OA / FILM 004SABOTEUR MEDIA201800:00:00

Rock Rubber 45s

ROLE
PRODUCER / CINEMATOGRAPHY
FORMAT
FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
RUNTIME
1H 36M
RELEASE
THEATRICAL / STREAMING
Rock Rubber 45s poster

THE PROJECT / 2018

Basketball, sneakers and records become a map of New York culture through the life of Bobbito Garcia.

Produced and photographed by Omar Acosta, Bobbito Garcia’s autobiographical feature follows the communities and obsessions that shaped his independent creative life. The film features Lin-Manuel Miranda, Questlove, Stevie Wonder, Rosario Dawson, Scottie Pippen and other cultural figures.

01 / PROBLEM

Connect one life to several cultural worlds.

Bobbito Garcia’s story crosses basketball, sneakers, radio, records and Puerto Rican identity. The film needed to reveal their shared roots instead of treating them as separate chapters.

02 / SOLUTION

Use personal memory as the organizing system.

An autobiographical structure lets people, places and obsessions build on one another, turning a portrait of one independent creator into a map of New York culture.

03 / RESULT

A personal film earned critical reach.

The documentary received a 100% Tomatometer score from seven listed reviews, became a New York Times Critics’ Pick and screened through the Smithsonian NMAAHC film festival.

RECEPTION / IMPACT

A personal documentary that used one life to connect New York basketball, sneaker history, independent radio, records and Puerto Rican identity.

TOMATOMETER100%7 CRITIC REVIEWS ↗ POPCORNMETER80%<50 AUDIENCE RATINGS ↗ IMDb / JUL 20267.8/1039 USER RATINGS ↗ RECOGNITIONCRITICS’ PICKTHE NEW YORK TIMES ↗

FESTIVAL / DISTRIBUTION

Official selection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture’s inaugural African American Film Festival. The film opened theatrically in June 2018, followed by digital release and international screenings.

CREDITS / RECOGNITION

NEXT PROJECTReggaetón→