories about people trying to 489 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:45,959 Speaker 1: find their friends and trying to go to the bathroom 490 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:48,600 Speaker 1: because there was only one bathroom downstairs. It was not 491 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:53,160 Speaker 1: remotely what you would call accessible. It was not functional 492 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:55,680 Speaker 1: at all by today's standards. I'm not sure it was 493 00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 1: functional by yesterday's standards. But we knew that if we 494 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: moved back wall of the theater and we would still 495 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 1: retain the feeling of scale in the theater, but it 496 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:09,000 Speaker 1: would also give us a hangout space, and that's something 497 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 1: that LA severely lacks in its even wonderful and existing 498 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: theatrical spaces. You watch a movie and instantly you're out 499 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 1: on the sidewalk trying to figure out how to keep 500 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: talking about the movie with your friends. And you know, 501 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 1: if you have to move people from one location to 502 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 1: another in LA, that's pretty much the end of the conversation. 503 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,560 Speaker 1: So we knew that we needed a gathering space. We 504 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 1: didn't want to like squeeze fifty thousand titles into like 505 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 1: a hallway and then suddenly lose the entire thrust of 506 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,840 Speaker 1: our mission, which was to create access and maintain access 507 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: and grow our library. I mean, I'm telling you, it 508 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: was magical. The Eagle has a massive storefront attached to 509 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 1: it on one of the most busy commercial corridors in 510 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 1: Northeast Los Angeles that deeply needs revitalizing. Eagle Rock Boulevard 511 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: was once a really thrive having sort of economic hub 512 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:06,080 Speaker 1: for North Esela, and it is not anymore. And we 513 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,720 Speaker 1: feel very strongly that Vidiots will be an anchor for 514 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:12,880 Speaker 1: the neighborhood, help revitalize the existing businesses, help bring in 515 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,520 Speaker 1: new businesses into spaces that have been shuttered for a 516 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 1: really long time, and we have the community around us 517 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: to do it. So beer and wine too. We knew 518 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: that beer, wine and food is pivotal, and then also 519 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 1: having a space for the community to come together, having 520 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: a place where kids know we've got a high school, 521 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,280 Speaker 1: we've got a middle school, we've got several elementary schools. 522 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 1: We knew we wanted our space to be a place 523 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 1: where those people could come and feel they belonged and 524 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: feel they had a creative outlet and candy and popcorn 525 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,040 Speaker 1: and a hanging space, and the storefront allows us to 526 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:53,640 Speaker 1: do that. We're building a flexible community space in microcinema 527 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,400 Speaker 1: in the other part of the storefront, and we've made 528 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: everything ada accessible and all connected and related, and the 529 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 1: sound is all integrated so you can have a full 530 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:08,200 Speaker 1: scale event in there. You can have three separate events 531 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 1: happening at the same time for three different groups of people. 532 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: It is sort of the dream scenario when you're trying 533 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:20,239 Speaker 1: to revitalize film. It's not feasible for all of us 534 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,880 Speaker 1: to haul across town for that, and we deserve it. 535 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:28,960 Speaker 1: We were completely entitled to having a thriving film culture 536 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:33,320 Speaker 1: in our neighborhoods, and again one that speaks to a 537 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: much broader community of people. I want my children and 538 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:43,360 Speaker 1: their peers, especially their peers who are have fewer advantages 539 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,440 Speaker 1: than my kids do, to have a place to go 540 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:50,480 Speaker 1: that I had that feeling, that buzz of walking into 541 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,280 Speaker 1: a place you know that you're wanted, a place that's fun. 542 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 1: It doesn't feel like homework. You're not being dragged there. 543 00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,040 Speaker 1: You want to go there. You jump on your skateboard, 544 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 1: you roll down own and you might bump into your crush. 545 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:06,600 Speaker 1: You might have fifteen cents in your pocket that you 546 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,840 Speaker 1: can hang out in the video store as long as 547 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:12,719 Speaker 1: you want and get that interaction and get that feeling 548 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 1: of inclusion and it's you know, it's a party. 549 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:21,680 Speaker 3: Maggie admits that the construction process has been pretty tough. 550 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,720 Speaker 3: Funding such a major project is no easy feat, especially 551 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:29,520 Speaker 3: for a small independent film outlet. And despite knowing this, 552 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 3: I asked Maggie when she expects the new videots to open. 553 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, we know better than to try to predict anything 554 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 1: in this world anymore. So certainly the plan is opening 555 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:43,960 Speaker 1: in twenty two. We need to open in twenty two for, 556 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:48,520 Speaker 1: if anything, for my own personal sanity. But the building 557 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: is coming together beautifully. We have definitely been impacted financially 558 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:58,120 Speaker 1: by the pandemic. We've been impacted by shipping in supply 559 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: chain issues and all the things that every he hears 560 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 1: about by inflation. So we are still very much in 561 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:08,360 Speaker 1: our capital campaign, which is almost entirely run during the pandemic, 562 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,560 Speaker 1: and we do have a lot of money to raise. 