A Thermal is a production of IHeart 3D Audio.

For full exposure, listen with headphones.

Last year, we ran a series of episodes on the history and cultural significance of video rental stores.

In that series, we name drop a number of iconic locations,

one of which is the Los Angeles-based Vidyets.

For decades, Vidyets has been an institution

in Southern California's film community.

It's also one of the only female-owned and operated video stores in the country.

But due to the same struggles plaguing video stores nationwide, it shuttered its doors in 2017.

However, the Vidyat's team is hard at work planning a rebirth.

They're nearly ready to open their new location in Los Angeles, along with a restored

neighborhood movie theater. So today, producer Trevor Young returns to chronicle the journey

of one of the country's most important video stores. As I mentioned in our series last year, video stores were instrumental in my upbringing.

Without those spaces and the people in them, I wouldn't have a fraction of the love or knowledge of film that I have today.

And I'm not alone in that experience.

They're fucking fun.

They're inspiring.

Who really truly wants to sit at home and never talk with another person about the thing that you love?

I'm Maggie McKay.

I'm the executive director of Vidyates Foundation.

Maggie is the main person responsible for reviving Vidiots.

She says physical media spaces like Vidiots are more important now than ever before.

...