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Katja Blichfeld: Vimeo is giving us funding for at least the next six episodes, and the only condition, really, is that we need to produce them and release them by the end of the year. So our plan is to shoot in the summer, and release episodes in the fall. In the meantime, it's like we're sort of artists in residence here. Right now we're just hanging out in their office, writing. And availing ourselves of the snacks that are everywhere.
Ben Sinclair: Yeah, there's a shitload of snacks. It's actually a big problem. I'm supposed to be bicycling around the city in this fictional world, and in reality I've got some handles on my body. You can really grab me from the side.Is that a faster pace than you're used to? Writing, not cycling.
Yeah, it is. But to stretch the amount of money we have to work with as far as possible, we've got to shoot these six episodes pretty much back to back. It's been interesting to balance so many characters at once. I think some of the stories will definitely have a bit more overlap because of that. It might be a little more Altmanesque.
Blichfeld: This is also the first time we're actually charging people to watch the episodes, and I think we're both eager to see how it's received in that way. After Vimeo recoups their costs, we get 90 cents out of every dollar that we sell. Which for an artist is kind of unheard of in the distribution world. Really, we just want to keep doing what we've been doing. And if we are able to make any money at all off of this, then we can keep going. But if not, I don't know how many more episodes we'll be making. We've got to pay the bills.
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It's funny that you ask that, because on the way here we were trying to brainstorm some ideas for stories, and that was part of our discussion: how to regard weed and its usage in this new cycle of episodes. I think it's more on our minds now than it used to be. In the past we'd start with the characters and try to work in a way that they would use weed, or the reason they'd have it in their lives.
Sinclair: Yeah, typically we put in the interaction with the Guy last when we create our stories. The whole thing we feel about pot is that it just is. But people's reactions to pot are varied.
Blichfeld: We personally are both regular marijuana users, and I think the way we portray it is pretty much reflective of our feelings about it. And that includes times where we feel like maybe we're smoking too much, and not just for financial reasons. Perhaps we're smoking to avoid dealing with personal issues, or some adult responsibilities that we're not looking forward to having to face. But ultimately we use it as medicine, to relieve stress, and to enhance our creativity.
Sinclair: When I'm editing, I smoke—a lot. Because I'm stuck there at my computer for days on end, and weed helps me get into a flow zone where that time just disappears. And I can just let it go. For some people, I know pot can be distracting, but for me it actually increases my focus. Getting started can be tough when you're stoned, but once you're there, it's really fun to move clips around and explore the possibilities. I stop judging myself so much and start to just play.
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If we had the idea five years ago for a pot show that's not about pot, yeah, it could have existed, and maybe some people would have liked it. But I do think that because of the times we're living in now, more people like it. So we really represent the intersection of where web series are going and where weed is going. We just kind of hit that point where the two lines meet.Blichfeld: Also, five years ago a lot fewer people would have been comfortable publicly saying, “Hey, I love this show about a weed-delivery guy.” I don't even know if our parents would have been as openly proud of what we're doing. But now Ben's dad has actually been on the show. In the "Qasim" episode he plays the guy in Arizona who's channeling the alien.
Sinclair: And our niece was in the “Matilda” episode. She goes to this school in Arizona for gifted children, and they've all seen it. The school is really proud of it. So that definitely shows the big effect legalization in some states is having on our audience and the culture at large.What are the advantages and disadvantages of working with friends and family?
The first 13 episodes were built on friendship and favors, essentially. The advantages of that are many. All of our shoots feel like a party, and we definitely have been very conscious of wanting to keep that going. That being said, the disadvantages are that we happened to get a multitude of press this past year, and the show became a bigger deal than anyone ever anticipated. Which adds an element of there being more at stake, and people get a little nervous because of that. So when you're working with friends, with that added pressure, it can sometimes get confusing emotionally between the needs of the friendship and those of the show.
Blichfeld: Still, the biggest advantage is that we know these actors as people, so we're able to write for them. Writing is always better when you know the voice of the person saying the words. Often we're literally in our friends' apartments, shooting with them, and I think that really contributes to the feel of the show in an important way. We didn't start with a big group of people doing this. The first few episodes we shot there were maybe six people in the room, but as things grew, the people we worked with would bring other talented people into the mix, and now all those people have become our friends.Ben, do you ever get recognized in New York? Do people hit you up for weed?
Sinclair: No, they don't. But sometimes I'll be biking and somebody will ride up next to me, with a bag on, and say, “Hey, I love the show.” And I'll ask, “Are you doing it right now?” And they'll say, “Oh yeah!” That's happened to me at least half a dozen times.
Blichfeld: Or recently we were having weed delivered at a friend's place, and the delivery woman walked in and saw Ben and her head just short-circuited. She couldn't believe it.Follow David Bienenstock on Twitter.