Bobbito García – legendary Rock Steady Crew Deejay, sports announcer, writer, basketball aficionado and all around culture maven. This summer García is expanding his resume to include the title of director with the documentary Doin’ It In The Park. Though he has made a huge name for himself with such ventures like the street basketball magazine Bounce, serving as a commentator on MSG-TV, ESPNU, CBS Sports and MTV2 the title he is still proudest of is “Boricua.”
He brings his orgullo to everything he does. The proud Nuyorican’s latest effort paired him with photographer Kevin Couliau to document pickup-basketball culture in New York City equipped with only a Canon camera, their bikes and their passion for the sport. On the heels of the film’s digital release on May 1st, ‘LLERO caught up with “Kool Bob Love” to discuss what he learned about his beloved game during the making of the film and the impact Latinos have made in its history here in New York City.
‘LL: Doin’ It In The Park was your first time directing. What did you actually do? What was it like?
BG:I think the question is really what didn’t I do? [Laughs] Kevin and I both produced the film as well and have been managing the screenings. We’ve probably done 35 screenings throughout 5 continents. Mind you, this is an indie film – no big names, no ESPN Films behind it, no Magnolia behind it – this is just two dudes that love basketball. In terms of directing it was cool. I picked out locations, did all the interviews, wrote the script, I narrated the film, took photos and then played ball as well. Part of the story is the community that is so passionate about the sport here outdoors in New York and how it impacts the rest of the world. Another part of the story is me and Kevin’s journey. Kevin and I went to 180 courts in 75 days and 95 of those on our bicycles. So, essentially that was an accomplishment on its own and we documented that as well, it’s kind of a sub-plot.
‘LL: How did you come to work with Kevin Couliau?
BG: Kevin Couliau, who I have known for 10 years, was a photographer first and then got into videography. I knew I couldn’t do a film on my own; I had to partner with someone smarter than me [laughs]. We both have a passion for the game so we collaborated. And this is what we came up with.
‘LL: How did you come up with the title, what is the significance?
BG: Well the whole point is that we are advocates of outdoor basketball. I felt like “Doin’ It In the Park,” which of course is inspired by the Blackbirds song and is the opening song of our score, sums it all up. Go outside and play ball.
‘LL: The score is pretty impressive. Can you talk about some of the artists you worked with on it?
BG: Yeah, a lot of people that don’t even play ball still love the movie – they are blown away by the score. We have nine-time Grammy Award winner Eddie Palmieri who did original compositions for a couple of scenes. We have songs by the Roots, Jurassic 5; some really, really dope music. I bought my Deejay sensibilities to the film as the music supervisor but props to David Couliau (Kevin’s brother) who was the editor. So, he was the one that really took the songs I selected and placed them with scenes and made sure that the pacing was right and the mood was right. He did a phenomenal job.
‘LL: Why choose pick-up basketball as your topic?
BG: Well Kevin and I both felt that there were some great documentaries out there, however, there was a void. Pick-up basketball is the most common denominator of the sport – it’s the essence. President Obama plays pick-up, LeBron James plays pick-up. Four-year-olds play pick-up and 80-year-olds play pick-up. It’s an amazing movement – it has its own language, its own dress code. The gear in basketball influences hip-hop, hip-hop influences the world. There is a phenomenal culture right here in our streets, in our playgrounds and in our parks. It is right here in our face and no one has ever documented it before in New York.
‘LL: Why use the guerilla style process (you and co-director went with two cameras by bike to record) instead of working with a formal crew?
BG: We didn’t have a budget for a crew. Kevin slept on my couch for three months while we made the film. The other reason is that you can’t show up to a park with a 10-person crew and think that you are going to get people to act naturally. You can’t be a fly on the wall [that way.] Kevin had the Cannon 5D, Cannon was our equipment sponsor and because we both played ball, people gave us respect and invited us in. A lot of people recognized me on I would say 95% of the courts.
“Oh shit, Bobbito what you doing in Staten Island?” and then they would just warm up to the camera. We did a lot of our interviews on location, on the spot.
‘LL: What role did you see Latinos play in the history of pick-up ball in New York City?
BG: Well we have a phenomenal history and that dates back to the great influx of Boricuas that came in the 1950’s. In the 1960’s you see a lot of great players coming out of El Barrio and the Bronx and Brooklyn – wherever there were strong enclaves of populations of Latinos in the 60’s. Turns out that the Puerto Rican pro-league, there wasn’t a Nuyorican to play in that league until the late 60’s and by the 70’s the door just opened up. In 1976 the Puerto Rico league lost by one point to the United States, one point! The two star guards of the team were Nuyoricans, Neftalí Rivera and Alfred “Butch” Lee. [Basketball’s influence runs far] and it’s not just Puerto Rico. I have traveled to Venezuela, Brazil, Costa Rica and I have seen the players in the canchas going hard. Pick-up basketball is a global movement and there have been some phenomenal contributions by Latinos, absolutely.
‘LL: Why was it important to show diversity in the score and the film itself?
BG: Being Boricua myself, I’m very proud to have shown a diverse face of the game. I think most people “hear pick-up basketball” and think only African-American or black. But in the film for example, Palmieri created original compositions, there are songs by Tato Torres of Yerba Buena, La Casita de Chema which is Bomba-Plena (Afro-Boricua roots music). What film are you going to see Latin Jazz, Salsa and Bomba-Plena all in the same score? It’s really subtle, but I am showing my Boricua roots without people even realizing it. The last line of the film is “Mucho love for this game” said by Corky Ortíz, who is a legend here in Spanish Harlem who played pro in Puerto Rico as well. He gets the last line of the film and guess what? The line starts in Spanish. Also, Kevin has a lot of French nuances in the film that people may not know until he explains it. So, that is really cool.
‘LL: What did you learn about pick-up ball or NYC that you didn’t know prior to making this film?
BG: The majority of players today on the courts are under the age of 21. You still have the adults that go out, maybe after work or on the weekends, what’s called the weekend warriors. But the kids go out there at midnight when the sun is down and all you see is the lamp posts, or the fire escape, or milk crates. It’s so beautiful to see a sport that is 120-years-old (it was created in 1891). The great thing about pick-up basketball is no one is holding their hands to go out there and play. There’s no referees, no schedule. There’s just a court and kids voluntarily go out there and play, they don’t get paid for it. It’s just free recreation and that’s the message of the film: go out, play, engage with your community, interact. There are a lot of positive things that come out of doing that. I can’t even think of anything greater to say than that.
‘LL: Tell us what’s next for the film.
BG: It was digitally released May 1st exclusively at www.doinitinthepark.com. It’s amazing to be able to sell directly to fans. That process will be powered by VHS.tv which is this really cool start up that allows filmmakers to sell direct to fans, so we are happy about that. [It will be] in theaters May 22nd. There are a couple of weeklong runs here in New York and in London as well. We also have a bunch of one-night events and screenings nationwide. We are doing a premiere in San Francisco on May 16th, Oakland, May 17th, D.C. on May 22nd. Then we have a world tour that Nike is presenting. We are going to 11 international cities including South Africa, Mexico and Europe.
For more info on upcoming screenings and events visit www.doinitinthepark.com.
