Goals

Phase 1 (January, 2015 – December, 2016) Pre-Production and Fundraising:
I have completed over 50 pre-interviews with growers throughout northern California and western Oregon. I started by visiting people I knew had been growing cannabis in the early days and asking them if they would be willing to step out of the shadows to share their secret stories. When I got a positive response from these folks, I asked them to introduce me to others. Over the last two years, I have completed a dozen trips to pre-interview people throughout southwestern Oregon and northern California. There are now 25 people who have committed to telling their stories from Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity and Siskiyou Counties in California and in Lane, Douglas, Curry, Josephine and Jackson Counties in Oregon. The stories describe both indoor and outdoor grows and range from small time for personal use to large commercial operations. Many of these people have led the way in promoting sustainable and organic cultivation. A couple of the participants created businesses to supply growers with agricultural materials. I have also established relationships with professional archivist, folklorists, historians, authors and filmmakers, many of whom have become part of the HomeGrown Team.

I funded much of the Pre-Production myself. In the spring of 2016 I raised $15,000. This was used to pay some legal fees, covered the expenses for the production of the Sizzle Reel, allowed me to travel, and provided for the development of the HomeGrown Art Cards. I am marketing these colorful, original art greeting cards to raise money for the project and they can be found under Support the Project. Through the cards and donations from the cannabis industry and personal friends, I hope to raise $100,000 to accomplish Phase 2.

Phase 2 (January, 2017 – December, 2017: Fundraising, Production and Establishing Archives
During the beginning of this phase, fundraising will continue. Depending on the level of support received, interviews will be scheduled, conducted and then they will be organized into an indexed archives. The participants will be organized into geographical areas: Mid-Oregon, Southern Oregon, South Umpqua Valley Oregon, Trinity County CA, Humboldt County CA, and Mendocino County CA. I will reconnect with all signed participants, and revisit others who have expressed interest in participating, to get releases signed. Interviews will be conducted over the spring, summer and fall.

In addition to the extensive interviews, personal photographs and documents will be digitized. Personal activities such as growing, other businesses or hobbies will be recorded. These interviews and visuals will create a library of information about how cannabis cultivation took hold in the Pacific NW. All the information will be transcribed or logged, indexed and preserved in a cannabis-related museum or archives. The plan would be to establish a network of institutions throughout the areas of interest and possibly across the country to share digital information and traveling exhibits.

Phase 3- 2018 and Beyond: Use of the Library of Information
HomeGrown Stories could create any number of mini-documentaries about each person, combinations of people or areas. These edited programs could be made available for any media venue including museums, websites or television. Feature length documentaries or screenplays could be produced using the library of collected materials. Any revenue from these productions could be used to gather more interviews and materials and expand the areas of interest into Washington, which has a rich history of indoor and outdoor cannabis growing.

 

The Plan

I will produce and direct the project and work closely with cameraman Skye Fitzgerald. I have already spent months getting to know people through a pre-interview process. This has included scouting locations, signing participants and following up leads to fascinating tales of how cannabis culture and cultivation took root in rural communities spread out across the Pacific Northwest.

The extensive interviews will be scheduled to start in the spring of 2017. I have spent a lot of time with each participant to not only learn their story, but to establish a good rapport so that the interviews will be conversational. The interviews will be conducted using the best practices suggested by the Oral History Association. The interview questions for everyone will focus on how each person first got introduced to cannabis; what his/her growing and breeding experiences were, and how these illegal activities affected families and communities. There will also be questions for each individual based on information from his/her pre-interview.

Follow up interviews might happen during growing or harvesting season, or at an appropriate time for those who are not growing. Indoor people will be interviewed in a similar manner and timed with their crop rotation. Interviews would be shot on HD video while visuals would be recorded in 4K. Documents and photos will be digitized.

All files would be transferred daily to 2 sets of portable drives with one set placed in a safety deposit box. All footage would be transferred to a large raid desktop drive and connected to a fast computer for logging and future editing. All interviews would be transcribed and indexed by key words. Digital copies of transcriptions and indexes will be backed up and printed. Arrangements for long-range storage and research will be made with MOHAI and/or other institutions. Sizzle reels will be produced to promote Phase 2 and Phase 3 plans.

Each interview will cost about $4,000 to record, transcribe, index and store. I am trying to raise an initial $100,000, which will allow my the camera crew to travel throughout northern California and western Oregon to record 25 extensive interviews on HD video. If additional funds are raised then I will be able to complete more interviews and expand the geographical areas of interest. I envision this project continuing for several years and the materials becoming a significant library on the history of Pacific NW cannabis cultivation and culture.