Kush is a 2007 independent

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

 action-thriller film directed by York Shackleton

York Shackleton

York Shackleton is an American filmmaker and former professional snowboarder. Shackleton is best known for films like "Kush" and the television show MTV'S Undressed.-Early life:...

 , starring Nick Annunziata (HBO’s “The Sopranos

The Sopranos

The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...

”), William Atherton

William Atherton

William Atherton , born William Atherton Knight II, is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son of Roby and Robert Atherton Knight...

, Michael Bellisario

Michael Bellisario

Michael Angelo Bellisario is an American actor and the son of scriptwriter and producer Donald P. Bellisario.Bellisario has mostly had parts in series produced by his father, he played Midshipman Michael "Mikey" Roberts in JAG and also appeared during the first part of NCIS season 3 as Charles...

, Matthew Carey

Matthew Carey

Matthew Carey is an American film and television actor who has appeared in films such as The Banger Sisters , November , Old School and a 1997 remake of the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. He also had a recurring role in the first season of the television series 24 in 2001.- External links :...

, James DeBello

James DeBello

-Filmography:*Transylmania *Ghouls *After Sex *National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2 *Steel City *National Lampoon's Adam & Eve *The Hillz *National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze...

, Lin Shaye

Lin Shaye

Linda "Lin" Shaye is an American film, theatre and television actress.-Early life:Born in Detroit, Michigan, Shaye is the daughter of Dorothy , a homemaker, and Max Mendle Shaye, a painter and supermarket owner. Her brother is film executive Robert Shaye...

, and James Duval

James Duval

James Edward Duval is an American actor, who is most famous for his roles in the Gregg Araki trilogy—Totally Fucked Up, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere—in addition to Frank in Donnie Darko, Blank in May, Miguel in Independence Day and Singh in Go.-Personal life:Duval was born in Detroit, Michigan...

. Kush is distributed by Maverick Entertainment Group

Maverick Entertainment Group

Maverick Entertainment Group is an American independent motion picture and DVD distribution company founded by Doug Schwab and based in South Florida.-Film :* Ex$pendable * Spike * Director...

.

Kush was nominated for Best Drama at the 2008 High Times Stony Awards.

Plot

A group of young drug dealers lose $30,000 to an addict and plot revenge by scheming to kidnap the addict's teenage brother.
The plot drew comparisons to the 2006 film Alpha Dog

Alpha Dog

Alpha Dog is a 2007 crime drama film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes, first screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2006, with a wide release the following year on January 12, 2007. The film is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Nicholas...

, which based on the true story of the 2000 kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz by Jesse James Hollywood

Jesse James Hollywood

Jesse James Hollywood is a former drug dealer who kidnapped and ordered the murder of Nicholas Markowitz and is serving life without parole for the murder in the California prison system.-Childhood and adolescence:...

. Kush takes place in a similar location (Calabasas, California), but focuses on the drug dealer who makes a terrible mistake; the kidnapped teen is more a background character. In Kush, the sympathetic characters are Dusty, the young but polished leader of the crew who avoids trouble; and Christian, the drug dealer's son who is trying to grow up too fast.

Cast

• Bret Roberts as Dusty
• Nicole Marie Lenz
  Nicole Marie Lenz
  Nicole Marie Lenz is an American actress and fashion model. She first became known in the industry by appearing in Playboy as the Playmate of the Month for March 2000...
  
   as Blaise
• Mike Erwin
  Mike Erwin
  Mike Erwin is an American actor who is best known as Colin Hart in the now cancelled WB television series Everwood. He has been more widely heard as the voice of Jak in the Jak and Daxter series from Jak II onward except in the case of Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier in which he did not reprise...
  
   as Christian
• Marne Patterson as Taylor
• Matthew Carey
  Matthew Carey
  Matthew Carey is an American film and television actor who has appeared in films such as The Banger Sisters , November , Old School and a 1997 remake of the television sitcom Leave It to Beaver. He also had a recurring role in the first season of the television series 24 in 2001.- External links :...
  
   as Ryder
• James DeBello
  James DeBello
  -Filmography:*Transylmania *Ghouls *After Sex *National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2 *Steel City *National Lampoon's Adam & Eve *The Hillz *National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze...
  
   as Animal
• James Duval
  James Duval
  James Edward Duval is an American actor, who is most famous for his roles in the Gregg Araki trilogy—Totally Fucked Up, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere—in addition to Frank in Donnie Darko, Blank in May, Miguel in Independence Day and Singh in Go.-Personal life:Duval was born in Detroit, Michigan...
  
   as Cyrus
• Lin Shaye
  Lin Shaye
  Linda "Lin" Shaye is an American film, theatre and television actress.-Early life:Born in Detroit, Michigan, Shaye is the daughter of Dorothy , a homemaker, and Max Mendle Shaye, a painter and supermarket owner. Her brother is film executive Robert Shaye...
  
   as Susan
• Michael Bellisario
  Michael Bellisario
  Michael Angelo Bellisario is an American actor and the son of scriptwriter and producer Donald P. Bellisario.Bellisario has mostly had parts in series produced by his father, he played Midshipman Michael "Mikey" Roberts in JAG and also appeared during the first part of NCIS season 3 as Charles...
  
   as Jared
• William Atherton
  William Atherton
  William Atherton , born William Atherton Knight II, is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son of Roby and Robert Atherton Knight...
  
   as King
• Nick Annunziata as Johnny

External links

• Kush on Maverick's website