Jerry Joffe – Producer/Director

Impetus: After growing cannabis since the early 1970’s and having been a successful media producer since 1980, it is natural that I want to preserve these stories. This unique record will give historians, researchers and the general public an understanding of how the devotion, sacrifice and efforts of “outlaw” growers have now, decades later, evolved and made possible the red-hot “semi-legal” cannabis industry.

Bio:
Over 36 years of producing, directing, writing and editing, Jerry Joffe has been involved in providing educational media for a wide variety of national clients. His programs have been aired on Front Street Weekly, PBS Nightly Business Report, and the Disney Channel. The National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies have sponsored many of his health-related programs. Several of Joffe’s programs have won prestigious awards from the American Film and Video Festival, the National Educational Film Festival, the U.S. Film and Video Festival and The Governor’s Energy Awards. Ted Danson and Edward James Olmos have volunteered to narrate programs focused on environment and health issues. Joffe has produced interactive programs used in schools for national publishers Rand McNally, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and McDougal Littell. Before selling his company, InterVision, in 2007, Joffe created a new division, LumaLore, which combined video and audio with large terrain models and lasers to tell stories about areas of interest for museums and visitor centers. Joffe has continued to produce media on social issues, including reuse of building materials and promoting a community food bank.

 

 

Skye Fitzgerald – Cameraman

Bio:
Skye Fitzgerald has produced projects focused on human rights and social justice issues since 1998. Along the way he has collaborated or received support from the Sundance Institute, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the State Department and the Paul Robeson Fund, including being named a Fulbright Research Scholar to produce the film Bombhunters. Reviewers have characterized Fitzgerald’s work as “emotional and artful…deserves considerable exposure” (Variety), as “an infuriating study in the ways that power greases the wheels of justice” (LA Weekly) and noted that it “confronts us with injustice” (Voice of America). As a Director of Photography Fitzgerald has lensed work for Dateline NBC, CNN, Discovery Channel, Mercy Corps, Travel Channel, History Channel, Weinstein Company, ABC, MSNBC and Story-Vault. Fitzgerald is presently producing 101 Seconds, a film focused on the gun debate as well as 50 feet from Syria, a film about doctors working on the Syrian border. More info at: www.spinfilm.org.

 

Advisory Committee

David Skinner: As the co-founder, owner and manager of ShadowCatcher Entertainment, David oversees the development, financing and production of film, theatre and book projects.

Dr. Willie Smyth: During his 30 years as Washington’s State Folklorist and other state positions, Willie was involved in documenting many heritage traditions of the Pacific NW.

Edith Butler: Now Certified Archivist, Emeritus, after a career as professional archivist for Humboldt State University, Edith has published a bibliography and timeline about cannabis in northern California and is involved in establishing an archives devoted to cannabis culture in Humboldt County.

Leonard Garfield: As Executive Director of Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), Leonard oversees an award winning history center with a collection of 4 million historic artifacts and archives, and a robust schedule of exhibits and educational programs related to the history of Seattle, the Pacific Northwest and the United States. MOHAI is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is an official affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. MOHAI is the only museum in the United States, which has officially included cannabis in its permanent collection—preserving the first marijuana legally sold in the state of Washington for recreational purposes.

Terry Baxter: Terry Baxter has been working as an archivist since 1985, the last 18 years at the Multnomah County Archives. He manages a collection that dates from 1850 and contains paper, microfilm, and digital records documenting all facets of Multnomah County’s government. He has served in a variety of professional positions, including the president of Northwest Archivists, board member of the Society of American Archivists, board member of the Northwest History Network, and steering committee member for the Archives Leadership Institute. He is very interested in the intersection of archives and communities and believes that all of us have important stories that need to be preserved and used to tell the complete American story.