Remember how we got the great news last December that the vast DVD and VHS collection belonging to now defunct Le Video was getting purchased by Alamo Drafthouse, which also partnered with the Mission's Lost Weekend Video and gave them a new home in the theater's lobby after they were forced out of their longtime home? Well, seven months in, Lost Weekend co-founder David Hawkins talks to Mission Local about the continuing struggle to find a new generation of cinephiles who care to rent physical DVDs, and about the fact that Le Video's collection won't actually be accessible to the public anytime soon.

After making the move over to Alamo this past winter, Hawkins says that Lost Weekend's business was totally financially drained after straining even to make ends meet in the previous space on Valencia Street by hosting regular comedy events. "It was a super struggle to move a 20-year-old business even a block away," he tells Mission Local.

Now, much of the Lost Weekend archive remains in storage deep within the historic New Mission Theater, as plans continue to take shape for how to manage it, though a big chunk of titles are available at the lobby kiosk. As for merging it with the Le Video's much vaster collection, that won't likely happen anytime soon since Alamo doesn't have the space to store it at the moment — the Le Video archive is currently being stored off-site, and none of it is rentable.

Meanwhile, Lost Weekend continues to cater to a mostly older clientele — since it's people who don't have high-speed internet and do still have DVD players who still care about renting movies.

Hawkins says they're hoping to "restructure the renting concept" with the help of Alamo, and they're already expanding their retail operation to include t-shirts, books, posters, and other film-related stuff.

Obviously, video rental stores that once dotted every neighborhood in the city are a thing of the past, but movie-lovers have for a few years now been decrying the fact that nothing can really replace a store with a deep library of old and foreign films — many of which won't ever likely be available from Netflix, and of course the selection they make available for streaming every month is necessarily slim. Le Video's archive, according to many, is second to none in the nation, and deserves to be made accessible just as a cultural resource. Hopefully, with Alamo and Lost Weekend's help, the breadth of both of these archives can remain available, and more younger film lovers need to learn that if you want to go deep into a genre or renowned director, you might have to physically go to a location to get the DVDs you need.

Previously: Lost Weekend Video Actually Closing On Valencia, Moving In With Alamo Drafthouse