Join the #Puffragette Movement. Bringing gender parity, social justice and environmental sustainability to the cannabis industry.

Interview with Director/Producer Windy Borman

Congratulations! Why are you making your film?

To highlight the female “ganjaprenuers” who are bringing gender parity, social justice and environmental sustainability to legal cannabis industry.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED is about women and weed: two of your favorite things.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

MARY JANES follows its main characters over the course of 2016. They each have a narrative arc that shows them overcoming obstacles, personal and/or political, and we see them stumble and succeed on their journeys to become “ganjapreneurs”.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?

We began filming “Mary Janes: The Women of Weed” in February 2016 and Production is already 65% complete. We’ve filmed in Colorado, DC, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and California. Oregon, Washington and Alaska are next on our list to round out all the states where adult (aka “recreational”) use of marijuana is legal.

To date we’ve interviewed 36 female “ganjapreneurs”, who we call “Puffragettes™” [pronounced puff-ruh-jets], which is a combination of Pot and Suffragette. We’re gearing up for Election Night 2016 when we’ll film in California and Massachusetts to document the results of the marijuana legalization initiatives and the presidential race, as all of these could be game changers.

With such a quick filming window, the story hasn’t changed, but we’ve had to be flexible based on funding and character availability.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Within the cannabis industry, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from men and women. In fact, people are constantly asking how they can be featured in the film, too.

Press Quotes:

“Borman's newest foray into steadfast action in difficult circumstances focuses on several female pioneers in the burgeoning legal-marijuana movement and economy.” – The Kind

"Far from simply creating a film about weed, Borman aims to delve into the intermarriage between cannabis and environmentalism, gender parity, and social justice.” - Civilized

Willie Nelson’s cannabis company (Willie’s Reserve) released the following statement about the film: “We are so proud to support the motion picture MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED. It will take a community working together to create an industry where women are duly respected as leaders in marijuana. This film will be a cornerstone in the story and together we will pay tribute to a tradition of sharing, caring, and toking.”

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

Not surprisingly, there have been comments from “trolls” about why the film only features women, or they feel entitled to comment on their appearance or inclusion in the film. If the film had 99% male characters, we wouldn’t get those comments because we would look the majority of Hollywood films. However, the minute you have a cast of 99% women and they amplify the importance of gender parity, social justice and environmental sustainability, they are “bitches”.

This only proves how much we need more films from female perspectives.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

We launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise our remaining Production budget to complete filming this fall: bit.ly/MaryJanesFilm

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

We’d love to talk to film investors/donors to complete our fundraising, as well as festival directors, distributors and journalists to start developing the film’s 2017 release.

Mary Janes Director/Producer Windy Borman

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

We hope to change the national cannabis conversation under the new President so we can focus on legalization, regulation, and corporate responsibility.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

The cannabis movement was built on the back of social justice and compassionate healthcare that came out of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980-90s. The budding cannabis industry can’t lose sight of this as it transitions from activism to industry.

We need to reform the criminal (in)justice system. We need to rebuild trust in communities that are targeted for the majority of drug arrests. We need to support women, people of color, and LGBTQ business owners and involve them in the conversations about how the cannabis industry—and its tax revenue—can help heal these wounds and create a thriving community.

Would you like to add anything else?

A total of 25 states have legalized medical marijuana and up to 10 more are likely to legalize it in 2016. Concurrently, legitimate, peer-reviewed scientific studies continue to announce the health benefits of cannabis for treating everything from epilepsy and cancer, to PTSD and anxiety.

Clearly we’re at a marijuana tipping point, and “The Women of Weed” could make marijuana legal nationwide, help reform the criminal justice system, and build gender equality into a billion-dollar industry. We call this the Puffragette™ Movement.

According to a recent Marijuana Business Daily study, women hold 36% of leadership positions across the marijuana industry. That’s the highest amount of gender parity in any industry in the United States. In fact, Newsweek predicts that marijuana could be the first billion-dollar industry not dominated by men.

We follow these Puffragettes™ through the highs and lows of the legal cannabis industry in the documentary, MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED.

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

Finishing MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED so we can distribute it in 2017.

Interview: September 2016

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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

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MARY JANES: THE WOMEN OF WEED

Join the #Puffragette Movement

Bringing gender parity, social justice and environmental sustainability to the cannabis industry.

Length: Feature

Director: Windy Borman

Producer: Windy Borman

About the writer, director and producer:

Windy Borman is a multi-award-winning film Director and Producer. Her recent successes include THE EYES OF THAILAND (2012) and THE BIG PICTURE: RETHINKING DYSLEXIA (2012).

Key cast: Betty Aldworth, Dr. Lakisha Jenkins, Jaime Lewis, Genifer Murray, Sara Batterby, Jane West, Jazmin Hupp, and women from the National Cannabis Industry Association, Drug Policy Alliance, Marijuana Policy Project, NORML and Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Investors, Distributors, Festival Directors, Journalists

Release date: Spring 2017