Lewis Peterson joins Grant Phipps for a conversation about home viewing and coping in quarantine.
Collage (clockwise from top left): Four Star’s recent storefront, Jessica Hausner’s “Little Joe,” Jeff Nichols’ “Take Shelter.”
We’ve been working recently with Four Star Video Cooperative to revive its podcast, which consistently produced episodes from 2015 through the first part of 2016. As the long-running Madison video institution settled into a new space and the 2020 Wisconsin Film Festival approached, it felt like an opportune time to partner up and bring local cinephiles together for in-depth conversations. Then the pandemic hit, closing theaters and forcing the cancellation of the 2020 Wisconsin Film Festival and upcoming UW-Cinematheque screenings.
Four Star Video Cooperative remained open for a while with limited hours as staff and volunteers took extra-precautionary measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many other businesses around the state, it will close down Tuesday under a new emergency order from Governor Tony Evers. In the interim, any prior rental due dates are void until State Government deems it safe to re-open. Additional inquiries can be directed to 4starvideorental@gmail.com.
Despite the challenges we’re all facing, Four Star Operations Manager Lewis Peterson joined Film Editor Grant Phipps at Tone Madison’s Communication studio last week to discuss the aforementioned changes to the store’s daily functions, all-too-familiar pandemic viewing themes (and spirited films to distract from the current crisis), bonus material that’s available online as substitute for traditional festival Q&As or panels, and relevant recommendations for audiences who are still itching to create itineraries that resemble the astute curation of a traditional film festival. Special thanks to Hanna Kohn for her discussion prompts and remote contributions to this conversation.
You can also support Four Star during the shutdown by making a donation via the store’s website or directly via PayPal.
Give the conversation a listen here, or subscribe to the Tone Madison podcast on Apple Podcasts. If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and consider supporting us financially with a one-time or recurring donation. And please check out our sister podcasts, Record Store Dropouts and Digital Warmth.
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