reported by Betty Paulsino, CyberScreenwriter.com

A budding young filmmaker appeals to strangers online to help fund a documentary on the subculture of marijuana in NYC.

What started off as a whim of a project to enter in a local film festival has blossomed into a legitimate full-length documentary with its eyes set on Sundance. 420:NYC is an intimate look into the subculture of marijuana smokers in New York City, told by both native and transplanted New Yorkers. Tied in with a bit of history and novelty, 420:NYC tells a very personal, positive, and honest story of this still somewhat taboo subject matter.

"It's not about politics or legalization," says director Christine Goulden, "what I'm trying to say with the film is that the stigma of a marijuana smoker is in most cases off-base. There are plenty of people from all walks of life who partake in it and still lead normal, healthy, productive lives."

With the Sundance Film Festival 2008 late deadline approaching at the end of September, Goulden seeks to raise funds using a little inspiration from the successful SaveKaryn (a one-time popular site which raised money to help pay a shopaholic's credit card debt) and with a lot of help from strangers. Through Internet communities such as MySpace and YouTube, Goulden hopes to build traffic for the website and a general enthusiasm for the project. "I think you'd be surprised that strangers can sometimes be as generous and supportive, if not more so, than your friends and relatives. If I can get 1,000 people to donate $20 or 2,000 people to donate $10, we'll be able to fund this project entirely on the kindness of strangers."

The film's website located at www.nyc420.com allows visitors to view a sneak preview promo of the film and those who wish to make contributions can do so via Paypal. "I think that marijuana smokers will appreciate this film because they will see a bit of themselves in the people in it. And even non-smokers can enjoy the story because (almost) everyone knows someone who's a stoner."