STALKING QUENTIN TARANTINO
The world knows Quentin Tarrantino as the hot snot writer-director behind such films as Resevoir Dogs, Natural Born Killers and Pulp Fiction. But from 1983 to 1988, friends, relatives and co-workers knew him as the guy who made change for customers at Video Archives in Hermosa Beach, California.
According to Video Archives owner Lance Lawson, Tarantino, unlike the characters in his movies, wasn't much of the outlaw type. In fact, Lawson said, Tarantino was very much the ideal video store clerk.
"He was a very dependable employee," Lawson said. "I didn't have to worry about the store not being open on days when he worked, or about him not showing up. He liked working here."
Tarantino brought to Video Archives a wide knowledge of and intense passion for movies of all genres, which also made him a plus on the Archives staff, Lawson said.
"He's such a huge, huge movie buff," Lawson said. "He knows anything about everything, and he's incredibly enthusiastic about film. He could describe any movie and make it sound interesting, so I can understand how he could be really good at selling a movie. He could probably sell a date in the gas chamber and make it sound appealing."
Tarantino did have an affinity for playing R-rated films like Scarface during the daytime and family rental hours, but Lawson said that was no big deal.
"We're not Blockbuster," Lawson said. "We consider ourselves a First-Amendment establishment, so people know what to expect when they come in."
Shortly after he left the Archives staff, Tarantino and co-writer Richard Avary hit it big with Resevoir Dogs and churned out a host of great scripts, including True Romance, Natural Born Killers, and Pulp Fiction. According to Larson, however, Tarantino hasn't let all his success swell his head to Hollywood propotions.
"He likes to keep in close contact with friends, people who'll tell him to fuck off every once in a while instead of people who'll say Yes, Mr. Tarantino. Anything you say, Mr. Tarantino," Lawson said. "He wants to keep himself grounded that way."
That's not to say Tarantino doesn't have fun with his chieftain status. He recently invited Lawson join him in Las Vegas to spend a weekend on Destiny Plays a Radio because of Lawson's longstanding crush on starring actress Nancy "So I Married an Axe Murderer" Travis.
Some of Tarantino's fame rubbed off onto Lawson's video store. In the past, Archives normally received one or two job applications every week. But over the past six months, Lawson said, the store has begun taking in a dozen or more per week from applicants all across the country.
It may not be that these are all big Quentin Tarantino fans, but maybe they're just hoping that if they work here, some of his luck will rub off on them and they'll make it big.
