Our interview with Blake Laitner of “We Need Rent Money,” an independent stoner movie showing soon at New Día
We love weed. And movies, and humor. And New Día in Boston, where the team hosts everything from podcasts to skateboarding competitions. All those things considered, we’re excited for the March 15 showing of “We Need Rent Money,” an indie flick by Oregon filmmaker Blake Laitner. Ahead of the Boston premiere, we asked the director Blake Laitner what it’s like to screen a movie at dispensaries …
TJM: Are you doing stoner comedy? Or is it just a comedy for stoners? Or a little bit of all of the above?
BL: No, and yes, it’s a stoner comedy, but you don’t need to be high to watch my movie. [It’s] a feature-length award-winning comedy with nonstop laughs available on Tubi and Prime Video. Yes, the film is a weed flix about three idiots who love to smoke pot and party and have seven days to come up with the rent.
Before you were focused on dispensaries and cannabis venues, what was your main audience? Were you doing churches or something?
Before my “We Need Rent Money 420 Tour,” which had two other successful stops in LA and Portland, Oregon, both great cities and good times, we had an amazing film festival run by 11 award-winners and recognition from festivals around the world. The movie eventually got film distribution and was available on many platforms. I don’t think any church would screen “We Need Rent Money” due to drug use and language.
How did “We Need Rent Money” come to be? How long have you been doing it and what’s changed in the evolution of the show so far?
After producing many shorts and music videos and some Hollywood screenplays I could never afford to make, I always believed in reaching higher, or we were just sitting still. Like all great stories, it came from a true story—and desperation—my co-creator Sampson Ray Simon and I came up with after we decided Hollywood wasn’t coming knocking at our door with “Space Pimps.” We needed to write something we can film being in a college town and having a classic film called “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” it was right to make a modern-day “Animal House” with a Cheech and Chong meets “Dumb and Dumber” with a Mel Brooks-style comedy. I have been making films for a very long time and started production with “We Need Rent Money” in 2018. We got distribution in 2022 and have been doing the “420 Tour” for the last few years.
Even though dispensaries have been around for more than a decade now and with the history of cannabis and entertainment, there doesn’t seem to be that much in the way of direct entertainment in these stores the way you are doing it. What’s it like for you guys to book stuff, though? Does it come across as an obvious fit? Or are people still like, What do you mean you want to do this at a dispensary?
It’s not easy by any means to book a cannabis business for the “420 Tour.” It’s a lot of cold calling and email and LinkedIn. When I got my first stop in Portland, Oregon, it wasn’t the first call or email I made; I lost count. But I knew if I never gave up, I eventually would find one, and I did after making the right phone call and talking to the right person. The owner was all about the event, made customized tickets, and even donated a gift card. The LA stop was, once again, don’t stop till you meet the end goal. This time, it was LinkedIn and connecting with the right person. I was going to go anywhere to show my film. I have always dreamed about showing a film, and now I can say the universe seems to work out that way. I always wonder why none has done anything like a cannabis dispensary collaborating with indie filmmakers. It’s a shit load of work, but worth it.
What’s the difference between showing in a regular festival or screening and at a dispensary? What have you learned to do differently?
I try to be professional and read my audience. With my dispensary tour, I try to keep more relaxed and chill. My last stop in LA was in a smoking lounge and had cannabis sponsors, so everyone was high the whole time, not much of a Q&A after the film [laughs]. All my film events are about making my audience laugh and get inspired.
You’ve seen a lot of different realms of the weed world out there on the road, and in different states. What are your thoughts on social consumption at venues and how well that works with comedy?
Cannabis and comedy go hand and hand. There are now cannabis movie theaters where you can consume and watch classic, even standup comedy events where the comedians get high and then tell jokes. I think it is a match made in heaven. Weed makes you laugh, more scientifically proven.
Will this be your first show on the East Coast? What are you expecting to be different out here? You’re going to be across the street from Fenway Park, by the way …
No, I had a screening of my film during my festival run all over, never in Boston, though. It will be my birthday weekend and St. Patrick’s Day weekend, so it will probably get wild. Maybe a Fuck the Yankees chant—just one, though. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Anyone can watch my movie on Tubi or Prime Video, but seeing and being a part of the “We Need Rent Money 420 Tour” is just good fun.
“We Need Rent Money 420 Tour,” March 15 @ New Día, Boston
