Jamie Hill recounts her time as an employee and customer at Howard Hughes Video Store. She discusses the transition of the store into a cooperative. She discusses coming to Moscow as a student, wandering into Howard Hughes and renting videos from the store. She discusses how the store had everything she needed for any film classes she was taking at the university. She also talks about working at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre, working there, and the relationship the Kenworthy had with the video store. She talks about her attempts at marketing as manager at the store and managing the employees. She describes the move of the videos from the video rental to the Kenworthy after the store closed. They also briefly discuss visiting the Micro movie house.

Beau Newsome: Okay.

Beau Newsome: So you're a little record button up there.

Jamie Hill: yeah says he's going.

Beau Newsome: Alright we're recording low newsome and i'm here with the University of Idaho library archives and special collections department.

Beau Newsome: Here, with Jamie.

Beau Newsome: Jamie and I worked together at the Howard Hughes video.

Beau Newsome: And this is for Howard Hughes video mainstream video co op, this is an oral History project that the ui libraries doing so Jamie if you wouldn't mind reiterating your name and just do a little brief description of how you came about.

Beau Newsome: To work at the video store.

Jamie Hill: store, so my name is Jamie Hill and I was a long time Howard Hughes Member and I think I signed up at Howard Hughes the store on fifth street when I was in college.

Jamie Hill: And was a pretty loyal renter and then I started both talk to me and so working at the store and taking over as him for manager when he transitioned out which.

Jamie Hill: was a really weird time for the store, so I kind of was doing my full time job and that full time job and getting to know the management and their styles and then was really behind is the push to turn the video store into a cooperative.

Jamie Hill: and which involves lots of conversations.

: With.

Jamie Hill: Current owners new owners, all of the creation of the 501 C three so I was around for all of that.

Jamie Hill: i'm on the paperwork for the state or creating that cooperative board and everything so.

Beau Newsome: well.

Jamie Hill: Okay yeah little bit of all of it.

Beau Newsome: yeah just so little bits and pieces of it all.

Beau Newsome: yeah cuz I kind of.

Beau Newsome: missed out on a lot of this co op stuff so that's why we also have monique lillard.

Beau Newsome: Doing interviews as well, so cuz she was more on the the core of it yeah.

Jamie Hill: Right yeah he's he was one of the first people and assign on that make sure that happen.

Beau Newsome: So what brought you to Moscow was a ui.

Jamie Hill: yeah came up here in 2005 to go to college born and raised and all there was no question that there was going to be anything else.

Beau Newsome: alumni family.

Jamie Hill: yeah yep.

Beau Newsome: Sorry southern Idaho.

Jamie Hill: Southern Idaho.

Jamie Hill: four hours.

Jamie Hill: So I been coming up here, since I was you, I think I gave my first campus tour in about four.

Jamie Hill: Oh.

Beau Newsome: I love to hear when southern Idaho people come up it's like they grew up knowing about the vandals not.

Beau Newsome: Other colleges you.

Jamie Hill: know you watch the news, then you go, why are you talking about them.

: Right.

Beau Newsome: So then, when you got to ui.

Beau Newsome: Did you.

Beau Newsome: I guess remove strictly the video our to use video or did you shop around or.

Jamie Hill: uh yeah I mean we had at the time we have Hastings and how are you use and I kind of stumbled into Howard Hughes one day and was like Oh, this is exactly like my hometown video store and it It made me feel like home except they have a bigger collection and.

Jamie Hill: Even then.

Jamie Hill: yeah okay my hometown store probably had like 500 titles, maybe.

Jamie Hill: So um.

Beau Newsome: Do you remember the name of it, video store.

Jamie Hill: it's showtime.

Jamie Hill: showtime video.

Beau Newsome: showtime video that's cool.

: yeah.

Jamie Hill: yeah so um I know I, it was my freshman year I don't exactly remember when, but I think I just kind of wandered in and didn't really leave after that.

Beau Newsome: No word of mouth just kind of like, and this was the fifth street address right.

Jamie Hill: yeah yeah when this free to drive.

Jamie Hill: Or, nobody had.

Jamie Hill: Nobody told me about it, I just wandered in and then promptly went back home and told everybody about it, and I know I was one of those who, like everyone in their mom was using my account number.

Beau Newsome: Oh, really.

Jamie Hill: yeah.

Beau Newsome: Do you have your account number.

Jamie Hill: I it was something really low like somebody had died or something, and so my account, I think it was 40.

Beau Newsome: No way.

Jamie Hill: And I was like how do I have a double digit number.

Jamie Hill: But they were like Oh, are we using them.

Beau Newsome: yeah I know they they reset at one point because we're mine was a five digit number.

Beau Newsome: yeah there was people just walking in new customers, they were like oh we're 35 now or something like.

Jamie Hill: yeah yeah it was really weird and then, when we.

Jamie Hill: I left after college and then, when I came back, I was like I have no idea what my number is so here's my phone number which hasn't changed since I was 15.

Jamie Hill: Oh.

Jamie Hill: yeah i'll use this and it wasn't until working at the store that I looked it up, and I was like oh yeah.

: Okay.

Beau Newsome: Oh, so you you've graduated and then moved away.

Jamie Hill: For a little bit huh yep yep I was gone for about three and a half years and then came back.

Beau Newsome: Okay, what.

Beau Newsome: What kind of made it unique, if you remember just some of the.

Jamie Hill: I think it was definitely the selection made it unique and like I said I mean it felt like home for me, and so I I was not the shopper who was like well i've never seen one of these, this is totally different and, for me, I was like oh good a video store.

Jamie Hill: And I also really loved I a lot of the classes, I took were.

Jamie Hill: Film classes or English classes and so.

Jamie Hill: Everything I needed for those classes was there, so you know the weird avant garde cinema and the new are and all of the European cinema was all there and it and if it wasn't usually somebody was willing to make sure it got there.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah we've talked about that a little bit like me and some other workers there and stuff like took pride and if we didn't have it we try our hardest to get it, you know.

Beau Newsome: yeah even if one person asked for it, you know.

Jamie Hill: that's enough.

: yeah.

Beau Newsome: So did you.

Beau Newsome: So you notice probably some changes over the years of the video store.

Beau Newsome: As a.

Beau Newsome: As a customer did it change a whole lot that you noticed.

Jamie Hill: I think, as a customer and.

Jamie Hill: It felt pretty consistent to me and I do remember like when the five for five for five started five movies five bucks five days like that was.

Jamie Hill: Something that was really noticeable and my brain automatically was like this is genius marketing and he should be doing more of this This is great yeah.

Jamie Hill: um.

Jamie Hill: But other than that, I mean customer wise I.

Jamie Hill: It was it was always the same solid video store yeah.

Beau Newsome: yeah I think we there's so many different iterations of deals, and it was like dollar tuesday's dollar.

Beau Newsome: raise dollar Tuesday and Thursdays and then.

Beau Newsome: Then it was five for five for the longest time.

Beau Newsome: yeah, then I think when maybe you started working there.

Beau Newsome: We had gone to.

Jamie Hill: buy it was has been.

Jamie Hill: Five movies for $7 for seven days.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah.

Jamie Hill: which was like didn't roll off the tongue.

Jamie Hill: No.

Beau Newsome: I wanted it to be 5755 movies.

Beau Newsome: $7 five days yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: yeah we also thought that the seven days would help people remember like when they get movies kind of thing.

Jamie Hill: It was really nice to hand movies to people and be like you have a day.

Beau Newsome: Right bring him back this time.

Beau Newsome: In one week yeah.

Beau Newsome: yeah instead of doing the five day mass or they're like okay.

Jamie Hill: Does that does that mean to us today count.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah so that was a little bit easier.

Beau Newsome: And do you remember as a customer the store changing from the fifth street to Main Street.

Jamie Hill: I don't I think.

Jamie Hill: It either happened, like my senior year while I was student teaching or while I was gone, but when I came back to my school, it was on Main Street.

: Okay.

Beau Newsome: And how shortly after you came back, did you start working at kenworthy.

Jamie Hill: um I was in town for about six months, and then I started working at the Kennedy so I started there in March of 2013.

: Okay.

Jamie Hill: yep.

Beau Newsome: And you have you always known about the team we've we've talked about the kenworthy a lot on this these interviews and stuff but.

Beau Newsome: Pretty you.

Beau Newsome: Know it's just a local well I guess you can explain it a little bit better what can we.

Jamie Hill: do that.

Jamie Hill: The kenworthy is a nonprofit performing arts Center and we show movies, we do live theater we do.

Jamie Hill: streamed content from London and New York we basically provide high quality arts entertainment that you can't find anywhere else on the loose.

Jamie Hill: So I I had been to the camera, the number of times in college at that time they were only open one or two days a week, and so I had been to a ton of wes Anderson movies i've been to a lot of foreign films, with the kenworthy for extra credit.

Jamie Hill: i've been to probably three concerts there and then by the time I started in 2013 we were fully open a solid four days a week, sometimes up to seven and now it's 2021 and we are open consistently, seven days a week, not counting COPA.

Beau Newsome: yeah okay yeah I always thought the kenworthy in the video store we're just need.

Beau Newsome: stores to have close to each other.

Beau Newsome: yeah and especially.

Beau Newsome: You know.

Beau Newsome: few doors down basically.

