Canada’s largest producer of medical cannabis announced yesterday that the latest addition to their team is not a master grower, business consultant, or sales associate. Rather, the latest team member to join Tweed Inc. is actually Montreal-based documentary filmmaker and photographer Ezra Soiferman, who will be the first participant in the company’s new Artist in Residence program, according to a press release issued yesterday.
According to the release, it is believed that Soiferman is the first artist ever to hold such a position in the cannabis industry.
“As an emerging brand in an emerging industry, we want to be able to tell our story in creative ways to make memorable and unique first impressions,” Tweed’s Chief Creative Officer Martin Strazovec said in the report. “Ezra is a gifted storyteller who will help us expand our reach through his art.”
Soiferman, who co-founded and is the director of the Montreal Film Group, told Ganjapreneur that he first began investigating cannabis as a cultural icon more than 20 years ago. Since then, he’s followed the hemp and cannabis industries “religiously,” and has dedicated several projects to the cause throughout his career — including a project called Hemp for the Homeless and, more recently, a documentary called Grass Fed that follows comedian Mike Paterson through a journey of medical cannabis discovery.
“What interests me most about the cannabis plant is its sheer diversity,” said Soiferman. “Frankly, there’s nothing I’ve encountered on the planet that can do as many things, and I swear I’ve searched high and low. … As a documentarian, this fascinates me, and as an artist, it inspires me.”
According to the press release, Soiferman’s projects throughout his year-long residency at Tweed will cover themes pertaining to cannabis and hemp, as well as projects that “speak to the Canadian cities and towns where [Tweed] operates.” Soiferman’s first project under the new partnership is a photo-based music video called “The Walls of Montreal,” which highlights the beautiful murals and street art of Quebec’s largest city.
When asked about how he landed the gig, Soiferman said that he approached Tweed with the idea first. He thought the company, with its “open-minded, sunny and ‘we love firsts’ attitude,” would be a perfect fit for the partnership that ultimately seeks to “bring cannabis to art and art to cannabis.”