JTH: The film has been very well received. Did you expect so much love when you first started the project?
Bobbito: Yes! Kevin and I have traveled the world and we’ve seen how the game can impact people. At this point, the film has been screened in six continents at various festivals, events, and basketball tournaments. And we hit On Demand in the US Nov. 5th, iTunes Nov. 12th, DVD/Blu-Ray December 10th, and have a US TV premiere on public television/PBS stations in early 2014, so there are a lot more people who will be reached!
Kevin: As Bobbito said, we knew the basketball community would love the film, however we couldn’t expect the “other people” to enjoy it – sometimes kids come at us saying, “I watched your film with my mom, she doesn’t care about basketball, but she loved it!” True story. It shows that our film is not just about a sport; it’s about the people, about their childhood, the parks, and the city of New York.
JTH: I love the soundtrack. I think it does an excellent job of capturing the language of playground basketball in the city. Where did the inspiration for the soundtrack come?
Bobbito: I’m a DJ, so it was natural for me to supervise, and luckily, Kevin and I share the same tastes. I had a lot of pre-existing relationships, which were helpful to get the rights to the music in the score. We’re releasing a soundtrack EP featuring nine-time Grammy Award winner Eddie Palmieri. Vinyl is available November 12 at https://www.fatbeats.com/collections/pre-order/products/eddie-palmieri-eddie-palmieri-is-doin-it-in-the-park-ep, and the cd/digital by November 19 at https://palmierimusic.com/ or https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/eddiepalmieri1.
Kevin: Our strength was to be international on this. Bobbito’s background, mine, my brother David (the editor), and Thibaut De Longeville’s (executive producer) backgrounds were part of this musical process. We all felt we had to come up with something different than just Hip Hop. Something that would make people dance when they see the crossovers on screen. And honestly, major credits should go to David for editing our film with such sharpness. He has great ears and made all this work on video. Sometimes he would turn our selections down because it didn’t fit the vibe or rhythm.
