Introduction to the Criterion Mobile Closet
The Criterion faithful are very happy — standing out in the rain on a cold Saturday morning, hundreds of them, waiting in a line that stretches several blocks. Three fans, Daniel Solis, Marco Castaneda and Kian Mohammadlou, have just been informed that they’ve made the cut: They are the very last people today who will be allowed into the Criterion Mobile Closet, a shiny white delivery van decked out in the home video label’s recognizable logo, which was parked in Eagle Rock this weekend in front of Vidiots.
The Experience of Waiting in Line
“I’m pretty excited,” Solis, 33, says. “It’s a long wait, but it’s a relief that we made it.”
“Last night he told me to wake up as early as possible and just show up,” says Castaneda, 33, a friend of Solis’ since they were in seventh grade.
“This will be my first time buying any Criterion DVDs,” adds Mohammadlou, 24, who came by himself. “Obviously, I’ve seen them at stores, but this pop-up event, I was like: This could be a cool way to start that collection.”
They arrived in the morning at around 9:30. (The lineup started at 5 a.m.) Because of the rain, Criterion employees allowed guests to begin filing into the van early, at about 9:45, around the same time they officially closed the line to more people. “This is the earliest we ever closed the line,” Nur El Shami, Criterion’s chief marketing officer, tells me at the top of the day. “It’s never a great feeling to send people away.”
The Popularity of the Criterion Closet
Despite the stinging rain and unpredictable winds, the friendly, laid-back crowd — a diverse bunch mostly made up of millennials and zoomers — seem perfectly content to wait their turn. It may take hours, but they’re all jazzed to spend three minutes selecting up to three movies for purchase (at 40% off) from the company’s catalog of more than 1,000 titles inside that van, which has been decorated to resemble the legendary closet housed at Criterion’s New York office.
Perhaps no storage room is more hallowed in cinema than the 67-square-foot space known as the Criterion Closet. That tiny office closet is huge on social media thanks to Criterion’s “Closet Picks” videos, which launched in 2010, featuring famous actors, directors and musicians entering the space, picking movies to take home and explaining why those films mean so much to them. The videos, which now number more than 260, have become appointment viewing for movie lovers, who relish watching their favorite artists rhapsodize about cinema in unrehearsed, genuine ways. Many Criterion junkies have imagined what it would be like to hang out in that closet — to be enveloped in that cozy cocoon of great movies. For them, the Mobile Closet is the next best thing.
The Origin of the Mobile Closet
“For the 40th anniversary, we’ve been talking about, ‘What could we do that truly engages all the people that love film?’ ” El Shami explains about the Mobile Closet’s origins. “Somebody said, almost as a joke, ‘What if we put the Closet in a truck?’ We were like, ‘You know what? Maybe that’s exactly what we should do.’ ”
The Mobile Closet debuted at last year’s New York Film Festival, with Criterion offering guests a first-come, first-served chance to buy the company’s carefully curated, beautifully packaged movies. (The celebrities who do “Closet Picks” get theirs for free.) A downpour intervened then as well, but over the festival’s two weekends, the Mobile Closet was a hit, inspiring the company to do a stop in Brooklyn at St. Ann’s Warehouse and then travel halfway across the country to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. (It will return to L.A. June 6 to 7, parked at the Aero Theatre during the American Cinematheque’s popular Bleak Week festival.)
The Marketing Strategy of Criterion
For all of the Closet’s viral success, Criterion’s executives seem to abhor talking about it as a marketing tool. El Shami, only hired a few months ago, insists, “Criterion is not a very brand-forward or marketing-forward company.”
“The slow accumulation of trust over decades is the way that we’re going to build an audience,” says Criterion Collection president Peter Becker, interacting with fans who waited in the rain for hours.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
The Success of the Mobile Closet
Still, Criterion has taken care to ensure the Mobile Closet feels special. The company’s New York staff have flown out for the weekend, wearing Criterion hats and handing out complimentary branded tote bags. And Criterion President Peter Becker walks up and down the line saying hello to everyone, even when it’s raining. Wearing a clear poncho, he couldn’t be bubblier as he answers questions and generally holds court. But he doesn’t like using the word “marketing” without putting it in finger-quotes.
When I ask the people in line what they love about “Closet Picks,” the word “enthusiasm” comes up frequently. And that enthusiasm is palpable as guests prepare to enter the Mobile Closet. The rear van door, where they enter, is left closed during these quick sprees, maintaining the intimacy of “Closet Picks,” and it’s fun to watch the next people who are about to enter the closet. Some know exactly what they’re going to pick. Some have two movies in mind, letting inspiration take over inside the Closet for the third movie.
The Experience Inside the Mobile Closet
No matter how many times I watched it, the transformation in fans’ faces after their Mobile Closet visit is striking. Any anxiety about what films to select melts away. They often emerge from the experience beaming, not quite believing what they just went through. Sometimes they’re visibly moved.
“I imagined it would be overwhelming but also it was exhilarating,” says Daniel Tronco Velasquez, 23, who was born in Peru and grew up with films as a constant childhood companion. “Every single movie in there has a story that resonates with anyone. Just being in the presence of all those films, it’s amazing.”
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
Conclusion
The big crowds and cool vibes are certainly encouraging for Becker, but he insists that the popularity of “Closet Picks” is hard to quantify.
“As a company, we have always fundamentally subscribed to the proposition that the product is the marketing — that the film is the point, that the brand is carried into the marketplace by the films,” he says. “The slow accumulation of trust over decades is the way that we’re going to build an audience.”
In other words, Criterion is happy to lead you to the Closet, but what you choose is up to you. Inside, you’re the expert, you’re the connoisseur, you’re the one reconnecting with why movies are so crucial to you. That kind of safe space is precious, and reason enough to brave the elements and a seemingly endless line.
FAQs
Q: What is the Criterion Mobile Closet?
A: The Criterion Mobile Closet is a pop-up event where fans can purchase Criterion movies at a discounted price and experience the legendary Criterion Closet.
Q: How long does the Mobile Closet experience take?
A: Each guest has three minutes to select up to three movies for purchase.
Q: What is the origin of the Mobile Closet?
A: The Mobile Closet was created to celebrate Criterion’s 40th anniversary and to engage with film lovers.
Q: Where will the Mobile Closet be next?
A: The Mobile Closet will return to L.A. June 6 to 7, parked at the Aero Theatre during the American Cinematheque’s popular Bleak Week festival.
