This episode features actress, comedian, and host of Dirty Laundry on Dropout, Lily Du. Lily and I spent many a month together in airports while traveling for UCB’s Touring Company.

Her Staff Selects got us chatting about all the BIG topics: memory, forgiveness, aging, the inevitability of death, artistic collaboration, and power dynamics in relationships. Also, do we have the podcast’s first (good-natured) disagreement?! You’ll have to listen to find out!

You can subscribe to Dropout to watch Dirty Laundry. Do it!

This episode features writer and comedian Tao Yang of CollegeHumor and Dropout fame. We reminisce about performing improv together in New York City and then discuss his Staff Selects, which cover topics such as movie spectacles, cross-cultural comedy, disturbing anti-erotic horror, watching inappropriate movies on airplanes, and the most powerful martial art known to man: gun kata.

Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple Podcasts. It’s the simplest way to support the ultimate dream of opening a brick and mortar video store!

Today’s episode features writer, actor, and wholesome pornographer Ryan Creamer, one of the architects of Dropout’s popular game show Game Changer.

Ryan’s film selection for his Staff Selects shelf live up to his wholesome reputation and get us talking about epic sports movie moments, the line between film fiction and real life events, connecting with comedians as a teenager, the friendship of young men dealing with toxic masculinity, sneaky non-rom-coms, and quaint UK villages.

Check out Game Changer on Dropout here.

Today’s episode of the podcast features improviser and dungeon master extraordinaire, Andrew Stanton. He increases the “meaty muscle quotient” of this podcast by 500% with his staff selects, leading to an in-depth conversation of the greatest action movie star to ever exist.

Please like, rate, and review The Village Video Store Podcast on Apple Podcasts and consider subscribing to the Substack. Any money I make from the Substack goes directly to opening a brick and mortar video store.

Thank you for coming to the village.

Today’s episode features television writer, improviser, and Shaun T enthusiast Corin Wells. Make sure to check out the most recent show she worked on, Kevin, on Amazon. Corin’s Staff Selects got us chatting about brutal martial arts violence, the cultural power of music in film, childhood fantasies and magical realism, beautiful billowing fabrics, religious horror, and how falling in love with a movie character when you are young can dictate your entire love life. Don’t do this, listeners.

You can follow Corin on Instagram @charity_corin.

Today’s episode is comedian, writer, and filmmaker Rekha Shankar. Oh, she’s also my dog’s auntie (and our former roommate)! Rekha wrote and starred in Vidhya’s Guide to the Afterlife, her first feature film which is currently in post production.

Rekha’s selection of films got is talking about the power of sisterhood, childhood memories and how they change as we grow older, competition in creative work, feelings of failure, the immigrant experience, unresolved narratives, identifying with film characters, and the “confused girl” sub-genre.

You can learn more about Rekha’s film here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rekha/afterlife-2

And follow Rekha on Instagram, where she manages my dog Sassy’s Internet presence: https://www.instagram.com/rekha_s/

Today’s guest is filmmaker Lindsay Calleran, a long-time friend of mine from the New York improv world whose debut feature film, Caity, recently premiered at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival. We discuss the long journey of completing the film and the struggles of making independent film in today’s entertainment industry. Their staff selects brought up a number of topics: childhood isolation, the reconstruction of one’s relationship with parents, magical realism, realistic fantasy, the trials and tribulations of artistic collaboration, queer romance and heartbreak, and the wonder and beauty shared equally between actors Tony Leung and Steve Zahn. Spoiler alert: there is crying in this episode!

You can follow news about Lindsay’s film Caity on Instagram, including opportunities to see it in upcoming film festivals.

Thank you for coming to the village.

This episode features writer, actor, and social media queen Jordan Myrick. Jordan and I are big-time movie buds who connect a lot on over-the-top horror and action absurdities. Their shelf choices got us talking about nostalgia, fairy tales, big feelings, big twists, movie theme songs, and the all-important question, “Whatever happened to capital-F fun movies?!”

You can follow Jordan on any of your local neighborhood social media sites, and listen to her podcast Happy Wife, Happy Life with her actual wife, Kendall Landreth.

Jordan’s Instagram

Jordan’s YouTube

Jordan’s TikTok

Thank you for coming to the village.

This episode features just me, your host, recapping the 30+ movies I watched in celebration of Junesploitation. I also include a brief review of my experiences at Exhumed Film’s 12-hour movie marathon Ex-Fest, held on June 13th at the Colonial Theater in Phoenxville, PA.

Celebrate filth.

This episode features improviser, filmmaker, and my road trip buddy Patrick Keene. You can regularly see him performing improv all around New York City with his team Duchovny. Watch his debut film Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill (on the biggest screen possible). Patrick’s selections for his shelf got us talking about meta-textual horror, self-annihilation, New York City weirdos, the social constructs of disability, the mundane evils of capitalism, and the need for revolution.

In addition to subscribing to this substack, please consider subscribing, rating, and reviewing on Apple Podcasts also. And if you are able, please consider financially contributing to the substack. All proceeds will go directly to opening a brick and mortar video store.

Thank you for coming to the village.