Exclusive | LAs last video store is still inspiring Hollywood directors and shunning streaming

An E.T.mannequin sporting a straw Dodgers fedora peers out at Santa Monica Boulevard.

Tens of thousands of plastic cases hold now-archaic DVDs and VHS tapes on labeled shelves.A black sign outside the iconic alien’s home calls it “the last movie store,” right below the place’s true name in orange-and-black type: “CineFile.”The video store has been a Blockbuster-esque gathering spot for inspired directors, actors, and even music icons since its inception in 1999.Michael Jackson famously visited the store donning a Hulk mask to conceal his identity, spending hours looking for movies with his friend, director Brett Ratner.Ratner said Jackson even threatened to buy the place when he couldn’t find any of his friend’s movies.“I’m going to buy this place and make a huge Brett Ratner films section,” Jackson said, according to Ratner.More recently, ‘Dune’ star Timothée Chalamet stopped in to rent some Stanley Kubrick films.

Director Quentin Tarantino and actors Ryan Gosling, Mel Brooks and Robert Pattinson have been spotted there.Pattinson, the store’s owner said, came in to study the films of French director Claire Denis to decide whether to play in her 2018 movie “High Life.”Behind the star power, the Sawtelle video store has stood for more than two decades despite video rentals being rendered obsolete with the rise of streaming technology.The store fell on hard times in 2013, when streaming giant Netflix began dominating the media space.Current owner, 44-year-old Sebastian Mathews, then-owner of a nearby record store, bought the video store to keep it alive.

He said the competition in the area combined with the rise of streaming made for a fatal business mix.“Obviously, streaming was on the uptick, and there were 4 or 5 pretty significant video stores [nearby], and that was just too much competition for anyone to survive,” he said.The store survived through the media exodus that took down rental giant Blockbuster and many video stor...