Jamie Hill: And I know that can where they always appreciated that relationship, because we could you know run down the street, if something happened to our movie that we were showing or.

Jamie Hill: There was a point where our projector decided to stop working and we needed to do something else for the weekend, and so we just ran down the street and said, what can we show for free, this weekend and.

Jamie Hill: We were always able to find something you know if we had people who ran to the theater they'd say I really want to show the goonies but I don't have a copy of a copy and we'd be like yep.

Beau Newsome: We do.

: A minute.

Beau Newsome: There we have a whole we have about 35,000 titles, we can choose.

Jamie Hill: yeah yeah yeah and I know i'm pat and I talked about that a lot to kind of symbiotic relationship of having like we we could promote the the video store and did on our marketing so.

Jamie Hill: Like I talked to pat and was like listen you've been giving us free movies, for years, let me do some some free Thank you and so they're basically was a Howard Hughes video.

Jamie Hill: Thank you, it wasn't technically an ad but it might as well have been and that ran on a big screen for a solid two years straight.

Beau Newsome: Just from the beginning, as people are like taking their seats and stuff like that.

Jamie Hill: yep yep big logo up there, so everybody could know like we get a lot of support from them and we want to support them to yeah.

Beau Newsome: yeah I wish we could have maybe done a little bit more.

Beau Newsome: I just we've talked about this in the past interviews of just advertising in general we just didn't have a lot of money for it and we were to spend our advertising dollars and stuff like that.

Jamie Hill: Right and I know like once I became manager of the store I ran into that a lot, I mean that's.

Jamie Hill: What I do is marketing and every avenue that I would offer like let's let's not lose this gem I think it's really vital to keep the store running here are some marketing and advertising ideas free or not and and they weren't really well received very often.

Beau Newsome: Right yeah I know when I think when probably just from working with you, via the kenworthy just working with the kenworthy when I managed the video store and that's probably how we got to know each other.

Jamie Hill: mm hmm yep.

: And then.

Beau Newsome: You were kind of helping us with like Facebook and kind of walking me through it, because I was.

Jamie Hill: yeah.

Beau Newsome: kind of a novice at it, you know and.

Beau Newsome: uh, but I think it was maybe when you started working there before you started working there is when we developed Facebook and instagram and all that stuff.

Jamie Hill: I think the Facebook account, and I think you officially set it up right before.

Jamie Hill: And then I pretty much came in and filled out all the information and then started posting you know four or five six times a week every Tuesday was posting the releases and making sure like this weekend can get this thing that's been on the new release fall for a minute.

Jamie Hill: More i'm get this thing that just dropped, and now you know you can get it cheaper, along with a bunch of other movies so.

Beau Newsome: I saw the cat.

Jamie Hill: That there's one.

Beau Newsome: yeah.

Beau Newsome: That was always that was a big help you know that was.

Beau Newsome: I don't know how many followers we had towards the end but.

Jamie Hill: Not well they think kind of we had it, we had a solid number growing for sure, and then I know after I left the video store they stopped posting and people just started i'm following and yeah it's like not paying attention.

Beau Newsome: But that was always need to be like here's tuesday's new releases.

Beau Newsome: And here's what's dropped off a new releases into the the seven day rental section, you know that was always.

Jamie Hill: And it was also really great um I I had a couple different side gigs when I was there and so.

Jamie Hill: In addition to working full time to kenworthy and full time at the video store I was also teaching at the campus teaching English.

Jamie Hill: And so I would go to classes and tell them like give them an explanation of how to film movies cinema works.

Jamie Hill: And then, at the end I would always be like here's some information about this video store that you may or may not know exists.

Jamie Hill: And so many of them didn't and I always would either give out like a buy one get one free rental.

Jamie Hill: or I would hand out just like I made up some little business cards that had qr codes on them so they could find us on Facebook and those always made our numbers sore and usually like next couple weeks, if you like, a look here, these new people coming through the door.

Beau Newsome: yeah it was it was tough getting students or sometimes it would hit with whatever you tried.

Beau Newsome: And sometimes it wouldn't but, when it hit it was great because.

Beau Newsome: Just had this constant influx of students and how do we get them into our store kind of.

: Right.

Beau Newsome: But we've talked about this, and also as we straddle that line between not having enough new releases, but still having the the library that.

Beau Newsome: Right made Howard Hughes what it is, you know.

Jamie Hill: Right.

Beau Newsome: Like we lost a lot of.

Beau Newsome: college students and other people to Hastings or something when we just didn't have enough titles and the big.

Beau Newsome: pirates of the Caribbean stuff like well it's hard you know you can't buy 10 copies of pirates the Caribbean.

Jamie Hill: And and have that be okay, because you might rent all 10 out one day but odds are you won't and then, once those have been out for a while, what do you do with extra nine.

Beau Newsome: Right.

Beau Newsome: yeah and you know we were starting to sell them, I think that was doing okay for extra copies and stuff but yeah.

Jamie Hill: And I think that was another one of those things to get the students would have known that we had basically new DVDs for sale, I think they.

Jamie Hill: They would have come in for that, because that there's still a lot of like college students are finding their new way they want to be able to like own stuff they've never really had their own copies of things and so.

Jamie Hill: I think that was definitely an opportunity to say come down here and.

Jamie Hill: Right not go too hasty.

Beau Newsome: yeah or if people knew they have late fees or you know a lot of times I would scare people away from the store if they just.

Jamie Hill: thought they have a Ferris.

Beau Newsome: But if they just knew.

Jamie Hill: I heard that a lot.

Jamie Hill: yeah I think I owe you 40 bucks so i'm not gonna come back come back anyway.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah I did that all the time I was like just come back i'll help you out with late fees to.

Jamie Hill: Get.

Beau Newsome: The printing here, it will be worth it, but.

Jamie Hill: yeah.

Beau Newsome: They never been so some of them, but.

Beau Newsome: So I guess yeah that leads me to so you're working full time to kenworthy and at the ui or part time with you, I.

Jamie Hill: Just part time at the ui.

Beau Newsome: And then you.

Beau Newsome: And then I hired you the video store.

Jamie Hill: mm hmm.

Beau Newsome: kind of a probably part time basis.

Jamie Hill: um I think you had initially it all happened really fast, I think you initially said you needed like two days a week, and then I hadn't even been there for a month, yet or you said Oh, by the way, i'm going to be leaving So what are you doing.

Beau Newsome: Right.

Beau Newsome: Do you want.

Beau Newsome: Do you want to manage the store.

: yeah.

Beau Newsome: and your your game right.

Jamie Hill: yeah I mean like I said, like marketing and the kenworthy it's a great theater but it's also an old business model and it's something that i've been marketing for years and i'm.

Jamie Hill: able to get people in the door, and so it was one of those like oh Let me run with this, I could totally do this okay sure.

Beau Newsome: yeah um do you was there any staff turnover when you took over managing do you Member.

Jamie Hill: And I think a couple two people have left right before I got there right, as I was getting there and I know there was one person that I was not really or it's working with, and she decided to leave pretty much as soon as she found out that I was the manager and she wasn't.

Jamie Hill: OK and.

Jamie Hill: Other than that everybody pretty much stuck around and I did hire one more part time person, but I was really focused on getting the people we had because they were such personalities, to be working more hours.

Jamie Hill: As opposed to having more humans, so I thought that we might be beneficial to like focus payroll on paying a couple people really you know fairly rather than paying a bunch of people a little bit.

Beau Newsome: yeah that's good and i'm just probably i'm sure Ben and hardcastle and Ian or two of them.

Beau Newsome: yeah we're there.

Beau Newsome: When I left and you took over yeah.

: yep.

Beau Newsome: yeah we've all been he's been there for.

Beau Newsome: forever forever yeah.

Jamie Hill: It was one of those that I was like.

Jamie Hill: he's the perfect person he could be working here, you know even just opening five days a week, and we can really utilize that knowledge and that history so let's reward that.

Beau Newsome: I think, other than me he's got the long like he's waste past me as far as like 10 years at the store.

Jamie Hill: yeah that wouldn't surprise me, but.

Beau Newsome: But he I don't think he really cared to manage ever and he just wanted to.

Jamie Hill: know, but every time I would say hey I you know i'm working on this thing this week, but i've got these other regular store DVDs that are like manager duties he'd be like Oh, I can do that yep no problem.

Beau Newsome: Let me do it yeah yeah.

Jamie Hill: He goes just the title.

Beau Newsome: um so I guess.

Beau Newsome: pros and cons about managing the video star let's.

Jamie Hill: let's go.

Beau Newsome: let's go pros first what were some of the.

Jamie Hill: Free movie Rentals.

Jamie Hill: So that was a rent.

Beau Newsome: Before you started working there like when you're working at the camera they were you still coming in and renting.

Jamie Hill: I was um I was renting a lot still and the kenworthy was often renting and so, if the kenworthy got something I would usually take it home, knowing that we had five days and i'd watch it I took it back.

Jamie Hill: Alright, so yeah I I was renting a lot and but that grew exponentially were at the store plus you I mean you would see stuff that you were like what is this thing i've never heard of.

Jamie Hill: Though this isn't even real, I have to watch it and you never wanted to put it on the in the store because you didn't know what you were going to find it.

