| Video Archives | |
| Industry: | Video rentals, retail |
| Fate: | Closed |
| Predecessors: | --> |
| Successors: | --> |
| Founder: | Lance Lawson Richard Humbert |
| Founders: | --> |
| Location City: | Manhattan Beach, California |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Products: | VHS tape rental, beta rental |
| Owners: | --> |
Video Archives was a video rental store located in Manhattan Beach, California, and later moved to Hermosa Beach, California, owned and managed by Lance Lawson and Rick Humbert.[1] Filmmakers Quentin Tarantino,[2] [3] Roger Avary[4] and Daniel Snyder[5] worked there before becoming successful in the film industry. The store was also frequented by screenwriters Josh Olson, Jeff Maguire, John Langley, and Danny Strong.
Video Archives closed in 1995, and Tarantino purchased its video inventory and rebuilt the store in his home.[6]
In a 1994 interview with Rolling Stone, Tarantino called it "the best video store in the Los Angeles area", saying "Video Archives is like LA.’s answer to the Cahiers du Cinéma".[7] In 1992, Roger Avary described it as "less a video store than a film school [...] we'd have these intense, eight-hour-long arguments about cinema. Customers would walk in and they'd get into it. It became this big clubhouse of film making -- and probably the best film-making experience anyone could ever get."[8]
Video Archives is also the namesake of the Video Archives Cinema Club, the 20-seat micro-cinema at the Tarantino-owned Vista Theatre.
In June 2021, Tarantino announced plans to start a podcast with Avary. The podcast is named after Video Archives, and features the directors and a guest examining a film which could have been offered for rental at the store.[9] The podcast premiered on July 19, 2022.[10] [11]