The people behind Visions Video (Sarah de Araujo, Dan Cashman, Jesse Hassinger, Elle Longpre, George W. Myers, Rachel Powers, and Rayla Shawanda) have gathered together over their love of cinema and a desire to start a community space dedicated to sharing film with the greater Western Massachusetts communities. By supporting this campaign and helping us reach our $25,000 goal, you will be instrumental in helping us open Visions Video to the public.

Why Visions Video
Most of the people that we’ve spoken with about this project have such fond memories of their local video stores. Names like Pleasant St. Video, Video To Go, and even big chains like Blockbuster spark remembrances of deep and meaningful experiences in our past. Every evening that we brought home a videocassette or DVD, brought us to exciting places, opened up new stories, and introduced us to fantastic filmmakers.

Something important was lost with the disappearance of these local video stores. We lost consistent access to a wide range of films; we lost curated shelves, expert clerks, niche film lists, unique sections, and interesting programming; we lost the joy of dwelling in a physical space filled with tangible media, with the ability to physically hold cinema history in our hands. All of the exciting advances in technology, streaming services, and online media access bring a decent selection of titles into our home, but it eliminates one of the most treasured experiences of the video store: community connection. We do not believe an equivalent experience to the in-person video store has emerged. There is no reason we should wait any longer to bring a video store and all it offers back to our community.

How Will We Use Funds Raised?
These funds will be essential in helping us get this project off the ground and open our doors. Of our total ask of $25000,

$10,000 will go towards:
*the acquisition, transport and cataloging needs of desired titles we can’t find through donations,
*production of signage, outreach, and messaging materials to help spread the message about this project and increase our reach for film donations.

$15,000 will go towards:
*creating a beautiful, welcoming, pleasurable place to gather, browse titles, attend an event and rent films. This includes:
*clean up, carpentry and painting of the interior of the space
*building appropriate shelving
*the purchase of inventory storage drawers, DVD cases, technology and computer hardware, database software and other supplies.
*Any remaining funds will be used to cover the first month’s rent on our new space and to absorb any additional startup costs.

We are a committed group of volunteers, who have already invested countless hours and our own funds into this project -- so you can be assured your donations will be appreciated, used effectively, and will go directly to our opening costs.

What We’ve Done So Far
We’ve amassed a collection that includes around 3,000 DVDs and hundreds of titles on other formats. We’ve identified an extensive, broad list of titles we aim to acquire as the core of our collection. We’ve secured a central location for this phase of our operation in Downtown Northampton. We’ve established nonprofit fiscal sponsorship with Fractured Atlas, begun building an advisory board made up of experts, academics and filmmakers. Additionally, our members have collectively dedicated hundreds of hours of volunteer work and considerable sums of their own money and resources on the road to help bring this project to life.

Who We Are
At Visions Video we believe in creating a space and a collection that is driven by principles of equity, justice, and true representation. We are motivated by a love of -- and a belief in -- the power of cinema. As with the films housed in our storefront, Visions Video will offer a record of our true cultural history, a record that expands beyond the conventionally prescribed canon. We, like the best video stores of yore, strive to offer an immersive experience in every era, genre, and region of film culture. Cinema has the ability to bring people together, no matter the film. And we will provide a welcoming and exciting space to gather together and venture into new territory. We are not a profit-driven tech company interested in data mining and creating wealth for shareholders while taking money out of the local community - indeed we view our community as our shareholders and the only wealth that we want to create is the overwhelming wealth of titles that we can make available to you.

How It Will Work
For a low monthly cost, a Visions Video Membership will give you full access to our library-- $15 for access to 10,000 items. There will be no cost on an item-by-item basis, and best of all: no late fees! Enjoy everything that Visions Video has to offer for one low-cost monthly fee that is less expensive than most streaming services. Access a collection that is larger than most single streaming services, a knowledgeable and friendly staff from the community, specific recommendations from our Advisory Board, and so much more!

We’ve outlined four phases this project will move through as shown below. We are currently in Phase One and know this is the beginning of something special and lasting in our community. We already have lots of ideas how to grow this project and with your support Visions Video can become a place only limited by our imagination!

 

 

Some of you may be thinking: "Why do we need a brick-and-mortar video store? I have streaming services at home: Netflix, HBOMax, Disney+, Criterion Channel... Why would I want to subscribe to another service?" Well, we answer your questions with a question: how many streaming services do you need in order to access what you want to watch? With all of those subscriptions, are you able to find the film that you're actually looking for? Was it there last week but, because of mergers or licensing, it's no longer available? How long do you scroll through the seemingly endless lists trying to find something of interest only to keep seeing the same dozen titles repeated again and again? The selections are lacking and getting worse, while prices rise, more subscriptions are required, and your money is leaving the community.

At Visions Video we will not only have titles that are not available on any streaming service, but we will consistently have those titles available - no disappearing movies, no licensing arrangements to work around, no monopolistic mergers to send a small title into the wilderness. One of the challenges that we have found is that people meet the idea of Visions Video with the query: "why?" We have consistently found that, once we engage people in this discussion, they intuitively understand the benefits. Many even begin remembering what the experience of going to a video store was like. It will take some work to rebuild the muscles for hooking up a DVD player, but it's something we've all done and can do again!

This campaign will help us raise the funds needed for Phase 1 of our project: to open our space, construct its bones, and build our collection. In order to keep costs low, we are operating as a non-profit, all-volunteer project to meet these challenges and ensure Visions Video can be a success.


FAQ:
What does it mean to be a member?

Becoming a member will allow you to borrow from our collection. The only cost is your membership: you won’t pay on a per-item basis, and there will be no late fees! Being a volunteer non-profit means we’ll rely on memberships and donations to build the Visions collection and keep the space up and running. In addition to giving you access to the collection, your membership supports our acquisitions budget to bring in new titles, cover our costs, and help bring programming to our space.

Is this really possible?

Yes! There are a number of these types of video stores opening up across the country! Some are for-profit, some are connected to larger institutions, some are long-running video stores converting their model, and some are very grassroots, all-volunteer efforts. Each of the different models speaks to the needs and abilities of their specific community, but they all speak to the value of having access to a broad library of physical media located in a community oriented space that highlights, celebrates, and engages with movies!

That's ok! We will have players available for loan but they are also still readily available in all thrift stores for a very low price. (You usually will just need to buy a universal remote.) DVD players are also available to check out at many Western Mass libraries. And, DVD players are also readily available NEW for around $30; it's an easy and small piece of equipment to integrate into your setup (be it television, computer, or projector). Considering that price point, it's not much of an investment compared to the cost of other technology.

YES! Especially DVDs in good, working condition. We also have other needs as we build out the space. If you have something you think we could use please be in touch: info@visionsvideo.org