Jamie Hill: Right uh I do remember putting on a French film, because I would like didn't want to think or focus and then like listening to it, I was like they're swearing so much and looked up and there weren't any subtitles on thinking is like was just a stream of swearing was like.

Jamie Hill: Okay, no more testing in store.

Beau Newsome: yeah then it's you're just like senses are on alert when you throw something in.

Beau Newsome: Like.

Beau Newsome: Somebody will say shit and you'll be like.

Jamie Hill: Oh, my God.

Beau Newsome: I gotta turn that off where the.

Jamie Hill: Where the kid here.

Beau Newsome: There were the kids.

Jamie Hill: weird because I remember thinking like walking into being, like, why are they always watching the same like four shows all the time and then after a while I was like well all I want to do is put 30 rock on.

Jamie Hill: Right is that safe.

Beau Newsome: Because you know yeah I have like my run of movies, that you would just constantly over and over and over again.

Beau Newsome: And if there was a swear word you knew exactly where it was.

Jamie Hill: Just conveniently just skip the next scene.

Beau Newsome: Did you have some favorite stuff that you watched a lot in there.

Jamie Hill: um I had a couple like we play a lot of like 30 rock parks and REC and arrested development because I knew I could just put those on and not I wouldn't get too distracted but I knew they were relatively safe and I also really love Disney so I put a lot of Disney shows on.

Jamie Hill: And like really old school musicals like seeing the rain.

Jamie Hill: I also found that Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat with donny osmond is the exact amount of time it would take from the time I showed up on Tuesday like processed in all of our new arrivals and unlock the door it's like that was exactly the length of the movie.

Jamie Hill: Oh, and so, like every Tuesday i'd throw in just an amazing technicolor dreamcoat because I would know by where we were in the movie how much time I had until open every time.

Jamie Hill: It was really, really convenient.

Beau Newsome: That is that's nice people I remember doing that it had been a while, since i've close the store but you'd be like all right, I got two hours, I know exactly which.

: yeah.

Jamie Hill: yeah yeah for that, like the one you were thinking about you.

Jamie Hill: Put in lock the door pop that in do like week we deposits or whatever.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah.

Jamie Hill: Have a plan yeah.

Beau Newsome: i'm free Rentals were pro.

: yep.

Jamie Hill: It was a pro because it helped me to both job, so I got to kind of research films that I hadn't been able to see or, especially with new releases I got a pretty focused window of movies, that I want to watch, but having to see some of the other stuff really just helps for work.

Jamie Hill: and doing research for what we were going to show down the line.

Jamie Hill: and obviously the people like there was a there's a very solid group of regulars that come into the store.

Jamie Hill: And I really enjoyed getting to know some of them and their habits and.

Jamie Hill: Not only just regulars but, like the random people feel.

Jamie Hill: That you would get people come in and and either say Oh, this is just like my hometown theater or oh my gosh like this is the coolest place i've ever seen or Oh, I heard you were here and i'm looking for this one movie probably don't have it, but, and we did.

Beau Newsome: yeah we got it.

: yeah.

Beau Newsome: yeah that's one thing to i'll probably ask it towards the end of the interview is, if you can.

Beau Newsome: yeah if you know of anybody that you can recommend that we interview some customers, or something popped in your head just let me know and i'll jot them down I don't we're not going to be able to get to everybody.

Jamie Hill: Obviously, but.

Beau Newsome: it's nice it's nice to just.

Beau Newsome: interview customers to you know just.

Beau Newsome: Sure, get their take on it.

Beau Newsome: And one thing to the kenworthy gave us posters.

Jamie Hill: Yes, yes.

Beau Newsome: That was a little nervous.

Jamie Hill: Do you need a mortal kombat poster because i've got seven of them right.

Beau Newsome: But just sort of my co workers, probably do.

Jamie Hill: Oh, my gosh the studios and decided to start shipping posters again, and so they just force ship stuff and I think yeah I think right now we have seven mortal kombat monsters.

Jamie Hill: So I don't know why they just keep showing up every week.

Beau Newsome: And there's nothing you can do with them you can't like so.

Jamie Hill: Ellen that's illegal right.

Jamie Hill: So we can give them away.

Beau Newsome: Sure yeah that was that was cool because that helped us, you know cuz you guys would get movies, you know months before we.

Beau Newsome: yeah we're five six months or whatever, so we just build a display him put the little coming soon day.

Beau Newsome: Happy people wouldn't read maybe like can I rent a copy of mortal kombat you're like.

Beau Newsome: Oh yeah.

Jamie Hill: Or we would bring it like the weekend after we finished playing it, it was like oh you missed it this weekend well don't worry you still have a chance go though renta it will be here.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah yeah I thought that was really cool and plus you guys the kenworthy.

Beau Newsome: You know you didn't get the mainstream sometimes he would do mainstream stuff just.

Beau Newsome: Right, but it was it was awesome to have a theater that.

Beau Newsome: Was as eclectic is Howard Hughes, you know.

Jamie Hill: yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: And plus you would do a lot of old releases to write your rent out theater.

Jamie Hill: Oh yeah we're always available for Rentals so and that's actually what we've been doing during the pandemic just I think private rental so essentially a bigger version of your living room show up eating popcorn and watch a movie do whatever you want.

Jamie Hill: Was I.

Jamie Hill: watched the sound of music I think we've shown that twice if we were to show it publicly to the city of basco it would cost us over $1,000 for licensing just for permission to show it, but if you want to watch it in your living room nobody stopping you so.

Jamie Hill: been kind of fun.

Beau Newsome: Oh, so you can just throw it on.

Jamie Hill: Whatever you want.

Beau Newsome: um so as far as like ordering movies from the video for the video store Do you remember your process of doing that.

Jamie Hill: I would usually look I I had a pretty solid process so um I had a running list of stuff that people would come in and say when is the showing up, I was looking at and then write down the dates, or it.

Jamie Hill: Definitely consulted box office mojo a lot.

Jamie Hill: And we look at what gross really well in the theaters because first of all in a theater people are gonna be like Oh well, now I need to see this at home.

Jamie Hill: um and then on the flip side, like the stuff that I knew about from the kenworthy that was indie stuff coming out that we hadn't shown, but I knew people had asked about I would order a copy of that and those went almost just as well as the big you know 10 all Hollywood blockbusters.

Beau Newsome: mm hmm.

Jamie Hill: Because it was like I knew people were looking for it and they knew they were used to get it.

Beau Newsome: yeah That was a good gauge for us to remember is like.

Beau Newsome: Not only if you guys got big blockbusters but the indie movies, you know be like okay well can where they got it.

Beau Newsome: Sometimes I get information from you.

Beau Newsome: and be like how to do.

Jamie Hill: yep.

Jamie Hill: But you like Okay, I remember.

Jamie Hill: I bought a copy of it, and if it was solidly rented out the entire time it was on new release like it was the day it would come back in i'd have to call somebody and say okay it's here.

Jamie Hill: And it'd be gone by the end of the day and I ended up buying extra copies of it, and it was everybody was like well, I was gonna see that the kenworthy but I missed that one day, and here I am.

Beau Newsome: yeah I love that movie haida was one of my favorites.

Jamie Hill: So good yeah.

Beau Newsome: Very good.

Beau Newsome: Speaking of.

Beau Newsome: You know people clamoring for IDA.

Beau Newsome: Like.

Beau Newsome: The ui would always their classes would send their students to us.

Beau Newsome: To get a movie but they wouldn't, let us know that.

Beau Newsome: hey you might have like 3040 kids look.

Jamie Hill: All coming.

Jamie Hill: For one movie that you have a copy of.

Beau Newsome: Right yeah so.

: yeah.

Beau Newsome: trying to get in with the with the professors and be like hey if you want to give me a list of what you're what you're doing.

Jamie Hill: So in my time as manager that was I already had that in.

Jamie Hill: From the kenworthy, and so I know like then James.

Jamie Hill: came to me and said here's my syllabus how many of these are in the store and do you have multiple copies of that.

Jamie Hill: And so I think there were two solid semesters that I got the syllabus or even finalized it and was like oh look you're going to be sending these students like, of course, will die and copy and make sure we've got you know, two of each of them at least.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah.

Jamie Hill: Then, when they all show up the week before dead week.

Jamie Hill: Two of them can get it.

Beau Newsome: Right or bets feast or something like that which.

Beau Newsome: will be constantly on reserve just over and over and over.

Jamie Hill: yeah and sometimes to the same people over and over and over.

Beau Newsome: yeah are there be the one student to just hold on to it.

Beau Newsome: Yes, and then.

Jamie Hill: never returned somebody comes in they're like well i'm in this class and you're like well contact this kid.

Beau Newsome: it's like I wish we could give out like well here's this kid's phone number go ahead and call.

Beau Newsome: But yeah Ben James I remember, was it was really helpful to you do that.

: rob case, let.

Jamie Hill: me do the same.

Beau Newsome: Remember rob kingsley did a mamet it might have been a class or playwriting.

Jamie Hill: Class yeah.

Beau Newsome: But he just gave me a list, and I was like okay.

Beau Newsome: Try and suck up on on mamet movies so.

: yeah.

Beau Newsome: that's cool.

Beau Newsome: box office mojo was one.

Jamie Hill: You said you want to yeah that's the website and it's it's basically like that inner theater like movie theater version of imdb so it's got all the stuff that you want to know business wise about how the movies did, and none of the like fun trivia stuff.

