The Film

From 1965 to 1970, musicians in New York City fused English and Spanish lyrics with Afro-Cuban, jazz, rock and R&B rhythms and melodies to create Latin boogaloo. It was a period of revolution and social awakening and young Latinos in search of their identity, growing up in neighborhoods like East Harlem and the South Bronx, adopted Latin boogaloo as their soundtrack.

This audience, once on the verge of leaving Latin music behind, now came to appreciate it. With the emergence of salsa, another New York creation, some say the Latin boogaloo was killed off, not by the fans, but by industry politics. We Like It Like That explores this fascinating, though often overlooked, bridge in Latin music history, seeking to understand its context in the story of Latinos in America and its continued influence around the world today.

Featuring original interviews with Joe Bataan, Johnny Colon, Ricardo Ray, Jimmy Sabater (of the Joe Cuba Sextet), Joey Pastrana, Larry Harlow, Harvey Averne, Angel Lebron (of the Lebron Brothers), Benny Bonilla (of the the Pete Rodriguez band), Felipe Luciano, Aurora Flores, Sandra Maria Esteves, Alex Masucci, Oliver Wang, Juan Flores, Bobby Sanabria, Bobbito Garcia and others.

Status

A work in progress cut of the film premiered in New York City at Central Park Summer Stage on August 10th, alongside an amazing concert with Mr. Boogaloo Blues, Johnny Colon and the king of Latin soul, Joe Bataan.

We filmed the event and plan to include footage from what turned out to be a truly special and historic night in the final version of the film. Read more about the event at the Summer Stage Website and watch Johnny and Joe discuss their music and promote the event, along with DJ Turmix on the ABC7 show Tiempo.

Where Will the Funds Go?

The funds from this campaign will see us through the final edit of the film and help us buy the rights to more of the archival footage needed to complete and officially release the film. 

Because We Like It Like That is a music documentary, we are also in the process of securing rights to the songs that we highlight in the film. If we raise any money over our funding level we will put it towards buying song rights. 

Why Kickstarter?

We have finished about 3/4 of the film!  It has taken almost two years to get to this point, but we are thankful to be here. However, making a documentary is only half the work. Releasing the film is the other half. Through Kickstarter we hope to raise enough funds to put us well on our way towards completing the film for submission to major film festivals, PBS, a possible theatrical release and a successful DVD release. Our reason for making this film has been to inform the public about this incredible period in New York City and Latin music history, and to put a spotlight on the music of these phenomenal artists, whose musical contributions have been overlooked for too long.

How do I keep updated on the film?

Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter to keep updated on our progress.