Chronic : Need for Weed (Australian Documentary)

[bitterman]

Thanks for the support JJ, weedfisherman and puka... I'll post an update here then

 

So I recently interviewed Mark Heinrich and I have to say the guy's a legend. He was full of praise for mongy and oz and their 'work behind the scenes'. He is also full of shall we say, respectful hatred for j. copeland etc.

 

After jumping through plenty of hoops I also interviewed her... very interesting to see her office plastered with weed posters and seedbank stickers from around the world. As far as I can assertain, the world of academic research is a tricky career path but she's able to make it work in terms of receiving funding for her particular meta research - which isn't surprising given the current paradigms around cannabis and NCPIC's rather narrow and unbalanced focus. A lot of the stuff she said sounded reasonable but didn't really correlate with their position and the narrow nature of info they disseminate. All in all though, if given some respect she is quite approachable and (apart from questioning the nature of the organisation in general) agrees there are areas which the service could improve upon including engaging with 'users' a la ozstoners. Though still, at the very core, it's a narrow and skewed line the centre sits on in terms of their research areas. I even asked her about the threads on this site and while there's some ethical considerations to what I can pass on here (you'll have to wait for the film) let's just say that she will not go on record as far as legality or medical cannabis is concerned, though as a scientist she agrees with the medical benefits of THC/CBD and doesn't agree with incarcerating recreational users, etc.

 

I also interviewed N. Solowij who pumps out similar findings to Jan... according to her cannabis use causes eccentricity and 'odd beliefs'. I pressed her on that but like pretty much every question, she ties it back into mental health (sub-clinical psychosis). In a way it reminded me of Sarah Palin always reverting to preset political talking points when asked direct questions.

 

So I'm up to about 15 interviews now and have started cutting footage (it's a massive process). I have a sort of pro-stoner trailer waiting to go online, which I think you guys will like. I will be going for CF[/acronym].osb&fp=cd4211ff136514f&biw=1680&bih=897"]crowdfunding at some point too through indiegogo.

 

Next steps are to press on with interviews around Sydney (with users and patients, Wodak, Agung etc), hit QLD (John Jiggens, A. Clough, J. Birmingham) and get into some indigneous communities up north. Have also been invited to film some 20ft+ monsters in a few months I hope to finish shooting with another trip to Mardigrass in May... if I can get a decent trailer together and an executive producer I hope I can attract some govt $ to pay for editing and licensing funny old footage I've found. Also working on getting a letter of interest from broadcasters but that's a tough one.

 

More soon...

 

 

[the.weed.fisherman]

Hey Bitterman,

 

That is the best news. I can't believe how much great work you are doing.

Thanks for acknowledging Oz & Mongys' work in the background. They really deserve it.

I hope you get your executive producer and your government grant.

This entire country needs to see what you have to offer. Professionally.

Thanks for the post.

 

I am your Biggest FAN!

 

 

 

the.weed.fisherman

[Cerberus]

Wow, I thought this was just about a dude that makes medicine.

 

I can't wait to see some of the interviews, especially Birmingham

 

Edit: Anyone think it's strange that 11 of the 19 staff on the NCPIC staff page are women and they are all "Ms" instead of Miss/Mrs (if not Dr/Prof.)?

 

Betcha Copeland has something to do with that

 

( no offense ladies, this was not sexism, just an observation based on the current population of females in high level positions )

Edited January 5, 2012 by Cerberus

[How_High]

Sounds mean....keep us up to date please

[PunchenMunch]

Really, really looking forward to this!

[marcus738]

what a badass

[ljmk2468]

Epic, keen as mustard to see this one!! Two thumbs up!

[bitterman]

Hey thanks everyone for the support. Gearing up for more shooting soon, got some crazy connections and participants involved.

 

I've released a small clip, this may or may not be in the final film, it's a bit of a pro-stoner sort of sequence but the whole film in the end will hopefully appeal to everyone, not just smokers like me and you that's the idea anyway.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIH25kBrNg0

 

Let me know what you think.

 

EDIT: PS - watch in HD if you can, it looks much nicer

Edited January 25, 2012 by bitterman

[Ford Fairlane]

Good joint rolling tutorial... love the song at the end..

[cvulse]

Loved the interview, solid shots, and a snappy cut, too.

 

I have so many questions!

• What are your plans for distribution?
  Do you plan on doing all the post by yourself?
  What kind of people will you be interviewing?
  Who's doing the research?
  Do you need original music? Vfx work? Web presence stuff? Guerilla marketing?
  

 

After seeing the trailer, I'm keen to help if the project ever needs it. I'll definitely keep my eye on this, please keep us informed of your progress!