Meet Mario Signore | Cinematographer, Producer, and Cannabis Company founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mario Signore and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mario, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I had been living in Los Angeles, working in the film industry for 22 years and I suddenly felt the need to do something totally new. I have always been an entrepeneur starting companies since I was a kid. Selling golfballs back to golfcourses, wine and sunglasses out of my locker in highschool, rave buses for college kids in highschool, developing tv shows for networks when I wasnt working as a cinematoghrapher. But I’ve always loved cannabis and saw an opportunity to move back to Boston where I grew up and bring the west coast vibes I felt Boston needed.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Im a bit of an oddball as a CEO and COO. I would have never expected to find myself starting an all EV cannabis delivery business or permitting a giant community cannabis center. I didn’t come from corporate and Ive always been a creative. I prefer lighting and lenses over spreadsheets and meetings. But when I get an idea I tend to jump in and ask question later. This time I had a vison of building an experiental cannabis facility. Like a brewery but for cannabis. Its cliché but when people say follow your dreams I agree with them but be ready to put in the work.

That’s what happened with me going back to Boston and finding myself in Roxbury. Roxbury is a 93% minority community in Boston. With one of the richest but also challenged histories in the city. It has been home to Malcom X, Martin Luther King jr. Melnea Cass, and scores of past and present civil rights activists. Roxbury has been cast aside by the city, state, and government for the past few generations. From redlining to removing the train from their downtown this community has been shorted by everyone.

So when a stoked white surfer dude showed up to say he wanted to grow weed and sell it in their neighborhood it was a straight up smack down. People saw an outsider, a white carpet bagger taking advantage of the black community like every other developer or business coming into Roxbury to do business. My arrival brought a lot of tough love, distrust and push back. I had no understanding of what the community had gone through.

Now 5 years later… in one of my proudest moments I can confidently say that I’ve found a way to work with my new community in ways that provide more than just jobs and opportunities. As I got to know local business leaders, community leaders and became really close with a force of a woman named Val Shelly (she recently passed) I started to understand some of the problems residents faced in Roxbury. As a white guy from wealth, I’ll never be able to fully understand but I’m leap years ahead of where I started. But I was taught the importance of being present, showing up to meetings, events, clean ups, Christmas toy drives, school jamborees, Pokeno games with my girls at Orchard Gardens, and not disappearing after I get support.

Ive done something few cannabis companies and no land developer has done in Boston. I have had back to back community, planning, and zoning meeting with full community support. The community isnt just supporting me, they are supporting us. Boston has just approved a full experiential cannabis facility. We will have ground floor retail space, art galleries and cafes for the community. The second floor will be a mix of cultivation, pickle ball courts, recording studios. Our third floor is what I’m most excited about. The event space has aprox a 350 person capacity with a huge deck overlooking the Boston sky line. My dream has been for a “Weed Work” during the day with yoga and “tasting kitchen” and at night the space can be a private club for canna-consumption friendly brand launches, concerts, weddings, and community events.

I’m proud of getting this project approved by my community, but what makes me feel better than creating jobs, revenue, security and opportunity is the fund we created. I plan on putting 3% of all the profits from cannabis in our building into a fund for Orchard Gardens. They are our neighbors and were one of the hardest hit communities in the US during the crack epidemic. That money will be directed to scholarships, needle sweeps and security.

Please check out our delivery company Green Flash and stay tuned for Green Line to start construction!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Step one would be give them a menu of our products to medicate. Then get them on a bicycle and ride from my office in Roxbury through the South End and Back Bay. Id take them along the Charles River Esplanade across the Harvard Bridge into Cambridge and Harvard Square for some wine and Oysters. Then back over to the North End for some pizza and more beverages.
Then we would walk over to the Boston waterfront and jump on a water taxi to cruise the Harbor for sunset.
If they were still standing Id suggest we catch a show at Road Runner or a smaller live music Venue in Cambridge.
If my guest was here for a few more days I’d have to show them a few more Boston restaurants but Id also like to show them Cape Cod, Vermont, Maine, and all of the incredible New England spots.
I miss living in Venice Beach but Boston has so much art, music, and incredible food that I actually forget about California at times. The winters are tough but Spring and Fall in New England are unbeatable. Plus we have the Celtics, Bruins, Patriots and Boston is a great place to see L.A. teams get beat down.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My success in the film industry came from a cinematographer named Mike Ozier. When I was accepted to AFI but couldn’t afford tuition he invited me to come work for him and get a paid education. This launched a decades long career that took me around the world several times. Not only did Mike teach me about film making, he taught me about humility, patience and how to be a much better person. He is probably one of the smartest most zen people I’ve ever met. The lessons I took with me from Mike and film production helped me navigate some of the most difficult challenges Boston and the Cannabis industry could throw at me.
I still wake up every day and jump through burning hoops but I just make it into a game and find the fun in it. I learned that from being on set and having everything go wrong. But with the right crew you seamlessly navigate the problem with team work and fast thinking.

Website: https://greenflashboston.com/ https://greenlineboston.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenflashboston/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/

Image Credits
all photos were taken by Mario SIgnore. No credit neccessary