HempenRoad press release —
For Immediate Media Release, February 1997
North American West Coast 1996-97
Beginning November 1996, writer / hempster Dave Olson and multi-media film-maker Eiji Masuda hit the road to create an exciting and unique hemp adventure. The project became a feature length documentary film about the contemporary, commercial, industrial hemp scene. A portrait of the people and products of a re-emerging tradition.
The Hempen Road promises to be a fast paced, artistically created and contemplative story of the commercial hemp industry and the people in it.
With everyone from CNN to Giorgio Armani talking about hemp, this film will capture and chronicle a reemerging industry and put a human face behind the excitement and controversy of fiber hemp on the verge of the next century.
Eiji and Dave continue to shoot many segments along the left coast from Victoria, B.C. to San Diego, CA. including Seattle, Eugene, Portland, Bellingham and Vancouver and are finding exciting products and interesting people along the way.
While traveling and filming the west coast scenery, the crew will stop along the way to visit and film hempy people. The film will feature an entertaining variety of the “best and brightest” in this emerging industry. Included are makers, educators, sellers, designers, activists, writers, sewers, botanists, publishers, marketers and anyone else involved with the industrial applications of the cannabis plant.
Further, the film will demonstrate or explain the processes of making many inventive hemp products from flour to lip balm to bike chain lube to backpacks to paper to clothes to fancy clothes to soap to media to boutiques to fiberboard.
The finished film will be a combination of 16mm, Hi8 video, Super8, still 35mm photos, WWW documents and feature an original music soundtrack ( perhaps CD) and a booklet of information about hemp and the companies & organizations filmed.
A preview of the film is scheduled to be shown at the Vancouver Symposium in Feb. 1997 and be shown at similar events internationally.
The finished product will be available early Spring for distribution to the media and industry for review. Then, shortly thereafter, to the general public through film festivals, art theater release and on video.
This project is produced and marketed through the Giggling Piglet Durable Goods Co-Op, an international marketing and idea factory in co-operation. Please contact with any inquiries.
Produced in patnership with Eijindo Films and Hemp.Net.