563 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,920 Speaker 1: We're doing great. Our community has really rallied around us, 564 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:18,160 Speaker 1: but we need to expand that community, and we do 565 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 1: need everybody who says that they care about theatrical, who 566 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,680 Speaker 1: says that they care about physical media. You know, some 567 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:30,040 Speaker 1: of the loudest voices in the fight for theatrical and 568 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,760 Speaker 1: in the fight for independent cinema still don't seem to 569 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:36,200 Speaker 1: know what we're doing at Videots, and I think that 570 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 1: has everything to do with the limitations of launching something 571 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 1: like this in a pandemic, and so we need to 572 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:46,640 Speaker 1: radically shift that. We need to see support from our 573 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:51,480 Speaker 1: more resourced brothers and sisters in the industry distributors. We 574 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 1: have so many amazing companies that have come in to 575 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:56,560 Speaker 1: support us, and we need to see more follow suit. 576 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:02,520 Speaker 1: Seventy one percent of our funding from individuals, and we're 577 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:07,440 Speaker 1: talking little gifts up to our founding member level, which 578 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: is five thousand and above, people joining as founding members 579 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:14,840 Speaker 1: in groups and crowdsourcing their founding membership. Some founding members 580 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 1: doubling down and making gifts annually since we started this 581 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:23,640 Speaker 1: campaign in twenty nineteen, and that's how we're doing it. 582 00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 1: Very very very sadly, public funding for specifically film exhibition 583 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:35,120 Speaker 1: spaces is almost non existent. I mean, we've really struggled 584 00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:38,359 Speaker 1: on that front. And it's not because we're not good 585 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 1: at what we do, and it's not because we don't 586 00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:43,359 Speaker 1: have a compelling project. It's just not there. So much 587 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:48,880 Speaker 1: of the funding has shifted to filmmaker centric programming, which 588 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:53,880 Speaker 1: is great and it will certainly help shift tides to 589 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:59,160 Speaker 1: make a more inclusive and a more representative creative slate. 590 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:03,600 Speaker 1: The the question is where will those movies reach audiences, 591 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:08,720 Speaker 1: so us reaching new individuals is something that's really important 592 00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:11,640 Speaker 1: to us. I do hope Los Angeles and public funding 593 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:15,440 Speaker 1: sources wake up to the fact that without theatrical spaces, 594 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 1: all of the new filmmakers they're supporting are going to 595 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 1: have a really hard time. 596 00:35:20,719 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 3: However, Maggie is hopeful that Vidiots will come to Fruition 597 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:28,120 Speaker 3: sooner than later, and when it does finally open, she 598 00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:30,160 Speaker 3: knows it will be incredibly successful. 599 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:34,319 Speaker 1: There's no question in my mind that people want to 600 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:36,600 Speaker 1: go to movie theaters. They want to go to brick 601 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:41,880 Speaker 1: and mortar spaces to access everything from art to skateboards 602 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,880 Speaker 1: to whatever. They want to go to brick and mortar. 603 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:49,520 Speaker 1: It got taken away from them, and sometimes it got 604 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 1: prematurely taken away. Small businesses are hard to maintain and operate, 605 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:59,759 Speaker 1: but they're worth it. And I think in a weird way, 606 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:02,800 Speaker 1: you're going back into the past to create something new, 607 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:07,080 Speaker 1: and that's something new creates a path forward, and that's 608 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:09,800 Speaker 1: exactly what we're doing with Vidiots. We're taking these two 609 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:14,320 Speaker 1: things that once existed and making something totally new with them. 610 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:16,480 Speaker 1: And you know, you put in beer and wine and 611 00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:18,760 Speaker 1: good food, and that helps too. 612 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:22,239 Speaker 3: Since the store could always use the help. I'll let 613 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:27,320 Speaker 3: Maggie finish by telling you how you can support vidiots. 614 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:29,360 Speaker 1: So you can learn more about vidiots, you can support, 615 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:34,840 Speaker 1: you can get involved. We're on socials at vidiots and 616 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:39,359 Speaker 1: we're at Vidiotsfoundation dot org. We've got a whole bunch 617 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:42,279 Speaker 1: of stuff coming up. I can't tease anything, but yes, 618 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:44,880 Speaker 1: as we get closer and closer to opening, it won't 619 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:48,040 Speaker 1: just be a movie that opens us up. It will 620 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:51,640 Speaker 1: be several months worth of welcome back to the video 621 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:54,480 Speaker 1: store and welcome back to the movie theater, fun for 622 00:36:54,600 --> 00:37:02,839 Speaker 1: all ages. So exciting, Yay. 623 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:09,520 Speaker 2: This episode of Ephemeral was written and produced by Trevor 624 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:13,719 Speaker 2: Young with producers Max and Alex Williams. Maggie McKay is 625 00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:17,520 Speaker 2: the executive director of Vidiots Foundation. Big thanks to Maggie 626 00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:20,480 Speaker 2: for a tour of the new Vidiots space. We wish 627 00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:24,560 Speaker 2: them the very best with their renovations. Music this episode 628 00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:30,640 Speaker 2: from the artist Monteplazier. Learn more at loyaltyfreakmusic dot com. 629 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:32,960 Speaker 2: And we want to hear from you. What do you 630 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:36,640 Speaker 2: love about video stories? Do you want more spaces like Vidiots? 631 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:40,000 Speaker 2: Let us know on social media. We're at Ephemeral Show 632 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:44,759 Speaker 2: and for more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 633 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:53,960 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.