1
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[mechanical hum]

2
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-All right, well,
over here,

3
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you've got all the used
and new stuff for sale.

4
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A lot of people sort of forget
that we get new releases a lot.

5
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-Matt Lynch works at
Scarecrow Video on Roosevelt.

6
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He's been there
since 2003.

7
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-The job at that point
was mostly renting people movies

8
00:00:23,773 --> 00:00:26,943
and putting the movies back on
the shelves when they come back.

9
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And so most
of what you do all day

10
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is have a big stack of movies
under your arm,

11
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and you have to learn
where everything is,

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or else it's going to take you
forever to put it all away.

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Some of my favorite
little esoteric sections

14
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are right here.

15
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There's blaxploitation,
"vroom" for car chase movies,

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bikers, rednecks,
truckers.

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-I did my job.

18
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-The store has only been there
ten years longer than Matt.

19
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-It's like I've been staring
at these stacks for two decades,

20
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and I can still find something
I never saw before.

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It's pretty amazing.

22
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-There aren't too many
video stores left in Seattle,

23
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or really anywhere
these days.

24
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-I mean, you know,
there are still video stores

25
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up and running
that have been started,

26
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you know,
in the meantime,

27
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but they're certainly
not as big as we are.

28
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-But Scarecrow is special,
and Matt is special, too.

29
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-I just know --
I know myself pretty well.

30
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I like it here.
This is where I belong.

31
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[film projector clicking]

32
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-Of course, I'm not
bright about doing things.

33
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-One of his favorite movies
was "The Wizard of Oz,"

34
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and we really liked
the character of the Scarecrow

35
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because he had lots of heart
and no brains.

36
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And then it rhymed --
"scarecrow," "video,"

37
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so we're like, "Okay,
that's it, we're doing it."

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-Rebecca Soriano
has spent a lot of time

39
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at Scarecrow Video.

40
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She's the co-founder of the
place along with George Latsios.

41
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[ Tape rewinding ]

42
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-George is a really
cool guy.

43
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-Well, I always wanted
to have a video store.

44
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I always loved movies
and such, so...

45
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Dream is to own
your own movie theater,

46
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your own, and of course,
it's impossible these days.

47
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So the next best thing
was the video store.

48
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-George was my husband,

49
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and he and I met
in Pennsylvania.

50
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He wanted to have
a video store,

51
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and it was going to be
the best video store ever.

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He explained it to me,

53
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and I bought into it
and I said, "Okay."

54
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So I remember
when we moved in,

55
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this was huge.

56
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We didn't have enough tapes
to fill it.

57
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So the front part of the store
was a place to drink coffee.

58
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-That's interesting.

59
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-George and Rebecca had a plan
to buy a house

60
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and work their day jobs
for a while

61
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until they had enough money
saved to open a store,

62
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but George couldn't
wait that long,

63
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so he quit his job.

64
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But somehow they found a way
to rent a storefront.

65
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Before Roosevelt,

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the first Scarecrow Video
was at 65th and Latona.

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-So it was tiny.
It was --

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I don't remember
how many square feet,

69
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but it wasn't very big.

70
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We had 400 movies,
approximately. I'm not sure.

71
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George was in charge of
kind of organizing the videos,

72
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and I made the posters.

73
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There's still one here.
It makes me laugh.

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The signs, I mean.
Um, anyway...

75
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Some of these signs
I made myself,

76
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which is amazing.

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They're still here.

78
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♪♪

79
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-Scarecrow Video was not
an overnight success.

80
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Rebecca was teaching school

81
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and working in the store
in the evenings,

82
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but the eclectic
and growing collection

83
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was attracting fans
and building a following,

84
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like musician Kurt Cobain
and film critic Roger Ebert.

85
00:03:03,308 --> 00:03:05,560
[ Telephone ringing ]

86
00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:07,812
-One day I got a phone call
from somebody,

87
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and they were like,

88
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"Roger Ebert just helped me
find a movie in your store."

89
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And I'm like, "Yeah,
that's cool, isn't it?"

90
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[ Chuckles ]
It was so awesome.

91
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-By the early '90s,

92
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Scarecrow had outgrown
its Latona home.

93
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It was time to find
someplace bigger.

94
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-Just having one or a handful
of great video stores.

95
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And I don't mean
the same town --

96
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I want to scatter them
everywhere.

97
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Maybe one in Frisco, maybe one
in Tokyo, one in London.

98
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-The new Scarecrow Video
was busier than ever.

99
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Then tragedy struck.

100
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George was diagnosed
with an aggressive brain tumor.

101
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There were many
tough years.

102
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George doubled down
on working at Scarecrow

103
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for as long
as his health allowed.

104
00:03:45,308 --> 00:03:47,977
Eventually, he went back
to his native Greece.

105
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The couple divorced,
amicably, says Rebecca,

106
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and they sold the store.

107
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And then, sadly,
George passed away.

