In today’s era of big-money blockbuster movies and exorbitant advertising budgets, there is a perception held by many that only the best-funded movies can succeed.
But the opening weekend success of the independent drama film ‘Mooz-lum’ by 30-year-old Ann Arbor-raised, current New Yorker and writer/director Qasim Basir stands in stark contrast to that notion.
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| Using mostly social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to promote the movie as well as the Eventful Demand It website, Mooz-lum achieved box office success from the grassroots level, which will lead to more showings of the film in the future. |
While Mooz-lum, a coming-of-age story about a college student and African American Muslim named Tariq Mahdi, had a direct contract with AMC to promote the movie, the advertising budgets of both were extremely limited.
Using mostly social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to promote the movie as well as the Eventful Demand It website and word-of-mouth, Mooz-lum managed to achieve box office success from the grassroots level, which will lead to more showings of the film in the future.
“We basically did something that was sort of ground-breaking by having a successful opening weekend doing literally 98% of our marketing virally,” said Basir, who is a born-and-raised African American Muslim himself who wrote the script in 2007 as a response to the growing wave of twisted portrayals of his faith in the U.S. based on false stereotypes.
“We went to the distributors initially and they said they really liked it but they didn’t know if there was a market for it, when you have a film with predominantly African Americans, Indians, Arabs and all kinds of people, they didn’t know how to market it especially since it’s not a silly comedy or something like that, there were too many risks.”
The movie was bolstered by a highly-established cast including Danny Glover (‘Dreamgirls,’ ‘The Color Purple’), Nia Long (‘Are We There Yet?’, ‘Love Jones’) and Roger Guenveur Smith (‘American Gangster’, ‘Do The Right Thing’), however, and its award-winning film festival run that included a Best Narrative Award at the Urban World Festival in New York and was an official selection at the Chicago and Cario international festivals.
Basir said that the actors were drawn to the script of the movie and its unique plot (about Mahdi facing anti-Muslim stereotypes, dealing with family issues, and discovering his faith) more than the prospect of a huge box-office draw.
“For the actors it was about the story for them, they rarely get a chance to do a film with substance like this, it’s not like I’m a big name or anything, like I’m Spike Lee or something.”
Basir said that distribution became an issue and that the recommended course of action was to release the movie on DVD. He attributed that feeling to a lack of familiarity with the movie’s demographic and decided to go ahead with viral marketing, which has made all the difference for a film that has been well-received by newspaper critics and audiences as well so far.
Dearborn, national showings continue
Dearborn served as one of the locations of the film’s premier based on demands for it on the Eventful website, and showings will continue at Star Fairlane 21 until Feb. 25 but likely longer if it continues to be successful. Many members of the community were not aware of the screenings due to a lack of marketing budget for the film and the theater’s lack of local advertising.
For info on Dearborn showtimes, visit //www.amctheatres.com/Fairlane/.
Five more screening sites across the country are expected to join the 11 already showing the movie and 10 more are expected to be added next week according to Basir.
For more information on the movie, visit www.moozlumthemovie.com or www.facebook.com/moozlumthemovie.
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