INTERVIEW: Hey Brooklynites, let’s get physical at Night Owl Video
Image courtesy of Night Owl Video / Provided by Bright Iris Film Co. with permission.
NEW YORK — Night Owl Video, which is set to open soon in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has a provocative saying at the top of its website: “Death to Streamers! Physical Media Forever!” That just about sums up the ethos of this new business, which will open its doors to physical-media fans this Friday, April 11. The partying happens at 288 Grand St. in trendy Williamsburg, a neighborhood not far from the Williamsburg Bridge and East River.
“So Night Owl Video is the ultimate source for physical media and any sort of movie-related merchandise in New York City,” said Aaron Hamel, who founded the store with Jess Mills. “We’ll be selling every format from the latest 4K UHD discs, all the way back to Laserdisc, VHS, CD, every obscure format possible. There’s even a few Beta tapes in there, and we’ll also be selling posters, memorabilia, all that kind of stuff. And also we’ve got a great selection of movie-related merch from national brands, and also we’re working with some really great local Brooklyn brands that I’m really excited to be working with and stocking their stuff.”
Hamel, a Detroit native who began his career at Troma Entertainment, was quick to point out that Night Owl Video will not exclusively be a genre video store. They welcome one and all to enjoy all that cinema has to offer, and that includes classics, new titles, horror flicks, comedies and more. Sure, they’ll have Vinegar Syndrome and Severin Films stocked, but the focus is wider and more encompassing.
“I am a big genre fan myself, but I don’t want the store to be a genre store,” Hamel said. “I don’t want to be pigeonholed in that way, and so I’ve taken a lot of care in the inventory that I bought to give a wide variety of things so that it’s not just genre fans. There’s something for everybody because that’s what I remember the video stores of the past being like. I love genre. There’s plenty of genre stuff in there. I started my career in movies working for Troma, so I’m a big genre fan. But I don’t want Night Owl to be pigeonholed as a genre store, so there’s something for everybody.”
The products on display on Grand Street will be both new and old. These past few weeks, Hamel and Mills have ben scouring private collections for the choicest finds, and some of them will be on sale starting this Friday. They are also open to trading with fans and being a one-stop shop for buying and selling.
“We will buy and sell if people want to come in with a collection,” Hamel said. “I’ll certainly take a look at it. I’ve had a lot of fun in the last month or so buying used inventory from people. I’ve met a lot of interesting people along the way, and that’s been a really fun time. I mean, a lot of the used inventory is my personal collection, some of it, but I have bought some used inventory from some private collections. And it’s been a really fun experience doing that, but, yeah, that was an important part to me to sell used stuff as well. New stuff is great, but there’s so much fun stuff that you just can’t get new anymore. So that was a big part of it.”
In the future, once the store is open and rolling along, there will likely be events and the creation of a “scene,” just like olden days when cinephiles would congregate at the local video store, perhaps a Blockbuster, and walk up and down the aisles looking for some titles to energize a Friday or Saturday night. Hamel hopes for a similar scene at Night Owl Video, and he’s also open to some signings and special events.
“Definitely already talking with some people,” said Hamel, who also worked for FilmRise. “The conversations are still ongoing, so I can’t get into too many specifics. But we are talking to a few people about doing signings and screenings at the shop, so that was definitely always part of my and Jess’ plan for the store. Being a store is great, but we wanted it to be an event space and part of the film community in New York.”
After the shuttering of the legendary Kim’s Video and Videology in New York City, Hamel and his team felt there was a big hole that needed to be filled in the Big Apple. Essentially they built Night Owl Video because they themselves were looking for a store to enjoy physical media.
“So we’re trying to bring that back,” he said. “It was really the perfect spot. That street in particular has so many interesting things on it and some interesting things that are opening soon in addition to us. It’s so close to the Williamsburg Cinemas and the Nitehawk Cinema. It is a perfect place, and there are so many people just walking around. I’ve been astounded just being there during the day on weekdays and how many people are just walking around at like 4 o’clock in the afternoon. It’s blown my mind. It’s wonderful, and I think it bodes really well for the store.”
Hamel added: “We have brown paper up on the glass so nobody can see inside, but I can still hear every day people walk by: ‘Oh man, a video store is opening up. That’s so cool.’ So it seems like there’s a lot of interest in the neighborhood, too.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Night Owl Video is set to open its doors Friday, April 11, at 288 Grand St. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Click here for more information.