Beau Newsome: Oh right okay.

Beau Newsome: So let's get some cons.

Beau Newsome: about managing the video store, I know I have lines.

Jamie Hill: yeah I love them.

Jamie Hill: I think, for me, the biggest thing was I wanted so much to grow, the store and to try new marketing avenues and try new outreach and make sure that.

Jamie Hill: Especially students that people who are constantly coming in and out I wanted people to know about the store and, but I also wanted to hit up you know people who've lived in Moscow for 30 years have you been into the store and.

Jamie Hill: I just I had a lot of resistance from some of the owners at the time, like they just they didn't want me to be putting time into energy into that and.

Jamie Hill: They wanted me to just be focused on like your is your weekly tasks don't do anything else, and as a creative person and as a marketing person that was really hard for me because.

Jamie Hill: It was all out of a place that I just want the store to do really well and I already have the skill set right like you were saying with Facebook like that wasn't your thing.

Jamie Hill: But I I run dozens of Facebook pages for other people as a part time gig so that was easy enough for me to do and it wasn't going to take.

Jamie Hill: You know me posting on Facebook would take half an hour of my week versus you it might have taken like three until you got used to it, and so, even if I had a solid plan of like here's how much time i'm going to do here's how much money it won't cost, and I was just told know consistently.

Jamie Hill: yeah and I think that was the biggest.

Jamie Hill: The biggest struggle, I know I had a really good job at about that, one day, and was like listen we both want us to do well right, this is your investment, how can we meet in the middle and she was like can you buy the store.

Jamie Hill: And like what what are other options we brainstormed a lot about you know I didn't have the money to buy the store that wasn't really a feasible option.

Jamie Hill: And so it was like Okay, how do we work with what we have, and I think and that's really where it started with the Co op process and.

Jamie Hill: is one of those those private conversations with us.

Beau Newsome: Oh really okay.

Jamie Hill: yeah I mean, I know, like I know moni can already been like really focused on how to save the store for sure, and like was trying to do fundraisers and stuff like that, but I think.

Jamie Hill: It was it was kind of a.

Jamie Hill: Multiple meetings of mines like only coming from this angle and me, coming from the same goal and pack coming from the same ball together just kind of merged together all it at the right timing.

Beau Newsome: yeah and we, you know that.

Beau Newsome: was discussed, too, and it was.

Beau Newsome: You know, and then on top of all this, trying to figure out what to do with the story, it was like it's a dying industry and everybody just kept hammering that in you.

Jamie Hill: Right.

Beau Newsome: To dying industry it's a dying industry.

Jamie Hill: Right.

Jamie Hill: So, then, I was like at the meantime working in a building that's 100 years old going but look what we're doing.

Beau Newsome: yeah.

Jamie Hill: So yeah that was definitely a con to people who thought that it was an impossible business model when.

Jamie Hill: If it managed correctly, I think that the business model succeeded, for a number of years.

Beau Newsome: I think, so too, and one thing I know that.

Beau Newsome: would have been.

Beau Newsome: Incredibly helpful was the online presence at the very least, have somebody could get on our website, we didn't have a website and just at least look at our titles that we had.

Jamie Hill: I think that would have right that was another yeah cost that I I looked into like just having a basically a static website wasn't getting updated it just had contact information, so we were Google of all and I was very well received.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah we yeah we kept running into that a lot or it's just like well what's it cost well you know costless so okay now let's.

Jamie Hill: let's try something else you know.

Jamie Hill: yeah but.

Beau Newsome: yeah it's too bad I mean there's a million different things, but I do think it could still be thriving today, it was done right for sure yeah one person I just by doing these interviews I kept bringing up scarecrow video.

Beau Newsome: In Seattle.

Jamie Hill: yeah.

Beau Newsome: So I just called one of them and i'm open to do an interview with one of their managers just be like.

Beau Newsome: hey hey, what do you guys do and right, you know.

Beau Newsome: Whatever yeah wrong right thing.

Jamie Hill: they've got a great website.

Beau Newsome: They do, that was the first thing I noticed.

Jamie Hill: was like.

Beau Newsome: Oh, you can see everything they have on their website.

Jamie Hill: yep yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: It wasn't without trying that we.

Beau Newsome: You know, try to get our stuff online and whatnot but.

Jamie Hill: yeah and I know, for me, too, I mean that was also a big chunk of bias to play from the store as an employee and as a board member, because it was like.

Jamie Hill: i'm trying to here, and if i'm the only one that's trying, then I i'm not gonna I don't have the heart to keep going if it's not going to happen.

Jamie Hill: So that was that was a big part of why I left and and I get in one of those conversations with pat she was like you know this co op like they're gonna have to buy us out on ours, which was the fan right like.

Jamie Hill: The co op but get memberships and as those Members, and then we make payments to the previous owners and slowly by the business, and I know pat had said, like.

Jamie Hill: These videos are ours, we typically own them until you pay for them and worst case scenario, like one of the options is donating them to the kenworthy as a collection and I was like great keep in the back of my mind like not even thinking that whatever remotely.

Jamie Hill: Possible so when it finally did it was like Oh well, that's like six years in the making okay okay.

Beau Newsome: Okay, so you, you had discussed it with pat there.

Jamie Hill: and

Beau Newsome: So how long did you manage, so you said you work for me, probably for about a month, you said.

Jamie Hill: yeah maybe.

Jamie Hill: And then you left.

Jamie Hill: So when when did you leave.

: Of.

Beau Newsome: Like 1415.

Jamie Hill: Do you remember what month.

Jamie Hill: I.

: September.

Beau Newsome: August September.

Jamie Hill: Okay Okay, so I.

Beau Newsome: Without actually I could be wrong.

Jamie Hill: um I wrapped up.

Jamie Hill: January of 16 and then I left.

Jamie Hill: I left employment, and that was so we can focus on that last month was like half four and half employment but that's not really.

Jamie Hill: feasible and so, in order to do all the legal stuff and for the board I left employment plus at the kenworthy.

Jamie Hill: My job was about to double for a little bit while may our executive director went on maternity leave, so I knew I couldn't do her job and my job and manage a video store and beyond the board, and so I stepped away as an employee just to focus on on the part time or gig.

Jamie Hill: Open in January 16.

Beau Newsome: So you were on the call board after you left the video store.

Jamie Hill: yeah.

Beau Newsome: Do you remember who took over was a year into took a need Ben.

Jamie Hill: Ben.

Jamie Hill: And over no so I was, I was one of the founding members and on the Secretary of State paperwork all that stuff um and then I asked Lauretta.

Jamie Hill: campbell's take vice box, so I was very focused when I left the board that I didn't want to just kind of leave it with somebody else who was headstrong so I recruited Lauretta.

Jamie Hill: store wise when I left as an employee in and Ben that they were willing to share the workload at the manager right.

Beau Newsome: yeah Lauretta.

Beau Newsome: kind of was a driving force behind it, as well the Co op.

Beau Newsome: So what.

Beau Newsome: So how long were you on the Co op board.

Jamie Hill: um I was definitely there for over a year, I mean we started those conversations really early and.

Jamie Hill: I don't remember exactly when I left.

Jamie Hill: But I mean we kind of hit this like we were reload we had you know signage up, it was officially Main Street video and.

Jamie Hill: We had started the the owner process of getting you know owners signed up and paying their fees and and all of that, like we were pretty heavily into it at the time I left the board.

Beau Newsome: So that seemed like a realistic possible or number to hit as far as getting customers to pay their.

Jamie Hill: Yes, and no Oh, I think I think the 200 was super feasible and we had a number of different options, so it in chunks and you know one payment a year, you could.

Jamie Hill: pay it four times a year to get it taken care of how like we had so many options, so I think that was really feasible.

Jamie Hill: And I know we've kind of hit around the student he often right because, why would you invest $200 you're only going to be here for a period of time um and that we ended up not going with just to try and get a lot of that capital coming through the door up right.

Jamie Hill: And so I think it was totally doable I think it just kind of reverts back to that when it was OK.

Jamie Hill: let's you know figure out how we're going to mark this let's let's throw a party at the video store to think that the people, the owners, we already have signed up.

Jamie Hill: Well we've got to spend money on the party and we should probably spend money on this and I know my my pitch was if we throw a party that costs 100 bucks we get eight new owners signed up.

Jamie Hill: think we got our hundred bucks back.

Beau Newsome: Right.

Beau Newsome: yeah he was you know kind of big picture stuff we take some.

Beau Newsome: No, you couldn't really first the that stuff that's maybe why some of the owners and.

Beau Newsome: I know we like to do a lot of coupons and we're thrown about but it's you know it was like well how do we know that those coupons are bringing in customers you're like well you you kind of don't but.

Jamie Hill: Right.

Beau Newsome: You gotta you gotta get the word out there, somehow, you know.

Jamie Hill: Right and even if somebody keep on hangs on average for a year, at least they're seeing our name every day.

Beau Newsome: hmm.

: You know.

Beau Newsome: So, in retrospect, is there anything you.

Beau Newsome: Possibly would have done differently, as far as the co op goes.

Jamie Hill: um I probably would have just put my foot down a little harder and said, we are spending this money, this is the marketing that will happen as opposed to just being told, no and going with that and.

