A New Video Rental Store Turns Back Time in Williamsburg

Co-owners of Night Owl Video Aaron Hamel and Jess Mills

HOST, OONA MILLIKEN : Cultural spaces like bookstores, movie theatres and record stores have all become less common in New York City. And many film lovers mourn the passing of video rental stores, and the hunt for rare dvds or videotapes. But as Dana Binfet reports, a new store in Williamsburg is bringing the shopping experience back to film culture.

NARRATOR, DANA BINFET: It’s a rainy Saturday afternoon outside Night Owl Video on Grand Street in Williamsburg. New Yorkers from all over the city are lined up down the block for the store’s sneak preview. It’s been a while since they’ve been in a video rental shop, there are very few left in Manhattan but they all have fond memories of the last time they rented a movie from a video store.

TIRA ADAMS:  A League of their Own and a Neil Breen movie, I don’t know which one it was, I think the one where he is playing twins. 

MICHAEL EBENS: A lot of like X Men, the old X Men cartoon, just like 3 or 4 episodes on a VHS.

FRANCES HILL:  I'd probably say the last thing that I, uh rented was probably a Kate Hudson movie. 

BINFET: That’s Frances Hill, she commuted from Long Island to meet up with her girlfriend at the preview. A few minutes later she got into the store where it was packed.

HILL: It's super busy. It's crowded, but it’s an absolutely well run store. I mean, they got their mom in there helping out. So you gotta love a family business and it's a beautiful thing. 

BINFET: Especially if you’re a cinefile. The inside is painted purple and yellow with retro movie posters on the walls alongside stacks of old DVDs and VHS tapes. Night Owl Video is the brainchild of friends and coworkers Aaron Hamel and Jess Mills. The duo met working in film distribution and have been dreaming about this day for a long time.

AARON HAMEL: We're both passionate about physical media and felt that, especially after the closing of Kim's video and videology, that no one was taking up the mantle, so we decided to stop waiting and do it ourselves. 

BINFET: There used to be two Kim’s Video stores in downtown Manhattan. And Mills and Hamel remember just how important the outlets were to film fans and filmmakers. The shops provided a place to gather and discuss their favorite films with a vast selection of rare cult classics, art films and B-horror movies. Hamel hopes that Night Owl Video can do the same.

AARON HAMEL: It's very important to us to sort of build up a community. I mean you know, my hope is to have a local filmmakers section on the shelves at some point. 

BINFET: Nelson Kim, is a Professor of Film at Wagner College in Staten Island. 

NELSON KIM:  Public spaces, like video stores, like record stores, the fact that it brings people together with these shared interests, this shared passion for the art form is a healthy thing.

BINFET: He says these kinds of public gathering places are an invaluable part of film culture, especially in the age of streaming.

KIM: I think a lot of people will sort of instinctively laugh at and say a video store in 2025, that's crazy. That's so obsolete. I think physical media still has a part to play.  It's a healthy thing for the next generation of cinephiles to not grow up thinking of their love of film as a purely solitary online activity.  

BINFET: Co-owner of the store Hamel, has spent years gathering old DVDs and VHS tapes. The store is full of movies from his personal collection, and the intention and care behind these handpicked tapes are a big part of the rental store's appeal.

HAMEL:  A lot of them actually also came from people who reached out to us on Instagram and just said, Hey I have this collection, or I know somebody who has a collection and so that's been a really, a fun part of it for me, has been going and going out and meeting these the collectors and buying collections and stuff. 

BINFET: Over 500 people showed up for the sneak preview and many of them left with their own rental selections.

ADAMS: We got Cleopatra Jones, RoboCop the book and the movie so that’s cool.

EBENS: Oh yeah, I bought this Godzilla tape, Godzilla vs. Megalon.

HILL:  I picked up something with John Goodman that I'd never seen before. So here's a great way to find out about movies that you may have never really thought about or even thought to Google.

BINFET : Night Owl Video officially opens for business in Williamsburg tomorrow. Dana Binfet, Columbia Radio News.