Joe Bob Briggs famously said that the drive-in will never die. Austin is proving that the video rental store ain’t done yet either, as We Luv Video opens its doors for the first weekend.
The movie-lovers’ nonprofit dream celebrates its grand opening this Saturday, July 29, as it brings the collection of the defunct I Luv Video company to its new storefront at 100 E. North Loop.
Friday night, the building was busy with volunteers tidying, mounting posters, painting murals, and putting out a selection of the 130,000 tapes, DVDs, and Blu-ray on the moveable shelves – moveable, as the store will also serve as a venue, event space, and new hub for Austin’s film lovers. There’s even a micro-cinema in the back furnished with chairs salvaged from the ongoing refurbishment of the Alamo South Lamar.
The final location of I Luv Video closed in September 2020. Like many video rental businesses, it was suffering due to the increase in streaming, and then the pandemic was the killing blow. However, co-founder and co-owner Conrad Bejarano said at the time he would continue to look for ways to keep the collection together and available to the public.
Several options were weighed, including donating the collection to the city’s library system, Austin Film Society, or the Alamo Drafthouse. However, in October 2022, two years after the closure, the winning proposal was to turn the business into a nonprofit. Film lovers Ryan Teel and Macy Cotton worked with Bejarano to launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise $100,900 to open a brick-and-mortar facility. They actually raised $112,494 from 828 backers, and by April of this year were able to announce they had found a permanent home.
It’s not simply about retaining the connection to the history of I Luv Video or physical media snobbery but about preserving movies. Rather than making films easier to access, the streaming revolution has left an increasing number of titles unavailable and rapidly deleted. That’s just an acceleration of an old problem: Many movies that were released on VHS never made the jump to DVD, and then even more films never got a Blu-ray release, so the deep, multi-format archives of I Luv Video – and now We Luv Video – are pivotal in preserving these easily-lost titles.
However, the idea is not just to rent movies. The North Loop location will also be an event space, and the micro-cinema will not only host screenings but be available for hire. Part of the plan is that it will serve as a screening room for filmmakers, as there is a shortage of such spaces in Austin.
After a few brief delays due to construction and permitting, the all-new We Luv Video opens this Saturday at noon. Members will be able to rent movies, experience the new microcinema, and sample beverages from Goodnight Loving Vodka and Central Machine Works Brewery. The target for the day is to reach 500 members, and to raise $20,000 to help fund the future of this unique cultural resource. Memberships start at $10, but there’s a special student rate of $5.
Get in line to check out some titles starting at noon at 100 E. North Loop, and find out more about We Luv Video at weluvvideo.org
This article appears in July 28 • 2023.
