Episode 21: Barry Solan

Bill speaks with Barry Solan about both his years running repertory movie houses like The State Theatre and experiences as owner of the Video Americain video store chain. They also discuss midnight movie culture of the early 1980s, discovering rare movies on Youtube, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, bootlegs, how Video Americain came to be featured in John Waters’ SERIAL MOM, the appeal of video stores, and Barry’s assorted tangles with anti-pornography crusaders, film company theatre checkers, Led Zeppelin-loving bathroom vandals, HBO executives, angry filmmakers and protesters threatening to burn down his theatre for showing Jean-Luc Godard’s HAIL MARY.