Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s passions for basketball and music collide in his new film, Gunnin’ for that #1 Spot, a documentary about eight basketball players at a legendary court in Harlem, set to a soundtrack of raw hip-hop. On October 23rd, Yauch will be on hand at 92YTribeca for a screening of the new film, to talk about the project and his experiences in the world of indie films.
Of course, it’s been a long time since MCA, born Adam Yauch, was known only as a hip-hop artist. In the 1990s he and his band mates founded an indie record label, Grand Royal, and a related magazine; both eventually folded. Under the name Nathanial Hörnblowér, he has directed many of the Beastie Boys’ music videos and their 2006 concert film, which was shot by fans. This year, under his own name, he released “Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot,” a documentary about high school basketball players.
Now, despite some formidable odds, he is pursuing his cinematic interests with a new division of his company, Oscilloscope, which acquires, produces and distributes independent movies.
As part of Oscilloscope Laboratories, which includes a recording studio and production facilities, Oscilloscope Pictures will operate in a model similar to an independent record label, Mr. Yauch, 44, said over green tea in a de facto conference room at his TriBeCa office.
“What I really liked about indie record labels — the indie record labels that I liked, anyway — is that things were done in-house,” he said. Unlike most independent film distributors, which outsource nonglamorous aspects of moviemaking like poster design, marketing and DVD production, Oscilloscope’s employees — a tour revealed 10 young guys in skate shoes and headphones bent over laptops — will handle everything themselves, including handpicking which theaters their films will end up at.