108
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♪♪

109
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-He was the most
radical guy I ever knew.

110
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-We had various people
who wanted it,

111
00:04:03,368 --> 00:04:05,578
and then we had two people
who came in who were film buffs.

112
00:04:05,578 --> 00:04:07,538
They were also
Microsoft employees,

113
00:04:07,538 --> 00:04:09,332
and they had the money
to buy it.

114
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We lucked out.
Totally lucked out.

115
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We could have --
it could have been a disaster.

116
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♪♪

117
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-Speaking of disasters,
besides Scarecrow,

118
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have you seen many
video stores around lately

119
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that still rent
video tapes?

120
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-Rewind!

121
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[ Beep ]

122
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-Now we keep all
the video tapes back here.

123
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They take up a lot of space.

124
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We built these custom roller
shelves to keep them organized.

125
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-Or have you seen
any video stores, period?

126
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Thanks to passionate staff
and customers,

127
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Scarecrow Video has found
a way to survive.

128
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Thrive even.

129
00:04:45,576 --> 00:04:46,577
[ Computer beeps ]

130
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-You know, I think

131
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that Scarecrow is a really
interesting jewel

132
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in Seattle's crown.

133
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I mean, it's the biggest
video store on planet Earth

134
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in this city that's become
so sort of tech

135
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and convenience-oriented.

136
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It sort of stands as a piece
of that DIY spirit

137
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that Seattle is built on.

138
00:05:02,051 --> 00:05:03,886
-Part of that DIY spirit

139
00:05:03,886 --> 00:05:06,681
means radically shifting
how Scarecrow does business.

140
00:05:06,681 --> 00:05:08,558
In fact, they're
technically no longer

141
00:05:08,558 --> 00:05:10,643
even considered
a business.

142
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-On this live stream
fundraiser,

143
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we are going to attempt
to raise $30,000.

144
00:05:16,691 --> 00:05:19,360
-While we're a nonprofit,
we're only nonprofit in 2014,

145
00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:20,403
so that's a big part of it.

146
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That allows us
to fundraise,

147
00:05:21,863 --> 00:05:23,573
some memberships,
things like that.

148
00:05:24,949 --> 00:05:26,951
We started our
Rent by Mail program

149
00:05:26,951 --> 00:05:28,953
as a pilot program
just before COVID,

150
00:05:28,953 --> 00:05:30,204
and then when COVID struck,

151
00:05:30,204 --> 00:05:32,790
that kept us alive
during the lockdown.

152
00:05:32,790 --> 00:05:34,542
-That's awesome, man.

153
00:05:36,753 --> 00:05:40,131
-Rebecca hasn't been officially
part of Scarecrow for decades,

154
00:05:40,131 --> 00:05:42,425
but she still comes back
every now and then,

155
00:05:42,425 --> 00:05:43,885
which is good

156
00:05:43,885 --> 00:05:46,137
because she knows some of the
best stories about the place.

157
00:05:46,137 --> 00:05:49,849
-We used to tease that
this whole wing right here

158
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was funded by Kurt Cobain
and his late fees.

159
00:05:52,226 --> 00:05:53,895
-But you don't have
to be a rock star

160
00:05:53,895 --> 00:05:56,189
or a famous film critic
to appreciate

161
00:05:56,189 --> 00:05:58,858
and be welcomed
by Scarecrow Video.

162
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There's something here
for everyone.

163
00:06:01,110 --> 00:06:05,531
♪♪

164
00:06:05,531 --> 00:06:06,783
-To me right now,
it's overwhelming

165
00:06:06,783 --> 00:06:08,117
because, I mean,
I'm walking down the aisles

166
00:06:08,117 --> 00:06:09,952
and it's so much more
than I remember,

167
00:06:09,952 --> 00:06:11,537
and it's like,
I could spend hours in here.

168
00:06:11,537 --> 00:06:13,122
I just don't even know
where to start.

169
00:06:13,122 --> 00:06:14,457
-But I didn't scare ya?

170
00:06:14,457 --> 00:06:16,626
-Scarecrows don't
bring the crows.

171
00:06:16,626 --> 00:06:17,627
They chase them away.

172
00:06:17,627 --> 00:06:18,878
-Even though
George is gone

173
00:06:18,878 --> 00:06:20,922
and the video rental business
has disappeared

174
00:06:20,922 --> 00:06:22,965
from nearly
everywhere else,

175
00:06:22,965 --> 00:06:24,550
people keep coming back
to Scarecrow

176
00:06:24,550 --> 00:06:26,803
to celebrate
George's legacy

177
00:06:26,803 --> 00:06:28,888
and to rent some
pretty great movies, too.

178
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♪♪

179
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-That's a wrap.

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♪♪

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Watch CityStream Tuesday
nights at 7 on the Seattle Channel,

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00:06:48,825 --> 00:06:52,703
or find us anytime online at
SeattleChannel.org.

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♪♪