Q&A: Mark Vanda on The Magic Herb

Mark Vanda's father was a hard-working man who loved a good beer. While dying of pancreatic cancer, he told his son he wished he'd found something else to take the edge off, considering alcohol may have played a role in the cancer. That conversation, in an Arizona summer hitting 115 degrees, is part of why The Magic Herb exists.

The documentary started as a personal project. It became something else.

We talked to Mark about building the project from scratch, how he chose his subjects, and why he gave the film a Venice Beach soul.

Where it started

What made you want to make this documentary?

In 2020 as we all know came a pandemic. I went to school for screenwriting in 2015, so I enjoy writing very much and am pretty good at it. I cranked out 5 scripts and one of them got optioned to an Australian production company. Then some bad news came. My Dad was diagnosed with stage 3-4 pancreatic cancer. He was staying in Arizona at the time and he needed someone to take care of him. I told him I could be that person since I'm his son and was on unemployment at the time.

So I went down to AZ and started taking care of my Dad while doing Zoom meetings for rewrites on the script I had optioned. I went to every chemo session with my Dad and was working close to 30-40 hours a week on the script. It was summer and I remember experiencing how hot Arizona really can get. It was hitting 115 degrees basically every day. I was alone, cooped up, trying to take care of my dying father and didn't want him seeing me lose my shit.

It was hard to say the least, but I'm not sure I would have been able to do it without cannabis. Cannabis was there for me when no one else was.

My Dad was an alcoholic, loved beer, and along the way he said he wished he found a different substance other than alcohol to take the edge off, considering that alcohol could have highly been the cause of his cancer. 8 months later my Dad's cancer spread too much and he passed. Then the Australian production company dropped my script because of funding issues.

I was devastated. Crushed. Thank God for cannabis. Somehow it got me through those tough times.

I started working at a dispensary and learning all about cannabis and different cannabinoids, and along the way I was meeting super cool people that had professional careers. They told me their stories. So the idea hit me. An educational cannabis documentary. But this time I'm building this project from the ground up. I didn't want to pitch the idea to some production company and have to deal with what I did before. I opened up a credit line, bought two cameras, the mics, the lights, and I had my connections to the people from my job.

I once heard that to live in the past is depression and to live in the future is anxiety. So I wanted to live in the now and make this documentary exciting and entertaining. I wanted the film to be uplifting, visually stunning, and very artistic. I also wanted it to be appropriate. After all, I want people to like cannabis and look at it in a bright glowing light. It's God's plant.

What the film challenges

What's the biggest misconception you wanted to address?

The biggest misconception I wanted to challenge is that cannabis can actually be a medicine. Some people with Ulcer Colitis or Epilepsy say that cannabis works the best for them, even better than prescription drugs. I also wanted to point out that you can be physically active while consuming cannabis. It's not just for vegging out on the couch and stuffing your face because you have the munchies. There's even cannabinoids that work as an appetite suppressant like THCV. There's cannabinoids you can consume that don't even get you high but have medical benefits.

Choosing who to interview

How did you decide who to put in the film?

I only chose people that I thought really benefited from cannabis and were doing something with their lives or had gone through something major. I also wanted outgoing people that were extremely diverse. Zero discrimination. "All Walks of Life." Fun people with a good attitude was a plus.

The veteran segment was important because these are some very damaged people that struggled from PTSD, and cannabis was their safe place.

Making it work logistically

You produced this solo. What was the hardest part?

The biggest challenge was production. I had to design a checklist for each person so I was fully prepared. It's hard to get people to say yes to an interview in the first place, so I didn't want to waste anyone's time. I'd show up with one camera bag strapped to my chest, and the other strapped to my back. My lights in one hand and a stool or backdrop in the other. I made sure I had everything setup before they even arrived.

I realized I had to ask the right questions to make their hearts really pour out. B-roll was extremely important too. I realized if I didn't grab any exciting B-roll, it would make the person less interesting. I learned so much as time went on. Now I know exactly what to do for Part 2, which is in the works.

What the interviews revealed

Was there anything that surprised you about your subjects?

What surprised me the most was how much they really opened up and how much cannabis literally helped them. It isn't a "want" for these people. They "need" cannabis in their lives.

Also, everyone wanted to stick around longer after the interview. They really enjoyed the questions and the time they spent on set.

The Los Angeles identity

The film has a distinct LA feel. Why was that important?

It was very important for me to give this documentary a Los Angeles/Venice Beach vibe. I moved to LA in 2007. Back then, California was one of the only states that legalized marijuana as long as you had a medical recommendation. It was one of the reasons I moved out here. Venice Beach is literally where I got my first medical rec. It's where it all started for me.

LA is so very culturally diverse that it's one giant melting pot from all over the world. I could film the mountains and then go down to the beach for more B-roll all within a 2-4 hour window. I feel blessed and spoiled to live here.

What you want viewers to take away

What do you want people to get from watching this?

Honestly, I just want people to know that cannabis is a medicine. I also want them to know my story. What I went through to create "the monster" that became obsessed with making this film and taking on every aspect to get this educational documentary done with no excuses. It was my love for cannabis and my anger from being let go from the writing project that I thought was going to secure my future.

Documentary

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Streaming now on Relay.