High There | |
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![]() High There DVD cover | |
Directed by | Wayne Darwen |
Screenplay by | Wayne Darwen |
Starring | Wayne Darwen Henry Goren |
Cinematography | Henry Goren |
Release date |
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Language | English |
High There is a 2014 dark, nonfiction comedy film about a real-life, legendary but down-and-out tabloid television journalist who heads to Hawaii to film a marijuana travel series, only to become lost in a fog of drugs, sex and paranoia as he uncovers a secret government war to control the marijuana trade. The film touches on the controversial federal prosecution of marijuana advocate Roger Christie and his THC Ministry. [1] [2]
The film was released on DVD and Video on Demand by BrinkVision distribution on 23 June 2015.
The film was the Opening Selection of the first annual Cannabis Film Festival [3] in Garberville, Humboldt County, California (known as the capital of marijuana farming) [4] in May 2015, and won the festival's Viewers' Choice Award. [5]
The film is directed by veteran tabloid journalist and television producer Wayne Darwen [6] [7] and videographer Henry Goren. The pair star in the film in the roles of Dave High and Roland Jointz, respectively. Darwen wrote the script. Darwen and Goren are credited as producers, along with award-winning television producer and documentary film director and producer Burt Kearns.
High There is a Sam Peters International Productions Unlimited and Good Story Productions presentation of a Rat Lung picture.
On 8 August 2014, High There was named an official selection of the 2014 Action on Film International Film Festival. The festival in Monrovia, California hosted the premiere of the film on 25 August 2014. [8]
In advance of its release, High There received excellent reviews from publications across the globe, including The Australian , [9] [10] LA Weekly , [11] the Anchorage Press (Alaska), [12] and The Huffington Post. [13]
Additional favorable reviews [14] [15] [16] followed the film's release.
Michael Huffington, is an American politician, LGBT activist, and film producer. He was a member of the Republican Party, and a congressman for one term, 1993–1995, from California. Huffington was married to Arianna Huffington, the Greek-born co-founder of HuffPost, from 1986 to 1997.
The Emerald Triangle is a region in Northern California, named as such due to it being the largest cannabis-producing region in the United States. The region includes three counties in an upside-down triangular configuration:
Stoner film is a subgenre of comedy film based on marijuana themes, where recreational use often drives the plot, sometimes representing cannabis culture more broadly or intended for that audience.
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Adrian Sean Grenier is an American actor, producer, director and musician. He is best known for his portrayal of Vincent Chase in the television series Entourage (2004–2011). He has appeared in films such as Drive Me Crazy (1999), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Trash Fire (2016) and Marauders (2016). In 2021, he acted in the Netflix series Clickbait.
David Andrew Roy White is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, film producer and businessman. He is a co-founder of Pinnacle Peak Pictures, a distribution and production company specializing in Christian faith- and family-themed films. He is best known for his role as Reverend Dave in the God's Not Dead film series.
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Burt Kearns is an American author, television and film producer, writer and director, and journalist, known for his work in reality television and his controversial 1999 tabloid television memoir, Tabloid Baby.
Doug Bruckner is an American television news correspondent, reporter, host, voice-over artist and producer, who is among the best-known correspondents in the history of tabloid television, well known for his exclusive interviews with notorious criminals.
Super High Me is a 2007 documentary film about the effects of smoking cannabis for 30 days. Directed by Michael Blieden, the documentary stars comedian Doug Benson. The documentary's name and its poster are plays on the 2004 documentary Super Size Me.
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The Seventh Python is a 2008 musical documentary film about the career, music and philosophy of pop satirist and songwriter Neil Innes, who has been known as the "seventh" member of the six-man Monty Python comedy troupe. The film, however, shows how Innes' influence and experience goes far beyond that chapter, to include his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, The Rutles and other work. The Frozen Pictures film had its premiere at the American Cinematheque's Mods & Rockers Film Festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood in June 2008. The film was directed by Burt Kearns, and written and produced by Kearns and Brett Hudson.
The Carter is a 2009 documentary film about the American hip hop recording artist Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., better known as Lil Wayne. The film was directed by Adam Bhala Lough and produced by Joshua Krause and Quincy Jones III, and documents Lil Wayne in the period before and shortly after the release of his studio album, Tha Carter III, which achieved platinum status and critical acclaim, and sold one million copies in one week. After being shown at the Sundance Film Festival, it was subjected to a lawsuit by Carter to block distribution but eventually was released direct to DVD and iTunes, where it topped all movie charts. The film has since been banned from legal sale again but is widely bootlegged on the Internet and despite having no formal release is universally considered among the greatest music documentaries of all time.
Wayne Darwen is an Australian journalist, television producer and filmmaker best known for his work in the tabloid television genre and as director and star of the film, High There (2015).
Henry Goren is an American photojournalist, videographer, cinematographer, and documentary film director, known in the industry for his hidden camera and investigative expertise, as well as his activism on behalf of unions, the environment, animal rights and other causes.
An Open Secret is a 2014 American documentary film directed by Amy J. Berg exposing child sexual abuse in the film industry in California.
The Alliance of Women Directors (AWD) is an American 501c(3) nonprofit organization created to support education and advocacy for women directors in film, television, and new media. The AWD, established in 1997, has over 250 members and is based in Los Angeles.
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