Hollywood Flashback: Be Kind, Rewind… to the Birth of Home Video

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Fifty years ago, a plastic brick turned the movie business upside down.

In June 1975, while the world was captivated by the mechanical shark in “Jaws”, Sony stealthily presented a more astonishing invention: the Betamax LV-1901 – the first consumer video cassette recorder (VCR). This colossal device was integrated into a Trinitron TV console, weighed almost as much as a Pinto car and had an equivalent price tag ($2,495, which would be approximately $15,000 nowadays). However, it enabled you to accomplish something groundbreaking: record television programs and watch them at your convenience.

As a dedicated gamer, I was hyped when Sony marketed their new console as an end to the channel wars, dubbed “the peace treaty at home.” However, reading The New York Times, I couldn’t help but feel a bit deflated when they dismissed it as a plaything for the rich and trend-obsessed.

Subsequently, George Atkinson made an appearance. He was a projector-rental proprietor situated on Wilshire Boulevard, and he had a gut feeling. In 1977, he managed to gather $10,000 to purchase one copy of each of the 50 Fox titles available on Beta and VHS formats. He then proposed renting them out for $10 per night (with an additional $50 annual membership fee). Swiftly, a multitude of customers began enrolling at his store, marking it as the world’s first videotape rental shop.

In response, Hollywood found itself in a state of alarm. Universal and Disney filed lawsuits aiming to prohibit Video Cassette Recorders (VCRs). When this tactic proved unsuccessful, they attempted to forbid the rental of movies. The conflict escalated to the Supreme Court, which handed down its decision in 1984, affirming that rewinding tapes was indeed permissible.

By that time, Atkinson’s store had expanded into a chain of 600 Video Station outlets, which was a significant part of an ever-growing industry with approximately 15,000 stores. Studios began to adapt their strategies. As Mel Harris, an executive from Paramount, expressed to the Los Angeles Times in 1987, “It’s like becoming addicted to chocolate. The more you have, the more you crave.

1997 saw the introduction of DVDs in the U.S., fueling an already thriving market. For some time, these home video formats provided a significant financial support to Hollywood, covering its expenses and risks. As Matt Damon later acknowledged, “The DVD was a substantial contributor to our revenue. When that source of income vanished, it altered the kind of films we could produce.

Press play, America. This is where binge culture began.

Here’s a story from the June 4th edition of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To stay updated, consider subscribing here.

The following article was published in the June 4 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. If you’d like to continue receiving such updates, click here to subscribe.

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2025-06-07 21:25