TORONTO - Nestled in the volume of depressing statistics in the documentary, I Need that Record: The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store, is a line that captures the essence of "bricks and mortar" record sales.

A music head who's been patronizing a small record shop that's about to close for good says, "There's an endless supply of music, but not an endless supply of good people."

I have fond memories of making the pilgrimage from Scarborough to the Record Peddler on Queen East throughout the '80s hoping it had the latest from The Redskins, The Jam, Aswad or the Screaming Blue Messiahs.

Friendships were struck up with the guys that ran the place and with other customers who despised Top 40 music as much as I did.

The Peddler is long gone, but stores like Soundscapes on College St. and Mike's Music on the Danforth are still flying the flag for independents in spite of hard economic times.

Twenty-two-year-old Brendan Toller, who wrote and produced I Need that Record, says he was inspired to make the film after the closing of Record Express, a store he visited regularly in his teens.

He clearly remembers buying albums such as London Calling by The Clash, Tonight's the Night by Neil Young, and Tim by The Replacements.

"The sense of discovery and the wide tastes and styles of the employees was a great thing to take in at 15, 16, 17," Toller says. "I can remember the year my friends and I really got into the Stooges. They just killed any interest I had in The Ramones, The Clash, or the Pistols because I thought, 'This was it, these guys were the originals.'

"I swore off all other punk rock basically."

Toller recalls one of his fondest memories of the spot.

Noticing that he and his friend Jeff were scoping out an MC5 disc, one of the store employees got chatting with them and suggested they check out a British punk group called The Damned. He cranked it on the stereo and the two were floored.

"Problem was we both didn't have any money," Toller says. "So, we decided that Jeff was going to go back the next day to buy it and I'd copy it. He went and it wasn't there! We were pissed. And then we found out our friend Sean picked it up hours before.

"A lot of good lessons in there," he adds. "The importance of discovery, community, and buying the record you need as soon as you can!"

Thoroughly researched and featuring interviews with indie record store owners and musicians, I Need that Record packs a ton of stats in its 77-minute running time.

Two of the most depressing numbers are these: More than 3,000 record shops have closed across the United States over the past 10 years, and that downloading is growing 100% a year amongst kids.

"That means a whole generation is growing up with music as a totally digital experience," Toller says. "Lines of text and glowing screens instead of big album art, and tiny computer speakers or ear-buds instead of sound systems that young males used to brag about.

"Not to say digital music and its portability, ease, and ability to share isn't awesome, but that's really going to impact things 20 years down the road," he adds. "I do think some of these kids will graduate to record stores and albums. But, I also think that record stores can stay alive if they really make it a place to hang out.

"Music is a great medium for gathering, discussion, and discovery," Toller says. "Teens always have a need to get away from their parents and we need other places besides the movies, the mall, and chain stores if we're going to keep creativity alive."

NOTE: I Need that Record screens Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the NFB on John St. For more info on North By Northeast, go to nxne.com.