For eight days starting this month, the fight against AIDS will be played out in a new arena: the video store. Video retailers and all industry-related companies are being solicited to participate in “A Penny for AIDS,” a fundraising campaign sponsored by the Video Industry AIDS Action Committee.
“A Penny for AIDS” asks for a one-cent contribution for each videocassette or laserdisc rented or purchased between Nov. 24 and Dec. 1, International AIDS Awareness Day.
More than 2,000 retailers have committed to the campaign, joining studios, video manufacturers, distributors and industry vendors. Even cable and broadcast television, which compete with home video for entertainment dollars, are getting into the act by airing public service announcements produced by the AIDS committee and featuring celebrities such as Mario Van Peebles, Hulk Hogan, Rosanna Arquette and Fabio.
The entertainment industry has a personal stake in the battle against AIDS, according to campaign chairman and former Chicagoan Larry Klingman.
“Our business has been devastated by the AIDS-related deaths of writers, performers and artists. Young, fresh ideas have been lost because these people are dead.”
The AIDS Action Committee was founded in 1989 in response to what was perceived as federal government inaction on the fatal disease. It has raised $500,000 through industry activities, and serves 35 national and community-based AIDS service organizations.
Chicago’s Howard Brown Memorial Clinic and the Kupona Network are among those who have benefited from committee grants.
“A Penny for AIDS” is the group’s most ambitious campaign. Why a penny?
“What we’re looking at is a grass-roots campaign,” Klingman said. “It is not a gala fundraiser for $500 a plate. We’ve designed it so that everybody can make a contribution without any one major group carrying the load.”
Penny-ante contributions might not seem like much, but participating retailers are hoping to raise some serious money.
“The amount of the individual retailer’s contribution is very small,” said Audrey Chesta, co-owner of Village Video in Chicago. “But collectively, the total could be awesome.”
How awesome? Projections vary, Klingman said, but during the campaign’s designated week (which coincides with retail’s busy holiday shopping season), video patrons nationwide could rent up to 120 million videos and laserdics, and could purchase 50 million.
Many participating Chicagoland video retailers, such as Michael McGowran, owner of Specialty Video in the Lakeview neighborhood, said they will most likely contribute beyond the penny-per-transaction minimum.
Added to this, Klingman said, will be contributions by film, home video and other associated companies.
“If we get 50 percent participation,” he said, “we could raise at least $1 million or more.”
Among the area’s participating stores are: Video Adventure, 1926 Central St. and 631 Chicago Ave., Evanston, and 1766 2nd St. in Highland Park; Gold Coast Video, 1153 N. Dearborn St.; Specialty Video, 3259 N. Broadway; Village Video, 10553 S. Western Ave.; Popcorn ‘N Videos, 7338 W. 79th St., Bridgeview; 4 Star Video, 2124 E. Grand Ave., Lindenhurst; and One Stop Pharmacy, 1235 Sandy Hollow Rd., Rockford.
Retailers who want information can call 800-847-3669.
– Out of the box: The five titles comprising the “Lily Tomlin Collection” will be available for purchase individually and not just in a $149.95 boxed set as originally planned.
The TV specials “Lily: Sold Out!” and “Lily for President,” and the one-person show “Appearing Nitely,” each cost $19.98 retail. An expanded 30-minute version of “Ernestine: Peak Experiences” is priced at $14.98. “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe” remains priced at $89.95. Call 800-GET-LILY.
– Federico Fellini’s death ought to inspire the release or return to video of some of his best-known films. “I Vitteloni” has never been available, while the Oscar-winning “Amarcord” was released only in an English-dubbed version. It has since been placed on moratorium and is unavailable to stores that do not already have it in stock.
Home Vision, the foreign cinema division of Chicago-based Public Media Video, will release a restored version of “La Strada” in February.
– Still no word about the video release of “Jurassic Park,” but Milestone Film and Video will release in December two classics of dino-cinema: the 1914 cartoon “Gertie the Dinosaur” included on “Animation Legend: Winsor McKay”; and a restored version of the 1925 “The Lost World,” the first word in stop-motion animated beasts by “King Kong” animator Willis O’Brien.
Each will cost $39.95. Call 212-222-8952.
