Bohemia Village Voice

Matt - venturing into the world of publishing

Matt Carter who owns video and DVD rental business Visual Magic in Bohemia Road is about to launch his latest venture, Visual Magic News, a newsletter giving people information and reviews on the most recent films coming out. “The distributors don’t promote rentals any more, so it’s up to the individual businesses to promote themselves.” Matt was running a similar magazine a few years ago, so he has had plenty of experience. “I’d forgotten what hard work producing something like this is!” he said.  “Now I’ve got to find the time first to sit down and watch the films, then write the reviews!”
Matt used to come into the shop he now owns when he was a child. “In those days it was a big thing for families to come out and choose a video to rent for Saturday nights. It was an event.” Matt’s connection with the business began when his mother, Pam, was an employee there. In 1991 the then owner wanted to sell up as business was failing, so Pam bought it. Matt has been involved in the business ever since then and co-ran it with Pam from 2002. When Pam died three years ago, he took over as sole proprietor. The business itself has been in Bohemia for over 25 years. Matt changed the name of the business from Video Gamebox to Visual Magic, partly to avoid confusion with a similarly-named local business which had started up meanwhile, and partly because, “I did a huge refit so I thought a complete change of direction was the best way to go.” Currently he is trying to move into retail by selling more DVDs, which has been quite successful. “I try not to modernise, by keeping the old films as well,” he says. “People come in with their kids and the kids can be educated in the old films, which are often the best!”