The streaming revolution of the early 21st century promised moviegoers the opportunity to have every film ever made at their fingertips. Twenty years on and about four dozen new streaming services later (remember Quibi?), the false bill of goods sold to audiences of infinite choice for minimal cost has calcified into corporate money grubbing, the extinction of the home video market, and the gatekeeping of entire eras of cinema.
Ever wanted to stream George Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead”? Sorry, Charlie.
Want to show your kids the original, superior, cuts of “Star Wars”? You’re plum out of luck.
With physical media gone the way of the dodo, streaming curates your tastes for you, NOW WITH ADS, and hopes you’ll be grateful for the condescension until they ultimately Mega-Zord into one monstrous streaming service to lord over us all.
But against this tyrannical threat, there are those who have resisted.
FUTURE SHOCK VIDEO, recently opened and operated by local physical media advocate Eden Chubb, offers film fans a place of solace and selection; with an eclectic array of curated cinematic categories stretching from the silent era to blockbuster extravaganzas on crystal clear Blu-ray or fun, fizzy VHS. In this cozy oasis free from the frenetic chaos of the streaming apocalypse, the choices are endless, the vibes are immaculate, and the mission is a righteous one.
I recently spoke to Eden about the inspiration for starting FUTURE SHOCK VIDEO, radicalization to the church of physical media, and plans for eclectic expansion.
What is your background and your earliest movie memory?
I’m an illustrator and have only dabbled in amateur movie making. I would not even consider myself a movie buff. But I am a professional old crank, so maybe that qualifies me to run a video store.
My earliest movie memories are of Bambi, Dumbo, and the Last Unicorn. A little later I have a vivid memory of seeing Aladdin in a movie theater, but only the scene where the Cave of Wonders tells Jafar to ‘seek thee out the diamond in the rough’.
What was the inspiration to start FUTURE SHOCK VIDEO?
I have to credit the podcast “Stuff to Blow Your Mind” with inspiring the concept and also the name. They started a segment called ‘Weirdhouse Cinema’ where they review weird movies with love and reverence, which certainly ramped up my interest in weird movies. But the main thing is that they talked about renting a lot of their movies from ‘Videodrome,’ a thriving video store in Atlanta. Learning that there were still thriving video stores out there filled me with both hope and jealousy. They were out there, yes, but not HERE. Not in New Orleans!
Then on one episode the hosts mentioned an academic concept from the 60’s called ‘Future Shock’, which is exactly what it sounds like: the future coming at you faster and harder than you can prepare for it. In that instant I knew it was a great name for a video store and that I had to make a video store called that.
Now I feature a section in the store called ‘Weirdhouse’. Sometimes movies just don’t fit anywhere else!
Is the collection of films your own? How long have you collected physical media?
I started collecting after I dreamed up Future Shock Video. It was a very rapid conversion and I made few stops in between “I’m sick of streaming” and “I’m opening my own video store.” Though I technically started collecting physical media again after the original, non-remastered versions of “Star Trek” and “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” got deleted from streaming. If you didn’t want modern special effects and mangled editing you had to buy the discs.
Like a lot of people I didn’t initially question the switch from physical media to streaming, but after a decade or so it dawned on me how much control we were giving up to corporations and how many titles we were missing out on based entirely on their bottom line. Streaming no longer felt like a way to access things you couldn’t before; it felt like the exact opposite. Everything was feeling more and more locked down and controlled now that streaming was the only game in town and every big company was starting its own proprietary streaming service, where it could decide which titles and which version of those titles it wanted you to see.
The real epiphany came was when I was paying for/ borrowing a ton of streaming services, and more often than not still had to rent things on Amazon for $4 because they were the only ones who had it. It was just a sad, lonely imitation of a video store. If I was going to rent a movie anyway, why not rent it from a video store rather than Amazon?
What has surprised you most about this journey?
Initially I was surprised by how many things are not on streaming anywhere. Really mainstream things too. I was also surprised by how accessible physical media still is and how big the boutique Blu-ray scene is. It’s pretty easy to find new releases on DVD, Blu-ray, and sometimes even VHS (shout-out to Lunchmeatvhs.com!). There are so many people who assume physical media is dead and marvel at the mere mention of a DVD in this way that makes me realize they, too, have future shock and are dealing with it in a very different way than I.
What has the feedback been like from patrons?
Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I was afraid people might say it was a cool idea and never actually rent movies, but they actually do come and rent movies! No one has dismissed it outright – the only annoying response I sometimes get is “lol I don’t even have a DVD player!” I mean, okay? Go get one then! They’re not exactly hard to find.
What are your hopes for the future of FUTURE SHOCK VIDEO?
In the near future, we aim to set up video return boxes at various businesses around town to make it easier to return movies after hours and I would love to one day be successful enough to hire all the people who have asked if we’re hiring. Right now it’s just me working for free. But the long game is to move into a real, legitimate space with central AC, room for more videos, a place to screen movies in-house, and a separate room that feels like a 90’s kid’s bedroom with beanbags and a big CRT television. It would be a great place to host a birthday party!
And as long as I’m dreaming, we would also sell pizza.
So if you’re looking to take back your cinematic autonomy and reclaim the joys of losing yourself in a maze of lovingly curated movie shelves, check out FUTURE SHOCK VIDEO and see what all the fun is about.
Check out futureshockvideo.biz to learn more about the shop’s mission, upcoming events, and the wonders of VCR repair!
You’ll be glad you did.
2855 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115 | (Inside SLOW DOWN NEW ORLEANS)
(504) 892-4766 | Instagram: @futureshockvideo
