Help the Museum of Home Video grow!

L.A. native Bret Berg has been a video store manager, a film distributor, a college radio DJ, a film programmer, and a non-profit founder. Together with longtime friends IVOR (video editor/motion designer by trade and a 20+ year DJ) and Jenny Nixon (event producer and media reviewer), he created the Museum of Home Video. Initially conceived as an IRL event in 2019, the team was forced to pivot to online streaming due to the pandemic and launched its network on Twitch in July 2020 (though the Museum now streams via its own URL, museumofhomevideo.com).

(and now we're switching out of the third-person voice)

Describing what we do at the Museum can be tough. "Found footage you can feel" or "Pirate television for the soul" come close. We’re an independent, D.I.Y. entertainment network producing and streaming 20-30 hours of original content monthly. There’s Bret’s Tuesday night slot, home to the Museum's namesake variety show where he sifts through online oddities and showbiz history, creating a visual mixtape of memorable weirdness.

There's IVOR's twice-monthly “Musicvideodrome”, a joyous and frenetic stumble through the archives of music television. “Playtime” recreates that Saturday morning vibe as Mossbadger guides us through the colorful world of kiddy programming, from psychedelic puppets to unnerving animation. In NY Nites, filmmaker/nightlife guru Adam Baran curates an after-hours examination of the brilliance and beauty of New York, New York. We've aired special events and held fundraisers for various nonprofits in L.A. and beyond. We’ve done limited series, takeovers, collaborations, and special guest spots with artists, musicians, film programmers, and other creatives as well.

The Museum is celebrating its 3-Year Anniversary this July. Since those early Twitch days, we’ve built out a room in Bret’s house to serve as our filming studio/production space. We set up streaming via our own website, complete with an integrated chat and free text alert reminder system to let folks know we’re about to go live. We’re starting to produce IRL variety shows at venues like Vidiots, the Roxie Theater, and more. We couldn’t be more excited about all the upcoming opportunities coming our way and want to continue bringing you our best, both online and face-to-face.

We’re doing it all on a shoestring budget and, to be fully transparent, are currently operating not only at a “Net Zero” but at a deficit. Between our equipment and tech costs, studio rent, unexpected emergency expenses, and upcoming travel costs as we take our show on the road—a mini-East Coast tour is just one of the things you can look forward to hearing about this Fall!—we’re really feeling the pinch. While our Patreon income does help, it doesn’t cover everything. Bret has been covering the majority of our studio rent himself, and after some recent issues with the stream quality, had to lay out a few thousand dollars to get us set up with a new provider so there wouldn’t be any interruptions in our schedule. It’s always been worth it to us to make these investments, financial and time-wise, in the Museum’s future—but with so much growth happening, we realize it’s not sustainable for the long-term.

So here we are starting a GoFundMe. Reaching out to our community and beyond in hopes that folks might be able to chip in and help us make it through this wild but exciting growth spurt. Truly any amount will help, and if that’s not doable, just sharing the link would be greatly appreciated! We look forward to being around for a long time and continuing to foster this inclusive and enthusiastic community of wonderful weirdos.

With Love,

Bret, IVOR, and Jenny