A Star is Reborn ✱

A Star is Reborn ✱

Like Leslie Cochran or Eeyore’s Birthday, I Luv Video is a quintessential part of Austin history. The store’s final location on Airport Blvd was recognized as the largest and oldest video shop in the world, with over 120,000 videos on its shelves up until its closure in 2020. The store fell casualty to the pandemic and online streaming. It left a huge hole in the heart of Austinites.

Fast forward to 2022: Ryan Teel and Macy Cotton are enjoying margaritas at happy hour when they get the crazy idea. They decided to pick their most ambitious dream and go after it with everything they’ve got. 

That dream? To be able to spend their weekends with a bowl of popcorn, a box of candy, and a video they selected from library of hundreds of thousnds: The dream of reopening I Luv Video. 

That crazy idea is now a reality, with We Luv Video – a 501c non-profit dedicated to preserving essential and rare cinema and, of course, video rental culture.

REWINDING HISTORY:

The I LuV Video Story

 

 Conrad Bejarano fell in love with movies while working at Sound Easy, a video store in his hometown of Mesa, Arizona. He carried this passion with him when he moved to Austin, opening I Luv Video at the corner of Slaughter and Manchaca in 1984. 

I Luv Video expanded to include locations all over town, even adding pizza shops to complete the movie-viewing experience. This was a heyday for the rental biz. Austin had upwards of 250 independent video stores in the 80s. Then came Blockbuster in the late 80s-early 90s, ravaging local video shops in its wake. 

To set themselves apart from the growing competition, I Luv Video sought to offer more than your typical selection of “new release” movies. They focused on adding rare and unusual movies from all over the world to their shelves. Did you know there was a Turkish Superman? You could rent it from I Luv Video. If there was a specific movie you were looking for, chances were you could find it at I Luv Video.

The explosion of online streaming platforms presented another challenge for I Luv Video and, as with so many other beloved local businesses, the pandemic was the final straw. After nearly 40 years in business, I Luv Video closed shop. 

 

But rather than let it collect dust, it’s time to give this unprecedented video library new life. 

 

“It would bring me the utmost joy to pass the torch to a group or individual that has the financial capacity to preserve our immense catalog of films. My only stipulation is that whomever does so gives the community access to our vast film library.”

Conrad Bejarano,
Founder of I Luv Video

This Isn’t the Film-Viewing Future We Asked For

There’s a good chance that if you’re here reading this, you’ve faced the challenge looking for one of your all-time favorite movies streaming. 

Streaming platforms like Netflix seem to offer limitless options, yet their libraries are just a fraction of what was (and is) available at a video library like ours. It’s not just rare cult classics that are a struggle to find online; even iconic films can be impossible to locate on streaming due to a litany of legal technicalities and business decisions.

If these films and shows are not on streaming, they risk fading into complete and total obscurity. Video libraries don’t just give us the chance to indulge in our nostalgia for the past, they also allow for the important preservation of media. They invite an experience to explore and engage with history that you don’t always find when you’re simply scrolling.

Meet the Crew

  • Macy Cotton

    BOARD CHAIR

  • Ryan Teel

    BOARD VICE CHAIR

  • Sam Kimelman

    BOARD SECRETARY

  • Kevin Mooney

    Kevin Mooney

    OPERATIONS ADVISOR

  • Beau Harris

    BOARD MEMBER, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

  • Jonathan Panzer

    JONATHAN PANZER

    DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

  • Joel Robertson

    HEAD OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Shift Leads

  • Marissa Macy

  • Aud Kohler

  • Brittney Washington

  • Robbie Wankewycz

  • Jessica Quintanilla

    Jessica Quintanilla

 
 

Sit Back, Relax, Take a Stand

Whether you have a specific movie in mind or just want to indulge the satisfaction of nostalgia, visit our North Loop location to take a stand against a profit-driven media landscape and aid the preservation of media. It’s not only easy and affordable, it’s enjoyable.

You can follow us for updates as we build the biggest, most audacious video rental facility we can reasonably afford.