Three decades of VHS and DVDs
As a kid, Andrew Armitage scribbled down the movies he saw in an old school book, complete with a star rating.
Now, decades down the track he’s making another movie list: this one celebrating 30 years of Wellington institution Aro Video.
The video rental store first opened its doors in 1989, out of owner Armitage’s ‘‘burgeoning passion’’ in film culture.
VHS was booming and, as the 1990s rolled on, the independent film movement – personified by Pulp Fiction, according to Armitage – was taking off.
Armitage – along with some help from the Aro Video community – has been collating a list of 100 extraordinary films from the last 30 years. The list has been released title by title in the lead up to the store’s anniversary on September 23.
Ahead of the store’s birthday however, Armitage paused to look back at his memories from 30 years in the rental business.
One of those early standout memories was Easter in 1990. He was out of town at a wedding, but his brother was running the store.
Armitage called up to check how it was all going and was told two-thirds of their 200-strong collection had been rented.
‘‘That was the moment I knew the business was going to work.’’
Even then, he didn’t ‘‘think about the decades’’ – he had a longer-term business strategy but hadn’t really thought about being around 30 years later.
But the decades rolled on, nonetheless. When the new millennium hit, with it came the rise of DVDs, along with one of New Zealand’s – and Wellington’s – most famous exports: the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
But with the early 2000s also came the rise of the internet and, ultimately, the rise of piracy.
As Aro Video moved into its third decade it became more about survival, Armitage said, as streaming services gained in popularity.
Movies were changing too – Armitage pointed to the likes of Inception and
Gravity, and the new sort of technologies film was embracing.
Over recent years, Armitage and his staff have introduced unique ventures that have kept people coming to the store: anything from its 2017 Adopt-a-Movie programme to community events, like the regular Sci-Fi Sunday movie sessions run in conjunction with Space Place.
To celebrate 30 years, Aro Video is hosting an open day on September 23, encouraging people to come down to its Aro St base.
Once the anniversary celebrations are done and dusted, it’ll be time for Armitage to look to the future.
‘‘I think that my aim over the next period – going forward as they say – is that I want to consolidate our archive of 100 years of cinema, so it’s as strong as it can be as an archive.’’
Aro Video’s open day will be held on Monday, September 23 between 9.30am and 5pm. To celebrate, the store is running a special: up to three free rentals for new and lapsed customers.