I work in Hollywood post and pre production. After x number of years, the tape will deteriorate UNLESS it’s kept regularly in cold temperature. I’ve been to the Paramount “off-site” warehouse where they keep the VHS tapes of their old movies and it’s like a damn public library.
Yeah, that’s why I like following your posts. I’m a former Broadcast TV Producer/Editor/DP but I’ve only been on the fringes of Hollywood. Started out in the days of 3/4”, but I’m sure all those masters have decayed now, too. By the way, I’m one of the few first gen AVID editors. Our facility boasted a whopping 125gigs, the second largest video storage array at that time. Today, that’s a puny thumb drive. Sheeesh.