Jamie Hill: I would have been far more forceful or I would have said fine let's pull a report date like if we can't make our payments by X date, then.

Jamie Hill: we're done because it was such a just like well we've got time we've got time and that's not really how I work that's not how business to survive, and so I think.

Jamie Hill: Long term yeah I just would have been a lot worse.

Beau Newsome: mm hmm.

Beau Newsome: yeah.

Beau Newsome: me too.

Beau Newsome: But, but I was more.

Beau Newsome: Like you said you were the creative creative part marketing I was more like.

Beau Newsome: let's just focus on the videos are.

Beau Newsome: All this together yeah make sure the movies, that we want are coming in, you know stuff like that I was like.

Jamie Hill: But.

Beau Newsome: I was like I gotta bring people in that know.

Beau Newsome: How to do this stuff and which is one reason we brought you on you know, to help in that department, but.

Jamie Hill: yeah.

Beau Newsome: So the.

Beau Newsome: See, then you left the Co op when it was still together, though.

Jamie Hill: huh okay.

Beau Newsome: And I think, maybe in or Lauretta may have been running it for the Ted chair.

Jamie Hill: I left and monique was the chair.

Jamie Hill: I think and.

Jamie Hill: we'd kind of passed around leadership, a little bit so i'm not really sure who was chair when I left and I recruited Lauretta to join the board at that time and then I know soon after she became Chair of the board.

Beau Newsome: Okay, then you're just full full time kenworthy.

Jamie Hill: yep.

Beau Newsome: How did you learn the video stores closing its doors.

Jamie Hill: And I at work, got a phone call saying.

Jamie Hill: We need to talk about the video store.

Jamie Hill: Basically, and so through our board President I found out that.

Jamie Hill: The store would be closed relatively soon and that the collection will be coming to kenworthy for us to.

Jamie Hill: find the best way to eat that collection entity.

Beau Newsome: Did was that pads idea I mean you guys, you mentioned that you'd pat talked about that.

Jamie Hill: I hadn't been in contact with her for years, so I don't I don't know i'm the official transfer I know her lawyer made the suggestion that that was an often.

Jamie Hill: her lawyer is the board President for the candidate so um I know he had made that suggestion I don't know if.

Jamie Hill: She remembered our conversation and and that came up I don't know you'd have to ask him about all of that, and I just know when I found out the service closing the stores closing in the collection is I mean it can really live until we can find the right way to preserve it.

Beau Newsome: And how to like walk me through how that went like.

Beau Newsome: boxing up the collection getting the collection.

Jamie Hill: So it's all it was really it was all really fast and really, really fast so basically we opened up our front doors and the collection was delivered in U haul boxes, to the kenworthy and they wield them down the street brought them in the front doors park them all over and.

Jamie Hill: We had been closed for about two weeks due to open, and so we had space and we didn't have a reopening date set.

Jamie Hill: And so we actually had we took all of the boxes and lined both aisles of the kind of Ruby we had boxes all over the stage of the kenworthy and all in the area between the seats in that stage and the lobby and then the rolling racks all came still fold movies, just like saran wrap.

Beau Newsome: Oh, really.

Jamie Hill: And they just brought all of it and said here, you go.

: So, and then.

Jamie Hill: A couple questions like like can we have your point of sale system because I need some kind of organization to start with, and then like can we get the.

Jamie Hill: scratch buffer like CD cleaner thing.

Jamie Hill: There were a couple of other things in the store that I was like we make sure this all stays together but pretty much they just dropped it off and said.

Jamie Hill: Here you go.

Jamie Hill: You are now.

Beau Newsome: In a matter of a couple days you said or one day or.

Jamie Hill: It was about a week.

Jamie Hill: yeah week yeah.

Beau Newsome: Now we're the.

Beau Newsome: CDs in their appropriate cases or was it.

Beau Newsome: The jewel cases and then the display cases.

Jamie Hill: What we got was a box of empty cases a box of jewel cases with DVDs in it, they may or may not be in some numerical order.

Jamie Hill: They may or may not be in some kind of genre order I think when they were popping up I think they went i'll just take this and put it in this box i'll take this and put it in this box um it was not organized in any way, shape or form and so.

Jamie Hill: As we can continue trying to plan how do we preserve this.

Jamie Hill: And what's going to be the most feasible, like the can really does not have a lot of space long term So how do we, how do we make this work for the Community.

Jamie Hill: And our number one goal is like this collection needs to be preserved in the Community, this is moscow's collection, how do we make sure that this remains in Moscow.

Jamie Hill: And, to the best of our ability and our board of directors even talked about what would it look like if we opened a video store that was somehow like the kenworthy Jason.

Jamie Hill: And they asked a lot of numbers about budgets and financing and how to do that, but we just we don't have the space for it.

Jamie Hill: And with the uncertainty of forbid we didn't know how to look forward.

Jamie Hill: And answer some of those questions too so.

Jamie Hill: While all of those conversations were going on, I recruited all of our staff who currently we're waiting to be told when they would have a job again and.

Jamie Hill: They all came in and I did finally get to the point of sale system from the store like at least basically I exported one excel file that listed every single title in the collection.

Jamie Hill: With its genre with its number, and if it was a DVD or vhs.

Beau Newsome: Oh really okay.

Jamie Hill: And so um I export that excel file kind of modified it a little bit on my computer and then we just started, we opened up a box and said this box says it's cult films.

Jamie Hill: Okay, and so we would look at the case of the film and go Okay, this is 30072 and then we go look through all of the jewel cases and find 3007 to make sure they match them together.

Jamie Hill: One done and then that would come to me, so I mean we had this like whole assembly line so basically it would it would start empty cases jewel cases find each other, come to Jamie together.

Jamie Hill: I would put case in disk and then mark it off on the excel like Okay, we have this this is checked in.

Jamie Hill: The excel list with.

Jamie Hill: All of the DVDs and all the vhs is was actually over 40,000.

Jamie Hill: And so, think of those legend titles, because it was broken, you know, like Nash, like most of the seasons were like this is seats and eight, but then like season six was like four different Rentals.

Jamie Hill: And so item by item, there were over 40,000 items.

Jamie Hill: Right and they essentially were all orphaned, and so we had to reunite all of those and then find a way to organize them and keep them in check and.

Jamie Hill: We found some really interesting stuff we found some DVDs that were burned like homemade like somebody burned it on their computer kind of like.

Jamie Hill: I got this copy of like a like coal miner's daughter that I got off the Internet, I made a DVD of it in like an official coal miner DVD case right so it's like.

Jamie Hill: A little sketchy.

Jamie Hill: Some bootlegs yep found a lot of those found a lot of stuff with like you know custom and you'll you'll notice the custom cases that clearly like we didn't have an extra DVD case so somebody printed something out and shove, that and it was like here you go good.

Beau Newsome: photo horrible are horrible printers.

Jamie Hill: laser printer yeah.

Beau Newsome: print out.

Beau Newsome: yeah working.

Beau Newsome: yeah just had to go with it, you know.

Jamie Hill: or a lot where it would be you know again like you think of TV season they'll usually come in a big box, but like seinfeld got put into the little thin cases at some point.

Jamie Hill: And so it was Okay, when do we put each one into one, but some of them would be like you know to rent it you bring up the little thin case but you'd get four discs for it and we only had the one little fit in case but four discs back into so.

Beau Newsome: I know.

Beau Newsome: Like, for instance of friends or game of thrones we would it would come in one box.

Beau Newsome: With seven desks.

Beau Newsome: And we just completely destroy that box to make our displayed box.

Beau Newsome: Right, but as far as putting that disk back in that door.

Jamie Hill: I got to figure out how to put that back together yeah yeah and we did about halfway through the project, I found one U haul box that was just full of like case parts just bits and pieces of those like this has been cut open but somebody saved like the edge of it.

Beau Newsome: hey you never know I guess when you're done.

Jamie Hill: yeah.

Beau Newsome: There was a lot wow that sounds.

Jamie Hill: That.

Beau Newsome: sounds like a nightmare.

Jamie Hill: little bit yeah.

Jamie Hill: How long did that.

Beau Newsome: whole process take.

Jamie Hill: So we got.

Jamie Hill: Just to get them organs.

Beau Newsome: Correct.

Jamie Hill: We got the collection delivered in those boxes, the last week March, we did not have everything sorted and put into its proper cases until Sep tember.

Beau Newsome: Okay, and then wow.

: yeah.

Beau Newsome: So, having the.

Beau Newsome: Getting the computer system helped quite a bit, obviously.

Jamie Hill: i'm yes.

Jamie Hill: or no so once I had turned it into an excel sheet and manipulated, a little bit, and there was definitely stuff that I could you know okay i've got 3007 to.

Jamie Hill: Type it into my thing and it pop up like oh it's this movie great mark off that we have that great, but then sometimes you'd pull one open and be like Oh, this should be the room, but really it's homeward bound.

Jamie Hill: And you'd be like okay so, then you search for homeward bound and you go find that number and it's got some third movie in it.

Jamie Hill: So you kind of have to go into circles, so it was like helpful to have an idea of what should be there and that list that exported from the system also didn't say what was rented out and what wasn't.

Jamie Hill: Oh so for about a month, we had a box just inside the Ken where the door that was like drop your movies here.

Beau Newsome: So was there a sign down at the video store saying return.

