One upon a time in Wisconsin there was a little boy who lived in a mobile home just on the other side of a chain-like fence from a drive-in theater. At the time, those evenings in the yard staring up at huge, silent images of The Cat from Outer Space or Conan the Destroyer seemed idly spent, but apparently a seed was planted.

Meanwhile, a few thousand miles to the west, a little girl was schooled in the finer points of cinema by her mother. She was taken to see many films that some parents might deem “inappropriate”—including foreign films (before she could read, her mother would whisper the subtitles).

Well, that boy’s name was Marc and that girl’s name was Chelsea, and today they are the proud owners of Video Vérité, the most fabulous DVD rental outlet in all of Portland, Oregon.

Video Vérité opened at 3956 N Mississippi Avenue on November 18, 2003.  At that point, the now-bustling street was home to but a handful of the many businesses that have taken up residence since. Our mission was simple and two-fold:  to serve as a friendly neighborhood video store carrying most popular hits, and also to provide a well-chosen catalog of titles, including extensive international, documentary and classics sections.

We like to say that if you can’t find something good at Video Vérité, you’re just not trying.  We also like to say that a video store should be judged not by the movies it carries, but by the movies it doesn’t.  Our shelves aren’t stuffed with lousy DVDs that serve only as space-fillers; if you close your eyes and pick one randomly, the odds are pretty good you’ll actually like it (assuming you’ve got taste, of course).
The Bargain Basement Screening Room at Video Vérité screens a wide variety of movies, which are free and open to the public. Check the webpage or pick up an in-store schedule for more info on the exciting stuff going on downstairs.

Today, Marc Mohan, in addition to running Video Vérité, writes about movies, books, and DVDs for The Oregonian (check out his weekly column, “Beyond the Multiplex”), DVD Journal and others. Chelsea Cain is the acclaimed author of the novel Confessions of a Teen Sleuth and the memoir Dharma Girl, and also writes a weekly column for The Oregonian as Calendar Girl. 

Neighborhood residents since 2001, they were married in 2004 and are the proud parents of Eliza Fantastic Mohan, who will get the best cinematic education a kid could hope for.