Real Life Meets TV Land

Venice locals educate, entertain with pro-hemp soap opera on
public access By Karen Duryea

Summer Bruin Senior Staff

They hated Family Ties, The Cosby Show and any TV show from
their childhood to which they could not relate. So they decided to
make their own show that dealt with real life situations.

"Party of Five is a good show," said Venice Connection partner
Christina "Shafreaka" Bellsnyder.

Actually, she is compromising. Bellsnyder and Venice Connection
founding partner Kenya Winchell, both actresses who tried to make
it big in Hollywood, became fed up with the insincerity and
superficiality of show business.

"I would watch and say, ‘What world is that because that’s not
the world I live in,’" Winchell said.

So they decided to take their own route. They now produce,
write, direct and star in what they call a "pro-hemp soap opera"
that airs on public access channels. It’s a show where swearing and
taking an occasional toke out of a pipe or bong replace
"squeaky-clean-for-TV" plots such as Alex P. Keaton running for
class president.

Their agenda, they are not afraid to admit, is not only to
entertain but to educate people about marijuana, its uses, and what
they say are injustices about its representation in the media and
society today.

"I will never write an episode without being stoned," Winchell
said. She proudly admits that each episode of the show takes a
month to produce.

Winchell was an unemployed actress who hadn’t worked in 14 years
when, in 1993, her frequent visits to Venice Beach and listening to
speeches about hemp inspired her to fight for its legalization.

"Hearing the speeches on a daily basis ­ I knew I had to
get involved," she said.

Although some might say the pro-hemp soap opera is a little
hard-core for network television, Bellsnyder and Winchell stand
behind their product.

"Certain storylines in my show would happen in real life,"
Winchell said. Themes such as drugs and gay-bashing are all from
Winchell’s personal experiences or that of her friends. They have
often addressed Rohypnol, the "date rape drug."

"It’s become a running theme," Winchell says. "I really want to
warn people to never take anyone for face value."

The two women support their producing costs by maintaining a
stand on Venice Boulevard where they sell hemp-related tee shirts,
stickers, clothing made from hemp while they sport tie-died flags
with the motto, "Legalize It." Sponsors, such as eyeglass
manufacturer Black Flys, support the Connection by providing props
for the show and merchandise to wear on the air.

The booth also provides voter registration cards and information
on Proposition 215, an initiative on November’s ballot that would
allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes.

"Right now, they have marijuana in the heroin category.
Proposition 215 would put it in the Tylenol category, which is
really where it belongs," Winchell said.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana has
been classified as a Schedule I controlled substance since 1970,
meaning that the drug in its smoked form has no commonly accepted
medical use in the United States.

Winchell says that marijuana was given a bad name back in the
’30s when tycoon William Randolph Hearst Jr., owner of a chain of
newspapers coast to coast, ran fillers denouncing the drug in his
publications.

Ironically, the Venice Connection is using the same tool that
Hearst did almost 60 years ago ­ utilizing the media as a tool
to alter people’s perception of marijuana.

"What’s crazy is that (these laws) are still in effect, and
there’s no real validity to them," she says. "It’s up to
independent people in the media to give it a true light, like
through public access," she says.

And that is what the Venice Connection has attempted. They’ve
made their worst enemy into the their greatest ally by utilizing
the free equipment provided by their local cable company, which in
turn airs the soap opera.

"They teach you how to produce a show in free classes, and they
have free equipment that you can check out," she says. "Anybody
could go in … I wish more people would take the cameras out of
the studios, outdoors and give Hollywood a run for its money."

The Venice Connection has strayed from what they call the
"talk-show format." In contrast with most other public access
shows,they take the cameras in and around Venice to give it a
live-action feel.

"It’s about creating your own break, not waiting for the
Hollywood break," Winchell said.

Public access cable is completely uncensored, Winchell says,
which is why The Venice Connection is at liberty to air what they
think ‘tells it like it is.’

"Most of the profanity in my show is based on the fact that
people no longer communicate in the English language. It’s all
slang and curse words. I’m portraying what it’s like to live in
Venice ­ that’s why we have a lot of cursing," Winchell
said.

"Everybody accidentally says the f-word," Bellsnyder says. "It
doesn’t mean we’re not educated. It’s how people communicate
today."

The Connection has a following, but not all are fans.

"There’s a lot of anti-supporters," Winchell says. "If they
don’t like it, it’s simple to turn the channel.

"They call us losers, drug addicts, uneducated ignorami," she
says. "But whether they love it or they hate it, they’re still
watching it!"

Currently the show airs on five cable channels reaching as far
as New York.

Bellsnyder, who also stars in episodes of The Venice Connection
"literally stumbled into it" a few years ago while doing freelance
photography on the boardwalk.

"I thought her booth looked so cool," said Bellsnyder, a single
mother.

In June of 1993, she emceed at Westwood’s Hempfest, which turned
her on to the issue of marijuana and its portrayal in society.

"Most people stereotype," she said. "They think only scroungy
street people smoke pot, or that a person who smokes pot has to
look like a hippie."

When she met Winchell, Bellsnyder says she was bored and
depressed with what she calls "the corporate world of acting."

"She asked me what I did and I said ‘I’m an actress,’"
Bellsnyder said. "She got a big grin on her face and then I felt
embarrassed like she might have thought I knew about the show … I
didn’t know about the show, I can’t even afford cable."

But what started out as just taking a picture ended up changing
Bellsnyder’s life.

"This is better than any classes I could be taking. It helps me
to express myself in a way that other TV shows can’t do. My kid’s
even in the show!" she said.

Although her son is only 5 years old, Bellsnyder believes in
educating him about marijuana.

"I’d rather him know all the facts then get older and wonder
‘what’s that funky smell’ and get more curious," she said.

Like Winchell, whose brother died of AIDS from heroin usage,
Bellsnyder has lost people close to her because of drugs. They hope
to send the message that marijuana is safe but other drugs are
not.

"Hopefully, the people who watch the show will see something
about heroin that will turn them off," she said. "But at the same
time see us, that you can still be freaky and have a fun time."

Photos by GENEVIEVE LIANGChristina Bellsnyder (back right) and
Kenya Winchell (front right) distribute flyers and hemp seeds to
promote their public access soap opera The Venice Connection.

Bellsnyder and Winchell pass out coffee-flavored hemp seeds to
educate the public about the positive effects of hemp.