Streetballers | |
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Directed by | Matthew Scott Krentz |
Starring | Jimmy McKinney Matthew Krentz Adrieanne Perez |
Release date |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Streetballers is a 2009 independent film by Matthew Scott Krentz. The film tells the story of a friendship between two junior college basketball players, one black, one Irish-American, both trying to use streetball as their escape. [1] Jacob Whitmore, the black player is played by former University of Missouri basketball player Jimmy McKinney. Director Matthew Krentz plays the white basketball player John Hogan.
The film was shot in St. Louis, Missouri with an entirely local cast and crew. Krentz is from Webster Groves, one of the city's inner-ring suburbs.
Two basketball players are drawn into the lures of crime and gambling on the courts of St. Louis, Missouri tough Northside neighborhoods. Constantly searching for sanity in the midst of alcoholism, racism, and drugs, John Hogan (played by the film director Matthew Scott Krentz) and Jacob Whitmore (played by Jimmy McKinney) find release and therapy while competing at one of the most competitive street courts in the U.S.
Both must spend an entire summer helping one another overcome adversity. Their dedication and love for the game of basketball transcend from the playground courts into each of their dysfunctional households, where the two boys played the constant role of father figure.
Jacob has no choice but to play in an underground league, constantly fighting to keep his cousin Damon out of debt and possible death. John’s overpowering guilt and family trauma erupt into a state of beautiful confusion with each spiritual intervention by Terry Gibson, a neighborhood boy killed in a drunk-driving crash.
Together, the two paint a sad and hopeful portrait with their innocence, concerns, and faith in the unknown.
Although the film opened in only two theaters, its per-screen opening weekend viewership was high. At more than $5700 per screen, it outstripped better-known films with nationwide showing such as Harry Potter and G.I. Joe to rank ninth in the country in per-screen viewership. [2] [3]
The film made a similar per-screen showing during its opening weekend in Los Angeles, taking 14th place in per-screen viewership, but grossing "more than $6,000". [4]
St. Louis University High School (SLUH) is an all-male Jesuit high school in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1818, it is the oldest secondary educational institution in the United States west of the Mississippi River, and one of the largest private high schools in Missouri. It is located in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
T-Mobile Center is a multi-purpose arena in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It is located at the intersection of 14th Street and Grand Boulevard on the east side of the Power & Light District. It has effectively become the city's primary indoor arena, a role previously held by Kemper Arena, which had been built in 1974 a few miles away in the West Bottoms neighborhood.
Mark Jones is a former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was undrafted after a career at the University of Central Florida, and at the age of 30 entered the NBA with the Orlando Magic, during the 2004-05 NBA season, averaging 2.3 points per game in ten total games.
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Egan's Rats was an American organized crime gang that exercised considerable power in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1890 to 1924. Its 35 years of criminal activity included bootlegging, labor slugging, voter intimidation, armed robbery, and murder. Although predominantly Irish-American, Egan's Rats did include a few Italian-Americans and some Jewish immigrants, most notably Max "Big Maxie" Greenberg.
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Matthew Alexander Aitch Jr. was an American professional basketball player who played one season in the American Basketball Association (ABA).
The Illinois–Missouri football rivalry, also known as the Arch Rivalry, is an American college football rivalry between the Illinois Fighting Illini football team of the University of Illinois and Missouri Tigers football team of the University of Missouri. Both schools consider it a friendlier, secondary rivalry compared to their other rivalries like the Border War and Northwestern, but it still generates interest from students and alumni, especially those in and around Greater St. Louis. Both schools have considerable alumni from the area.
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Matthew Scott Krentz, also known as Matt Krentz, is an American director, producer and actor.
Jimmy McKinney is an American professional basketball player and film actor.
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Damon Davis is a multi-media American artist, musician and filmmaker based in St. Louis, Missouri. His 2014 public art installation "All Hands on Deck" has been collected in the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He is also a founder of Far-Fetched, a St. Louis–based artist collective, and co-director of Whose Streets?, a documentary on the Ferguson unrest following police officer Darren Wilson's fatal shooting of Michael Brown. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.
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