Indie films are rising through the ranks at the box office. Over the weekend, Slamma Jamma, an indie faith-based film with a basketball theme, earned nearly $1.7M in theaters. The film’s earnings propelled them to number 11 on the charts.
Just last year, we’ve seen an emergence of indie films to the big screen that have done rather well at the box office including Birth of a Nation, Loving, Southside With You and perhaps the biggest hit of 2016, Moonlight.
This new wave of indie content is generating numbers on the web, on television and in theaters. It also speaks to the way in which films and shows are being promoted and distributed. While many filmmakers are taking traditional ways to have their content seen, some have used several unique ways to reach their audiences.
A spokesperson from the producers of Slamma Jamma’s RiverRain Productions stated, “We purposefully kept the film away from critics …Most film critics are wonderful, fair people with a real heart, but you have the ones who [are] simply ‘mean-spirited’…,” according to film and television blog Shadow and Act.
Slamma Jamma follows the story of a former basketball star, Michael Diggs (Chris Staples), who serves jail time for a crime he didn’t commit. After being released from prison, Diggs finds redemption by faith and becomes a more active influence in the life choices of his family as he prepares for a national slam dunk competition.
Alongside Staples, the film stars Porter Maberry, Rosemarie Smith-Coleman, Ryan Gunnarson, Alexia Hall, Kelsey Caeser and Michael Hardy and special guest appearances by former pro athletes Michael Irvin and Jose Canseco.
Watch the trailer for this breakthrough film below:
