Community Directed Film, Mary Documentary And Five Questions For 2020

1. Why cannabis? What is the Mary Documentary? When was the first time you smoked cannabis? What were you wearing? Who with?

Mary is a community directed film, and cannabis has a unique communal culture, when connected through common ideas, could bear fruit to a really interesting style of film, a film which empowers people to help direct and produce the feature. We have created a platform where we can communicate with folks from all over the world and together, we can make the most unique documentary ever.

(Justin Hatchett) Co-founder of MARY, Cannabis has been a part of my life since late teenage years (17). Senior year of high school after being diagnosed with tendinitis from years of training and athletic sports; I turned to cannabis recreationally before choosing to use cannabis full-time for pain management. I didn’t like pills or how they made me feel. Always on the move I was coping with the pain, but cannabis allows me to stay off harder medication and, in that regard, saved my life. My first toke was with a few sports buddies of mine out of a pop can bowl. Wearing a school hoodie for football probably. It was so long ago.

(Jeffrey Rutledge) Co-founder of MARY, great question Warren, but I beat you to this question already. On our Instagram, @cannafilm and our website, I explain how I lost 3 friends the first time I smoked weed. I was a senior in high school, and it was lunch time, and, well, you’ll just have to watch the clip. It’s also posted on MaryDocumentary.com. We are currently smoking with Troy Franklin, our Community Liaison who we invited to Benzinga held in Miami.

2. Please tell me about your path. Six- and twelve-month goals? Stigmas? Obstacles?

 We’re still in the beginning stages of the documentary, exploring all of cannabis and experiencing so much and everything is happening so fast. This was just an idea that formed over a joint, sitting on the couch and thinking about how to make a movie differently…fast forward a few months and validation for our idea came as the cannabis industry, naturally community focused, was more than welcoming to our efforts to share real stories, to break unfair stigmas, and to explore cannabis as a whole. This project isn’t just one biased opinion story, but all stories.

We are doing it different! People from all over the world can share their story with us via video, photos, or text on our community canvas page on MaryDocumentary.com. 

Organizing the popcorn of topics, because there are hundreds of them, we narrowed Cannabis down into three themes:

Culture, Economics and Science. 

We’ll be exploring these themes for a year and a half, on social media and our website MaryDocumentary.com

The end of our exploratory sessions, land us in the middle of 2021. Summer 2021, the stories, topics and ideas we gather are placed into a “Making MARY” tournament-style bracket, and people can vote on what makes the final documentary. Our job thereafter is to take what was selected and start production for the final cut. During this final production period, people can vote on the composition of a shot, the lighting, and even elements of editing, including what music makes the final feature. The film, MARY, will be out winter/spring of 2022.  

 Our focus right now is to find cannabis businesses, just like our sponsors at USALABS and Benzinga that would like to tell their story and go on this journey into cannabis with us over the next 24 months. Businesses can be a financial sponsor on the Support MARY page on our website, and it comes with the perk of our video production team covering your business over the next 2 years. And if you’re curious to learn more about our timeline, check out the White Paper on our website. And who knows, maybe we’ll win a Golden Globe?!

3. Indoor or outdoor grown? Living soil? Who was your mentor in visual expression?

(Justin Hatchett)

I enjoy bud/herb from all walks of life, indoor and outdoor, I am learning so much more about the cultivation side of the business everyday. Reaching out to consultants and OG growers is an exciting part of the job because they all have unique techniques and preference to maximize yield or fix any of the problems that can arise while growing your business. Hopefully by the end of the process I will have a green thumb to show off. My mentor into visual expression has always been myself, I believe if you see it and visualize what your goals and dreams are they can be attained. I enjoy art of all forms: Fashion, Music, Photography, all creative & visual expression is priceless.

(Jeff Rutledge)

I’m taking the political stance on this debate, and I plead the 5th. If you roll it, and its weed, I’ll take a puff. I will say that the coolest buds I have ever smoked came in a vacuum sealed bag, in 2009, the buds were red and orange, not the traditional green we are all used to seeing. I have no idea what it was…it wasnt the most potent herb, but by far, the coolest looking. Mentor into visual expression? My little brother Christopher Rutledge is a graduate of Arizona State University with a bachelor’s of Art and Film Production, graduated Magna Cum Laude – but I wouldn’t call him a mentor though, because I’m Yoda and he’s Luke Skywalker, but he was definitely the one who inspired me to get into video production.   

(Troy Franklin)

I’m a big fan of indoor hybrids, I really find it intriguing that there are so many different colors and strands. Mother Earth coco is what we’re using now, just trying to find the right formula as we explore cultivation practices. My visual inspiration comes from watching a lot of different documentaries and a lot of behind the scenes video. I love background stories and getting to understand their truth, that style of film really humanizes people.

4. Your favorite restaurants. What kinds of food? Challenging to eat healthfully on the road. How do you cope?

 (Jeff Rutledge) 

So, I’m probably making it sound worse than it is, but I love Taco Bell, and fire sauce is a must. The downside is I cope by crying myself to sleep every night wishing I hadn’t eaten 5 soft tacos and a cheesy 5-layer burrito with a large Baja blast. 

I’m really thinking about changing this habit…but I love 30% beef, 70% filler. It is what it is.  

(Justin Hatchett) I love Mexican food and my favorites include MI Pueblo in Detroit, Michigan. I have very bad eating habits honestly just because I eat maybe twice a day due to my schedule and the amount of work I have, but when I’m on the road I tend to eat more healthy because of the pressure from the crew, which is a good thing. Smoking before or after a meal is a must for me, just in case you were wondering.

(Troy Franklin) The Iron Cactus out of Dallas, Tx if I have to name a place where the food felt like home. You wouldn’t want to miss their Sunday brunch buffet. I keep my same eating habits as I do at home, as on the road. I’m a vegetarian. 

5. What is your passion?

(Jeff Rutledge) I have a passion for creating the connections that make major changes happen. To think outside the box and create solution-based ideas that make other people’s lives easier. My favorite quote to summarize my passion is by writer and producer David Frost, “Don’t aim for success, if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.”

(Justin Hatchett)

My passion is waking up every single day and seeing my life as I’ve built it, I am the orchestrator of my own success and I know everything that I put my time and effort into will be fruitful. This project means to me more than anything because I see the vision of all of my accomplishments coming together and having a positive impact on the world faster than anything I’ve worked on before. Let’s do this together and break all stigma holding the world back from what Cannabis is truly capable of.

(Troy Franklin) My passion is my children; I believe that they’re the best thing I’ve ever created and watching them grow is such a pleasure. Answering their questions, going to different school events; they taught me so much about myself, and helped me realize the person I wish to become.