Beau Newsome: Take it.

Jamie Hill: Take it down the street yeah and we we did get and we probably got a couple hundred back for sure that's which was nice Thank you Moscow for kindly returning your stuff.

: yeah.

Jamie Hill: or I got like monique.

Jamie Hill: reached out to me and said hey I have these two Rentals and i'm i'm willing to bring one back, but i'll buy the other one, if I can like can I can I keep it, how can I get the case like, how can we work this out so.

Jamie Hill: For the most part they came back looks good.

Beau Newsome: yeah cuz I mean it was hard enough when the video so we're just running smoothly to keep one things in order keep them in the right cases.

Beau Newsome: yeah getting them read people to return them, you know I can't imagine once that's all blown up.

Beau Newsome: That sucks.

Beau Newsome: yeah the extreme task to ask.

Jamie Hill: And some of the stuff.

Jamie Hill: You know even like it once it's in the video store and catalog there's no real.

Jamie Hill: Time or ability to like go through the store and and verify what's on the shelves, and so we would find stuff that probably hadn't been rented out in who knows how long.

Jamie Hill: or we'd find DVDs that like we'd open up jewel case and it was just broken into three pieces and it was like.

Jamie Hill: Okay, that didn't happen for moving it down the street, because we just moved thousands of fees and refined so who knows how long it, you know somebody popped it back into the case and it broke, and they just didn't notice or.

Jamie Hill: Though there was a lot of.

Jamie Hill: A lot of the excel spreadsheet became just its own sheet of like broken missing doesn't exist, what the heck is this.

Beau Newsome: wow.

Beau Newsome: yeah no idea.

Jamie Hill: And the question of what to do if you get like seinfeld you've got seasons.

Jamie Hill: or dislike 1234 you look it up and you're like i've got 134.

Jamie Hill: Wait.

Beau Newsome: What do you do that, and we were season two yeah.

Beau Newsome: yeah no.

Jamie Hill: it'd be like that's not really worth.

Jamie Hill: This too yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: um so so once you got everything organized.

Beau Newsome: Did you get probably had some empty shells that you had to get rid of that they brought him in on.

Jamie Hill: We had all of the whites rolling shells.

Jamie Hill: Throwing we actually yeah we use those racks.

Jamie Hill: Until the project was finished, and that was became a really vital part of our kind of organization and especially as we downsized it was like this rack is for sorting and this rack is like we don't know where these winds and this rack is that I don't know Jamie I hell okay.

Beau Newsome: So, but there was a basically at that point you're like we gotta start selling some of these right, because then Kennedy did a big big sale.

Jamie Hill: The sale was kind of our last ditch resort so before that was ever even an option, and like I said, our number one focus was like, how do we maintain this for the Community and preserve this collection.

Jamie Hill: If we would have had the space, we would have kept 40,000 titles, but we didn't.

Jamie Hill: So we reached out to nonprofits we reached out to classrooms.

Jamie Hill: and places that we knew could utilize those pieces of the collection, better than we could you know I think I took 150 family friendly movies across the streets play our every Center.

Jamie Hill: And I know we had over 60 DVDs end up in classrooms.

Jamie Hill: So it was really just a matter of like what can we do to make sure that the stays as complete as possible and then it's like remotely accessible.

Jamie Hill: We recently saw county library and said.

Jamie Hill: Do you want these and they said we don't have room for all of them, but we'll take some of them so as we started kind of completing genres and coming to the realization that like we had everything accounted for that was going to be accounted for.

Jamie Hill: And that's when we finally started doing some sales.

Jamie Hill: We also had a number of Community members reaching out and saying I don't want this to go somewhere I don't want this to leave the town, how can I, how can I have a part of this or be a part of this.

Jamie Hill: And we knew there were some sections like mystery science theater we knew that somebody out there would want to keep that whole collection together.

Jamie Hill: And so there was never a consideration of selling that because we knew that someone would say, I want to have this whole collection, this is important to me and.

Jamie Hill: Before we even use the word sale one time somebody reached out and said what will it cost to get every piece of mystery science theater that you have.

Jamie Hill: And same for doctor who we we never even considered selling those because we knew they would go somewhere and for the kenworthy initially my goal is to save about 500 films, I think we saved over 2000.

Jamie Hill: Oh Oh, you know, anyone who can build some shelving i'd really appreciate it um but for us it was okay let's let's save the classics and.

Jamie Hill: The things that we know are her define the things that we know that we will show the things that we are constantly being asked for.

Jamie Hill: And, as well as things that are important to Cinematic history, so the criterion collection is living at the kenworthy and the every French film, that was an existence lives again where they because we have the police French film festival, that we do in conjunction with the university.

Jamie Hill: and

Jamie Hill: And those French teachers were like we don't have space for that, can you please keep it for us and.

Beau Newsome: who's who is that.

Jamie Hill: We we had told the people that put on the French film festival at the University of Idaho and at Washington State University, we have all the French films and they said we don't have room for them, we don't have anywhere to put them.

Jamie Hill: And we also you know a lot of people who we reached out to said.

Jamie Hill: Who has DVDs like we don't we don't want to be responsible, or like i'd have to buy a DVD player to have that one that I want.

Jamie Hill: Right um so we kind of curated I literally every single disc that made it into its case came through me to check in and so as it came through me I said.

Jamie Hill: This is something that can really needs to keep or not, and if it was a can really keep pile it slowly made its way into our projection booth and until they were like streaming out of the recession proof and.

Jamie Hill: If not, then it went on to a shelf to find the next step for and then sometimes I still went back through the shelves and and pulled more off for us to keep because, again, it was it was so vital to just like, how do we keep this where the where the Community can access it right.

Beau Newsome: And you go ahead.

Beau Newsome: You that's how you have I university at a library got some of them to choose from.

Jamie Hill: Right, so we had reached out and said, do you want any of these.

Jamie Hill: which do you want, how many do you want the least a library, where we would send a list and say here's what we have in our mystery suspense and they'd say, can we get these 12.

Jamie Hill: And we say short here you go and we send some lists to the library and they were like whoa whoa that's a lot, and so, then I think that turned into how about whatever you have leftover that's an interesting concept of.

Jamie Hill: Things that don't find a home, we can keep those together so.

Beau Newsome: How did you decide.

Beau Newsome: Like so when so some of them like you were putting up categories on online and people like selling them to the public.

Jamie Hill: yeah.

Beau Newsome: How did that go.

Jamie Hill: So that went really well so basically after it got checked in and we kept everything by genre the best that we could.

Jamie Hill: And so we'd say okay science fiction like we've gone through all the SCI fi films, and I would take that excel spreadsheet copy and paste all the SCI fi puppet and do a new one.

Jamie Hill: Take out whatever we had kept our employees were putting in crazy hours trying to get it down, I mean I think some of them work more hours on that project and they had worked at the can Ruby ever.

Jamie Hill: And we had one employee would only been working with Henry for three months so she's officially worked more video time then she has can really time.

Jamie Hill: um so they got first dibs on whatever they wanted.

Jamie Hill: Which felt like our fair way to say thank you for helping us with all of this craziness.

Jamie Hill: And so yeah if it didn't go to as a donation to a an organization and that can really didn't keep it then it stayed on the list we put the list online and said.

Jamie Hill: here's what we have available and we put the list online and bounce so anybody who had that like I really want this one like they have the equal opportunity to see what was in that section.

Jamie Hill: We would open it up specifically like at a set time the next day and people could buy online, and then we would go back through our boxes and racks and piles pull out what they had selected and then they would come pick it up.

Beau Newsome: During some people.

Beau Newsome: tried to get stuff and just couldn't it was a first come, first serve kind of thing.

Jamie Hill: It was first come, first serve, and I mean there were some big ones, you know, like when you only have.

Jamie Hill: Like six copies of the avengers but everyone in town wants the avengers.

Beau Newsome: um.

Jamie Hill: But I think people recognize that it was first come, first serve people were pretty cool about it and.

Jamie Hill: Really, the only ones we got a lot of complaints about where things it was like actually we didn't offer that for sale we're keeping that at the kenworthy for future use and they'd be like oh okay.

Beau Newsome: And I in the one section I was very concerned about was the criterion collection yeah.

Jamie Hill: And we never offered a single piece of that up for sale at all.

Beau Newsome: that's awesome I was like I was like I should just text Jamie and be like hey what what are you what are you gonna do with the criterion yeah I was like no like they know what they're doing over there.

Beau Newsome: yeah we on to.

Jamie Hill: That was that was kind of never negotiate it that was always understood that that would stay together for sure school.

Beau Newsome: Was cult classics Do you remember that, being one that kind of got picked apart.

Jamie Hill: And a good probably.

Jamie Hill: Trying to like visualize shelves probably a quarter of that section, and we do then put loose cult film revival, which is a nonprofit.

Jamie Hill: group that is trying to.

Jamie Hill: Bring cult film like awareness into the Community, I think.

Jamie Hill: So I mean it started as guys who wanted to watch the room and.

Jamie Hill: watch the room, with their friends and then it got bigger and bigger and bigger couple of years, they actually had Greg from the room here.

Jamie Hill: For a screening of it so.

Jamie Hill: Dave yeah yeah he went and flew in a crop duster around Moscow for a day.

Jamie Hill: With with the founder of this nonprofit so.

