When father-son duo Richard Batenburg Jr. and Rick Batenburg III had been approached about turning their hashish enterprise right into a actuality TV collection, that they had a right away query: Why?
“Frankly, we had been shocked, as a result of we don’t suppose we’re that attention-grabbing,” Batenburg III stated by way of Zoom from his Denver workplace on Thursday. “However we’re very excitable and have a excessive danger tolerance. They noticed potential within the family-business idea, in order that’s how we ended up because the hub of the present.”
The Batenburgs personal and function The Clear, which makes and sells hashish edibles, oils and pre-rolled joints. As well as, the Denver-based group’s $125 million portfolio of belongings consists of varied marijuana extraction, rising and retail corporations and merchandise, unfold throughout 9 states.
Personal investments from about 120 mates and trade gamers have pushed them to the forefront of the multibillion-dollar authorized weed trade, they stated.
Producers have been filming for the collection, dubbed “Excessive Science,” this week in Colorado, grabbing cinematic footage of the Batenburgs at work and within the open. (JHB was proven a preview of a dramatic opening shot of them strolling towards the digicam, the youthful Batenburg exhaling a large hit from his weed vape-pen.)
The present’s deal with totally different companies and personalities within the legal-weed world will give it a nationwide perspective, stated Batenburg Jr., who previously operated comedy and jazz golf equipment and, alongside along with his son, co-owns the Breckenridge Vipers semi-pro hockey group — which Brandenburg III nonetheless performs on.
That, and the behind-the-scenes pedigree of “Excessive Science,” first reported by Westword on Wednesday, already give the nascent collection an edge.
Whereas the present has not but been picked up by a community, manufacturing on the eight-episode debut season is already properly underway with a number of TV veterans connected, together with Colorado-based producer Patrick Hackett. Government producer Rick McKillop has gained a pair of Primetime Emmy awards and produced titles corresponding to “Duck Dynasty,” “Bates Motel,” “Longmire” and Storage Wars.” Whereas he was head of the Historical past Channel, he additionally developed collection corresponding to “Pawn Stars,” “Ice Highway Truckers,” “American Pickers,” “Ax Males” and “Swamp Folks.”
Director and showrunner Brandon Clark is behind the Colorado-set rom-com “The Engagement Plot,” and takes turns engaged on “Excessive Science” and his different initiatives, Batenburg III stated. Coordinating producer Ed LeClere first hatched the concept, and had been creating it for 3 years when he introduced it to the Batenburgs.
“Hashish modified his life after an harm, as a result of he was on so many ache meds he couldn’t even perform,” stated Batenburg Jr. “This concept of a actuality collection that highlighted the advantages from a medical perspective finally grew into, ‘How will we make this entertaining?’ ”
The reply is selection. From stalking smugglers who’ve gone legit to profiling trade icons corresponding to Massachusetts’ Greg “Chem” Krzanowski, the present will discover and educate concerning the historical past, chemistry and makes use of of hashish. As the primary state to legalize leisure hashish beginning in 2014, Colorado appeared just like the pure selection.
“We’re the fits,” Batenburg Jr. stated with fun. “Hollywood likes formulation, and folks like what they know. So we’re bridging that hole between the (enterprise world) and the stereotypical OGs, Rastafarian warriors, Earth moms and the flower devoted.”
The Batenburgs hope to promote the present to a gold-standard community corresponding to Discovery or A&E, bypassing the streaming-only route for a broadcast collection that reaches essentially the most households attainable. Eradicating the stigma from weed and educating individuals — even stoners and lovers of the plant — is simply as necessary as making a slick, watchable TV present, they stated.
“It’s a me-and-him-against-the-world kind of dynamic,” Bateburg III stated. “We’ve guess the farm, so to talk, and are attempting to see what that appears like in actual life. It’s our cash, and the individuals I care about’s cash. It’s a positive line to stroll, creating an organization whereas not dropping the soul of what the product represents.”
“There’s quite a lot of subject material inside the context of every episode,” Bateburg Jr. added. “It’s not simply me yelling at Rick like in ‘Orange County Choppers.’ ”
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