Three-part streaming film could be a game-changer for the industry
By Gordon Stribling
One thing I’ve learned from my first month at Vapouround is that there is a lot more to this subculture than just the act of vaping. The expos, the cloud chasing, the ‘Smoking is Dead, Vaping is the Future’ the RiP Trippers song…
But after looking beyond the first couple of pages of a Google search I stumbled upon quite possibly the most intriguing vape spin-off yet – a three-part, sci-fi action flick called Vape Warz. This I had to see.
Set in a post-apocalyptic desert landscape, Vape Warz sees the cloud-chasing Vape Queen capture an expert juice-maker and recruit her to concoct a secret vape elixir. But with vaping outlawed and an adversary following their every move, making it to the Cloud Competition alive is far from easy.
The film is written and directed by Christy Oldham. Alongside her film work, Christy runs the Demi Goddess Vape which produces vape products targeted towards women.
Intrigued by the idea of promoting vaping and vape products in film, not to mention using vaping as a plot device, I sent Christy a few questions in order to find out more. Her answers are below.
What inspired you to start DemiGoddess Vape?
“Well, a few years ago, I was on set in a spooky old house shooting a short film when our smoke machine suddenly stopped working. The scene needed an eerie, iridescent look. The location owner, who was the only person vaping on set, started blowing big clouds for us before each take. It worked great!
I later talked with him about vaping and he told me that he had tried everything to kick his cigarette habit and that vaping was the only thing that had worked. After vaping, he never smoked tobacco again. I was intrigued by his story. I never smoked tobacco but I have used cannabis medicinally for years to alleviate stress and menstrual pain. Recognising the rapid growth of Cannapreneurship, I thought it would be cool to start a vape company and create products that are geared towards women.”
Why did you decide to make a film ‘about’ vaping?
“Once the company DemiGoddess Vape was launched, the creative flow just kicked in. I wrote the script for Vape Warz in about two weeks while my Director of Photography Brian Hanish was filming another movie in Thailand. I knew he would be the perfect guy to shoot the web series because in 2014 we filmed a gritty feature in the desert called Barracuda and I wanted that ‘look’ again. We met for lunch before he left and I told him my ideas. I didn’t have a script or anything in place at that point. However, just before he returned, the script was finished, the actors were cast and our first script read was complete. It all happened very quickly.”
How did you attract such a great cast to the script?
“I’ve been a filmmaker for almost two decades and have met a lot of talented actors over the years. My producing partner, Clinton H. Wallace, has been instrumental in helping connect the dots too. He and I attended a film screening a couple of years ago where Natasha Blasick (All Star Weekend with Jamie Foxx) played a Russian spy. I always wanted to work with her after seeing her performance and wrote the sinister role of the “Vape Cloud Queen” with her in mind.
I cast a non-actor (Lulu Danger) in the role of a DIY manufacturer after spotting her in a crowded room at a party in Hollywood. The antagonist is played by a talented actor/filmmaker named David Lockhart and the vape cloud competition scene has great performances by my pop-culture iconic friends Ron Jeremy and Jeff Dowd (the inspiration for ‘The Dude’ in The Big Lebowski). My supermodel/musician friend Dustin Quick and her guitarist husband Medi eM, perform an original song in that scene too. It was a blast to work with all of these talented artists.”
What can we expect to see from DemiGoddess Pictures and Vape in the future?
“Now that season one of Vape Warz was picked up by Amazon and is streaming in four countries we have Season Two in the works. The vape community embraced us and we are forming strategic partnerships with various people and other vape companies who aim to showcase their products in our web series. Amazon has an audience of about 85 million subscribers. It’s all about exposure so it is a great time to be a vape entrepreneur and filmmaker.”
Vape Warz is available to stream on Amazon in the UK, USA, Germany and Japan.
