Meet the Toronto man behind International Video Store Day

This is our way of saying, hey, we're sexy, too. Daniel Hanna has a case to make. Video stores where you can rent or buy DVDs and VHS tapes still matter, even when, and especially when, you can just stream movies online. Not everybody wants to go home and plug into Netflix or HBO and suffer through an algorithm dictating what they're seeing. This weekend marks the 16th International Independent Video Store Day, Which Hannah, who owns the store Eyesore Cinema, invented himself. There's a thing called Record Store Day, and when I became aware of it, I googled Video Store Day, and there was nothing there. So I made it happen. The idea spread out of his Toronto shop on Blur Street West to video stores across Canada and beyond, commemorating the day with big sales, exclusive releases, and other special offerings. Is this a special calendar for it to commemorate the event? Well, yeah, I mean, we decided to release it today because, you know, we're going to have a lot of people in here. And those people say their hunger for physical media is about more than nostalgia. In this day and age, there's so much that's impermanent, especially with streaming services. You're really renting to watch these things. You don't really own anything. The box art and, you know, the ability to hold something in my hand and enjoy it brought me back to VHS. Today we're renting The Killer Tomato 1 and 2. We already own three on VHS. It's literally about a killer tomato. It's very novel to be able to bump something in, press play, and then you get previews as well, which is kind of a relic of our time. Much like it did for vinyls, this cultural resurgence of physical film is sparking new business. After dozens lined up for the Criterion Collection pop-ups at TIFF, it rebranded to a permanent store this month. But Hannah hopes independently-owned shops won't get left behind in the trend. This store has never been profitable. I keep it open, that's the difference. At the end of the day I'm just here trying to say thank you because without these people I have no reason to exist so that's why I do it. Nama Weingarten CBC News Toronto