Jamie Hill: I that was another group that we reached out to really early and said hey before we you know decide which these like obviously rocky horror picture show is off the table every copy of that will be staying in the kenworthy other than that.

Jamie Hill: Are there any of these that you would like to keep or do you want to convey the key for future screenings so he took a big chunk and.

Jamie Hill: I thought the rest of that section would go really fast because that's the weird stuff that people are like embarrassed to like but it didn't really sell as well as I.

Beau Newsome: know so there's still to kenworthy your did most of them go to the coal.

Jamie Hill: Probably probably 25% of that section went to the nonprofit we probably kept a dozen of them, and so, whatever else didn't sell is at the ui library.

Beau Newsome: Okay.

Beau Newsome: And I think you may have given me the.

Beau Newsome: The applause film cult revival.

Jamie Hill: Police cult film for.

Jamie Hill: PC Fr.

Jamie Hill: and his.

Jamie Hill: name is Eric Billings.

Beau Newsome: yeah Okay, so you did give me as information that would.

Beau Newsome: be kind of a.

Beau Newsome: Probably a neat interview.

Jamie Hill: yeah for sure okay.

Beau Newsome: cool well I yeah so I was looking through the list first off, you said there is 99% of the criterion still available which yeah which was awesome.

Beau Newsome: And then I was going through the list and yeah a lot of French, most of all, the French film seem to still be there yeah What about some of the other international foreign films that a lot of those.

Jamie Hill: I we still kept a lot of those and then we put up an international listing for sale and they went really fast, I was really surprised by that too.

Jamie Hill: I think I think honestly, there were some people who were just buying films, because they wanted that.

Jamie Hill: piece of history right they wanted to have that case the number on top, or the disk with like the sticker on it, but we also had people.

Jamie Hill: We had one patron who was buying 40 or 50 movies from every single section, she would come and pick them up on her bike and bike home with them, but she doesn't have Internet she doesn't have.

Jamie Hill: Like any streaming devices she doesn't have cable so she and her husband watch TV and they used to always drink the video store.

Jamie Hill: And so they were like Well, this is our way to support the camera view that we love, while they're closed, this is our way to keep part of this collection intact and it's part of our way to make sure that we're still entertaining.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: I know and there again we were losing the battle to netflix and streaming and all that but.

Beau Newsome: Also, Moscow had a very.

Beau Newsome: Solid group of people that were like no i'm getting my mood I.

Jamie Hill: Can I do it.

Beau Newsome: yeah getting not getting rid of my DVD player, you know.

: yep.

Beau Newsome: So that was that was extremely refreshing for me to hear that you guys still I mean I didn't think you had any titles left.

Beau Newsome: yeah far as I knew, you know.

Jamie Hill: We kept we kept a lot that was really important to us, I mean I can't say it enough if we could have kept the entire collection intact, we would have to.

Beau Newsome: And I don't think a lot of people realize how much.

Beau Newsome: sheer volume of room that those movies take up like.

: Right.

Beau Newsome: huge amount of room, especially when they're in two separate boxes.

Jamie Hill: yep like I said I mean the kenworthy aisles are.

Jamie Hill: 50 feet long just the aisles alone, and we had two aisles full plus a stage that's probably a square footage of.

Jamie Hill: Almost 1000 square feet.

Jamie Hill: plus another area of like 400 square feet like just Wall, the wall packed with boxes boxes on boxes, I mean the first couple of weeks there wasn't anywhere, for us to move it staff, we were all just trying to get really skinny and stepping over things and crawling and.

Beau Newsome: It was.

Jamie Hill: To us in our auditorium.

Beau Newsome: And you didn't know if you're gonna have to open your doors in the next couple.

Jamie Hill: days or a week or so.

Jamie Hill: Right so in when we started talking about potentially opening in the summer, it was like.

Jamie Hill: We got to speed this up and we were like I said going as fast as we could I was putting in 40 hours a week, every week, just to that I wasn't even doing my kenworthy job at that point, it was just.

Jamie Hill: sorting and organizing and making sure that we were doing everything that we could to care for that collection yeah.

Beau Newsome: Well that's good, because I think you know, there was a lot of different.

Beau Newsome: Just people didn't know so they were like kindle or they just sold off everything right and where these keeping everything can wear these gonna rent them out, you know people just didn't know what was.

Jamie Hill: Right and.

Jamie Hill: You know, we were trying to correct some of that, but at the same time, it was you know we we were so inundated with that and it was so last minute we.

Jamie Hill: If we would have known we're getting the collection, I think we would have made sure that the Community was more aware of that.

Jamie Hill: And unfortunately, there were a few people who were very opinionated who started spreading inaccurate information.

Jamie Hill: You know it's not anything we never asked, please give us all of these things, please, please give us to do this, but at the same time, I mean it allowed us to keep our staff on.

Jamie Hill: We they would have been furloughed in April instead they got to stay till September so.

Jamie Hill: It really helps the can really thrive just having people in the building and being able to keep our our employees employed for a couple more months and it it really was was a benefit that we weren't expecting.

Jamie Hill: And so yeah to hear people that were upset it was like we're we're doing everything that we can to keep this together for you and so i'm sorry that people could recognize that.

Beau Newsome: Sure yeah and you know.

Beau Newsome: that's one thing of being people being protective of the library that was there and to just not knowing.

: Not knowing right.

Jamie Hill: What was worth anything I mean we were being just as protective.

Jamie Hill: You know, we were being very particular about where things were going and what was happening to them yeah.

Beau Newsome: Well, so.

Beau Newsome: What are your plans with the.

Beau Newsome: collector collection, you have now the 2000 titles.

: So.

Jamie Hill: What we have now, I mean generally is available to every single one of our renters and we get a lot of people say I want to come watch something, but I don't own any DVDs which we watch and so it's available to all of our renters.

Beau Newsome: My renters you mean.

Beau Newsome: Somebody can read the.

Jamie Hill: script comes to rent the kenworthy for an event, they want to come watch a movie at the kenworthy they can watch one of those films.

Jamie Hill: And we also like because we've been working with all of these teachers we've got educators who are wondering, you know how can they borrow them for their classroom for their curriculum that's kind of in the works.

Jamie Hill: we're hoping someday once we're open again the kenworthy has always done a lot of series so doing wes Anderson film series we've done a john Wayne film series we've done a.

Jamie Hill: audrey hepburn film series, and so we were really intentional, with some those titles to have, how can we turn this into something for the Community as a full event later.

Beau Newsome: And I know the video store when I was there, we like local businesses can rent the kenworthy.

Beau Newsome: and have like our to use video presents, I think we did Texas chainsaw massacre.

Beau Newsome: yeah you're still doing yeah with local businesses.

: Yes.

Jamie Hill: yep so all of that, I mean anyone who comes to the kenworthy it is completely available for them to use, basically, at the same same way that it was available before.

Beau Newsome: Is do you think there's ever a chance of.

Beau Newsome: Being a little rental store for these titles, that you have.

Jamie Hill: I don't I don't think there will be an official rental store.

Jamie Hill: The Board had those conversations, at the very, very beginning.

Jamie Hill: And I mean that's just that's not our our mission that's not what we do, so I don't foresee us, creating a new business from it.

Jamie Hill: And if anything I think it's important for us to keep them in a place where they are taken care of and there are maintained and so we've had people ask like, can I just borrow this one for a minute.

Jamie Hill: And you know I don't I don't know that for certain the future of that I don't foresee that being necessarily a model that we're going to go after to just so we can protect them and make sure that they're not just slowly walking one by one out of the building.

Beau Newsome: Right, which would never leave the case when you're renting stuff out to people.

Beau Newsome: yeah loss and damage and theft that's always.

Beau Newsome: yep unfortunately out there, so.

Beau Newsome: Well that's cool I mean yeah that was that was a big weight lifted off my shoulders for sure when I heard you basically when I talked to you.

Beau Newsome: Which got got everything straight at that point i'm glad sounds like you guys did what you could and.

Beau Newsome: It was all kind of dumped on you, at one time and.

Jamie Hill: It was really it was really, really sudden so finding finding us a safe respectful solution quickly was was difficult yeah.

Beau Newsome: i'm going to move a little bit i'm getting blinded.

Beau Newsome: By the sun.

Beau Newsome: So was pat like in a hurry to get out of there you think.

Beau Newsome: It was there something.

Jamie Hill: I can't I can't speak.

Jamie Hill: To run on there I just I know it was a very short right yes.

Beau Newsome: Right okay yeah and she's she's been interviewed by monique so.

Beau Newsome: i'm sure they talked about that so okay we're kind of coming to an end here so let's end on a happy note.

Beau Newsome: Okay what's your happiest memory of the video store.

Jamie Hill: oh one the happiest memory.

Jamie Hill: For me, might be.

Jamie Hill: It might be a toss up i'm.

Jamie Hill: relatively early on, like probably like my third or fourth night at the store by myself i'm getting ready to close for like 30 minutes for closing this couple comes in, from the alley door.

Jamie Hill: And they walk in and like step basically step up to the counter and they're looking around and they're like yes Okay, and then they keep walking in the store they walk all the way to the front, they turn around and walk all the way back and they go.

Jamie Hill: Where where are your.

Jamie Hill: You used to.

Jamie Hill: And I said, do you want the triplex movies.

