WEED THE PEOPLE

Cannabis has been off-limits to doctors and researchers in the US for the past 80 years, but recently scientists have discovered its anti-cancer properties. Armed with only these laboratory studies, desperate parents obtain cannabis oil from underground sources to save their children from childhood cancers. “Weed the People” follows these families through uncharted waters as they take their children’s survival into their own hands. Some of their miraculous outcomes beget the unsettling question at the heart of the film: If weed is truly saving lives, why doesn’t the government want people to access it?

THE FILMMAKERS

From acting and producing, to dancing her way into the hearts of television audiences, Emmy Award-winning television host Ricki Lake is a pop culture icon who has built a career on her graciously candid sensibility and her authentic, relatable nature. The world first met Lake in 1988 as Tracy Turnblad in John Waters’ film “Hairspray.” Lake’s legacy and perhaps her greatest love is her role as independent filmmaker. She has channeled her nurturing spirit and drive for social change into passion projects that are altering the way society views birth, breastfeeding, childhood obesity, birth control and now medical cannabis.

Abby made her film directing debut at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival with the documentary, Until the Violence Stops, featuring Jane Fonda, Eve Ensler, Salma Hayek and Rosie Perez. The film played at the Miami, Santa Barbara, Maui and Locarno Film Festivals and won the Audience Award at the Amnesty International Film Festival in Vancouver. Until the Violence Stops premiered on Lifetime Television and received an Emmy and a Gracie Allen Award. Prior to her film work Abby directed theater, helming National Tours and international premieres of RENT and “The Vagina Monologues.”

Ricki and Abby’s award winning, critically acclaimed documentary “The Business of Being Born” debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007. With over 5 million+ views, an online community of over 100,000, and more than 10 million press imprints, it is often hailed as the “must see” film among mothers-to-be. Together they co-wrote the book, “Your Best Birth” and released “More Business of Being Born” a four-part DVD series featuring celebrities sharing their birth stories, as well as an in-depth discussion on the birth process. Under their joint venture BOBB Films they served as Executive Producers for "Breastmilk" and "The Mama Sherpas," and are working on "Sweetening the Pill."