Jamie Hill: And they were like horrified and they've been through the store there was nobody else in there, they were so embarrassed but I loved the concept that they wanted to movies, but they didn't have the confidence to ask for them.

Jamie Hill: And so I I brought them around the corner and show them where they were in the room.

Jamie Hill: down on the bottom and they hadn't been touched in months, and they were all you know, had an inch of dust on them and the couple, I think.

Jamie Hill: Every single one off the shelf looked at it cleaned it off, while I like at one point I just handed them around so they were like wiping everybody off like all back on all Nice and order.

Jamie Hill: They didn't they left with one.

Jamie Hill: Just one movie but that whole section looks beautiful I just love that like combination of like politeness with the section that nobody wants to talk about.

Jamie Hill: They think it's like crass, but these people were so kind and.

Jamie Hill: they've never been there before they said they were just visiting town they didn't want to set up an account like I literally just let them use mine because they'd been so polite the whole time.

Beau Newsome: over every movie.

Jamie Hill: The movie came back.

Jamie Hill: so good.

Jamie Hill: spelling is just one of those like weird feel good.

Jamie Hill: But I think for real one of the best moments.

Jamie Hill: which was more than one moment I mean it would happen, a lot, but just hearing kids in the family section.

Jamie Hill: Being in awe of like all of their favorite things that they have ever seen in one collection and especially those kids that were like they couldn't read that they can identify the front cover.

Jamie Hill: Right, I know that's rapunzel this has to be tangled.

Jamie Hill: Oh, my gosh I want this like that magic and excitement of them just seeing but look at this one, this one, and this one like just Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam and in a row, and I love that every.

Beau Newsome: day I grew up with there's a lot of video stores in Moscow growing up a lot of different ones I remember that, as a kid just you just gone for a.

Jamie Hill: beeline to the family section.

Beau Newsome: To the to the movie case that you just stood out yeah.

: yep.

Jamie Hill: Half the time your mom would be like, are you sure you want that one and you're like yeah.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah I was, I was a kid and I just rented every ninja movie they had they had a ninja.

Beau Newsome: Her in it, or on it, I was like i'm ready.

Jamie Hill: yep.

Beau Newsome: um did you guys get any vhs tapes or was it already.

Jamie Hill: The interest came to us, but we didn't even have the capacity to touch them so they're all at the ui.

Beau Newsome: Oh really okay yep it's good to know.

Beau Newsome: yeah i've i've been sent.

Beau Newsome: A list of what all what they have an eye.

Beau Newsome: yeah perused it.

Jamie Hill: yeah but the vhs should all be there, except for I think.

Jamie Hill: about a month ago, I found one vhs taste.

Jamie Hill: A corner somewhere.

Beau Newsome: So.

Jamie Hill: badly one one empty cases is at the kenworthy but all the rest of the empty cases and the vhs or.

Beau Newsome: Do you want to give out, are you giving out that website that has the list of movies yeah.

Jamie Hill: yeah I pretty much give it to anybody who wants to look at it it's just.

Jamie Hill: A way that people can see it and sort through and we I keep it up to date internally.

Jamie Hill: But it's bi t.ly flash K pack videos.

: Okay.

Beau Newsome: Well, maybe somebody listening will pick that up but.

Jamie Hill: There we go.

Beau Newsome: Well i'll read.

Jamie Hill: Yours and they'll be like.

Beau Newsome: This isn't this isn't around what you're talking about.

Jamie Hill: you're like Google who uses that.

Beau Newsome: Did you guys get any the I know, there was a box of porn that was like the vintage vhs.

Jamie Hill: We I kept asking for that, because I knew about the foreign in the States, because I had found it one time one night.

Jamie Hill: Doing manager stuff I was like what's in this day i've never opened this one, and it was like debbie does Dallas one, two and three, and some Georgia, the jungle movie and I remember looking at them on.

Beau Newsome: shame in the jungle, they were like.

Jamie Hill: Maybe.

Beau Newsome: She was yes, it was.

Beau Newsome: I watched shame of the jungle as a kid, and that is a very, very inappropriate movie to watch as a kid.

Jamie Hill: Well, it didn't come to the camera be because I remember looking them up at the time and being like oh man, these are worth money.

Jamie Hill: yeah and we did not get that safe, so I don't know where they ended up.

Beau Newsome: Well, hopefully, maybe we can find.

Jamie Hill: That that but.

Beau Newsome: yeah there was yeah cuz there was just like these random vhs ISM are worth a lot of money on eBay and stuff so.

Jamie Hill: yeah and that was part of it was.

Jamie Hill: that's why we didn't go through them because I just we were like we got to get focused on this one, and the porn DVDs.

Jamie Hill: Also, we didn't think it'd be a good look for a nonprofit performing arts Center who's very family friendly to be selling porn so that entire collection was donated to a collector cast.

Beau Newsome: Oh okay.

Jamie Hill: For them to do, however, they pleased with them.

Beau Newsome: I really wanted with okay that's good to know.

Beau Newsome: Because there was a couple other vintage vhs tapes to that were.

Beau Newsome: Along with debbie does Dallas but.

Beau Newsome: yeah they were in the same.

Beau Newsome: So who knows where they went, but.

Jamie Hill: don't know where the safe way, but the rest of the vhs is our our at the U of I.

Beau Newsome: Did you get any like memorabilia on the wall stuff at all.

Jamie Hill: And I the kenworthy currently has.

Jamie Hill: I think it's a godfather poster.

Jamie Hill: And a couple of the books like movie book like 1000 movies too messy to for you to I want to hurt we got all those.

Jamie Hill: And then there was a hitchcock poster that the last time I went into the store as they were like cleaning up and sweeping and it was pretty much empty and there, there was a hitchcock poster and I said.

Jamie Hill: where's that going and they're like oh so.

Beau Newsome: That lives there you know.

Jamie Hill: That lives, just over there.

Beau Newsome: that's cool yeah I think Connor he got me you got a pretty cool poster to get.

Jamie Hill: I hope, somebody went home with the LIFE aquatic one.

Beau Newsome: that's the one I wanted I.

Beau Newsome: told it yet and and Connor I was like hey if you can get your hands on that life aquatic one I want it, but.

Jamie Hill: yeah.

Beau Newsome: I don't know what happened to it but.

Jamie Hill: it's not me.

Beau Newsome: And it came out of a British magazine too, so it wasn't like something you could get online, it was.

Jamie Hill: Like Yes it.

Jamie Hill: is like crease down at Theo.

Beau Newsome: yeah yeah speaking of steve's de Su wes Anderson movie.

Jamie Hill: yeah.

Beau Newsome: I work up at the courthouse and I trust is Steve Z sue for Halloween.

Jamie Hill: I saw you on Halloween.

Beau Newsome: Right, nobody knew who I was.

Beau Newsome: And then you came me to the courthouse, for whatever reason you're like nice steve's a suit I was like.

Beau Newsome: i'm already got it one person.

Jamie Hill: On mostly I was like I wanted to wear that outfit every year.

Jamie Hill: Like that's comfy.

Beau Newsome: It was pretty cool it was it was super comfy and it was awesome yeah but even got a little patch and everything so.

Beau Newsome: Is there anybody that you still in contact with the video store at all anymore.

Jamie Hill: No really no.

: No.

Beau Newsome: Did you come up with maybe anybody that you would recommend We talked to.

Jamie Hill: Well there's john SMILEY.

Beau Newsome: yep i'd love to talk to john.

Jamie Hill: i'm Randy whose last name started with an l but I can't remember what he's.

Beau Newsome: wanting.

Jamie Hill: like London or luck yeah yeah.

Beau Newsome: I mean yeah.

Jamie Hill: We always have really interesting conversations and I feel like he was a solid consistent customer.

Jamie Hill: um.

Jamie Hill: And then yeah for sure Eric Billings it be great.

Jamie Hill: If you don't have the English guys like Ben James or rest may be good one to one or both of them.

Beau Newsome: What was russes name.

Jamie Hill: And he you.

Jamie Hill: But it's pronounced me with rhymes with faith.

: Okay.

Jamie Hill: yeah had to have we tell me that, like eight times.

Beau Newsome: yeah those would be cool cool interviews yeah.

Beau Newsome: yeah we're trying to get all the employees and stuff old owner stuff like that, and then we got time we'll try and bust out as many.

Beau Newsome: Old customers and stuff like that, as we can so.

: well.

Beau Newsome: Okay, is there anything else we didn't touch on that you.

Jamie Hill: That was a lot.

Beau Newsome: Was we went for like an hour and.

Beau Newsome: 20 minutes, I think.

Jamie Hill: yeah so yeah i'm good.

Beau Newsome: Well cool thanks Jamie for doing this, I.

Beau Newsome: appreciate it.

Beau Newsome: Now people kind of have an idea of where the collection went.

Beau Newsome: what's still around her, and I would highly recommend people go to that website and I don't know if we can get that notes somewhere.

Beau Newsome: yeah library, but it'd be a great way to tell people hey if you want to watch it on the big screen.

Jamie Hill: You can do it yep yep cool.

Beau Newsome: Okay, well, if you don't mind sticking around i'll just stop recording but.

Beau Newsome: I want to say thank you for doing this on behalf.

Beau Newsome: Of the university library.

Beau Newsome: It thanks Jamie.