Slow Jam King – Award-winning Feature Film

Before DSLR Cameras revolutionized filmmaking and made DIY Filmmaking mainstream, Steven E. Mallorca used every bit of his ingenuity and creative skills to create his first feature film, SLOW JAM KING, and turn it into a cult film success. Winner of Asian Cinevision’s Emerging Director Award, SLOW JAM KING has simultaneously entertained and defied definition, being described as a “genuinely moving”, “weird-ass magnum opus” that is “somewhat revolutionary in that there’s nothing else out there in the wide world of film quite like it.”SLOW JAM KING marks the feature film debut by Steven E. Mallorca, who wrote, directed, produced, photographed and edited the film, while also composing and performing the majority of the film’s featured music.

The New York Times praised Slow Jam King as “Do-it-yourself filmmaking at its purest… with spirited characters and high levels of comic energy.” Slow Jam King enjoyed a lengthy festival run culminating in winning Asian Cinevision’s Emerging Director Award, and a successful theatrical release, Slow Jam King was picked up by Unitel Pictures International, who distributed the Sundance hits Imelda, and The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros. It also was available on Time Warner and Comcast on-demand, as well as Netflix and Amazon Instant Video.

Synopsis: JoJo Enriquez, a Filipino-American, poseur gangsta-pimp, thinks he hears his call to the streets and carjacks Vance, a mysterious traveling perfume salesman. In tow is Devaun, JoJo’s best friend, who tries desperately to protect Vance from JoJo, and JoJo from the law. But no one is safe from JoJo’s impulses, as the motley trio hits the road to Nashville, and slowly succumb to an escapist adventure that takes them further away from JoJo’s reality, but closer to Vance’s reality. When JoJo discovers the truth about his reluctant road companion, the trip takes a turn that leads the three of them to truth, love, and the dirty underbelly of the Nashville country music scene, where they encounter the militant Black country music star, Buck Garvey.

Director, Writer, Editor, Co-Producer, Co-Director of Photography: Steven E. Mallorca
Co-Producers: Cindy T. Mallorca, Andrew Luis
Executive Producers: John Woo, Roger Woo
Co-Director of Photography: Colin Rivera
Line Producer: Jason Grey
Original Score: Jeffrey C. Gray
Featuring original music by: Steven E. Mallorca

Starring:
Ron Domingo as JoJo
Whitney Melton as Vance
D.K. Bowser as Devaun
Beresford Bennett as Buck Garvey
Rona Figueroa as Rese
Kate Greer as Tracy Fontaine

Reviews:

“”Slow Jam King” is an example of do-it-yourself filmmaking at its purest. Working with a minuscule budget, Steven E. Mallorca functioned as director, screenwriter, producer, editor, cinematographer, song composer and performer… Mr. Mallorca tries hard and manages to make up for what is lacking in the technical department with spirited characters and high levels of comic energy.”

• New York Times 

“Country vs. hip hop” supplants good and evil as the polarizing forces in Steve Mallorca’s road comedy. The film follows JoJo Enriquez, a Filipino-American wannabe pimp, and his hostages as they embark on a hilarious and nonsensical road trip to Nashville toward a showdown with a militant black country-music star. Mallorca’s feature film debut is genuinely affecting… Among the memorable characters, Rona Figueroa shines as Rese, the love interest we’re introduced to in — where else? — a medieval-themed strip club in a Southern hick town.

• Pittsburgh City Paper

“Slow Jam King is somewhat revolutionary in the sense that there’s nothing else out there in the wide world of film quite like it. The pieces that comprise his weird-ass magnum opus are scattered across genres, and decades and countries, brought together by a highly skilled pastiche artist who’s been suborning conventions since high school…. Just try to pin Steve Mallorca to a single culture or genre – a single profession for that matter – and you’ll get to witness the stick-and-move skills that have made this musician-auteur a creative success. “

• Ghettoblaster Magazine 

“Slow Jam King could have turned into the fiasco that many indie films tend to succumb to if it was not for Mallorca’s keen eye, storytelling capability and steady hands behind the lens. Shot in 31 days and over a dozen locations from New York to Nashville, Slow Jam King is witty, funny and will hold your interest from beginning to end… Everything that comes to the surface is just an unrelenting dose of talent. Slow Jam King proves that you don’t need and over-inflated budget when good film making is involved. It might prove to be the blueprint necessary for other directors to follow.”

• Ghettoblaster Magazine 

“Rambling road-trip comedy “Slow Jam King” offers agreeable shenanigans as three mismatched characters find themselves stuck together on a long drive from New York City to Nashville. Writer-director Steven E. Mallorca demonstrates resourcefulness on a minimalist budget . . . the Pic is a solid calling card that should attract fests looking for new Amerindie talent . . . game performances, nice use of locations and project’s overall good-naturedness make “Slow Jam King” pleasant.”

• Variety 

“Director Steven E. Mallorca… has created a minor masterpiece with this, his feature debut. Ron Domingo’s JoJo is an irascable hero that the audience can’t help but root for… JoJo, as well as Vance and Devaun, grow more mature and insightful as the movie wears on.”

• Visual Communication’s L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival 

“Slow Jam King” takes its viewers through a journey of the challenges of racial appropriation and identity crisis, while the main characters seek to define themselves and their values… “Slow Jam King” is a worthwhile film that will entertain while also inducing self-reflection on the viewer.”

• Philippine News 

“Road trip movies are a venerated genre, and this one fits right in – the characters are well-drawn and you find yourself rooting for JoJo, DeVaun, and Vance’s inevitable growth, maturity, and development as the movie develops. And any movie that includes an African-American cowboy country pop singer manipulating an eager media, three biracial couples, nostalgic sequences of Filipino R&B; groups, scenes from East Midtown Manhattan, and a jamboree in West Virginia’s got a pretty good sense of true American diversity . . . the movie itself is such a fun lark and the various twists and turns of the plot are so entertaining that it doesn’t really matter how true to life it is. It’s clearly a very, very personal project for Mallorca (and his country/hiphop/R&B; songs are hilarious) – and we’re always a sucker about the mixed-up nature of racial identities and American culture in the 21st century. Mallorca won the NY Asian-American Film Festival’s Emerging Filmmaker Award this year, and it’ll be great to see where he takes his career from here.”

• SFist Magazine 

“How in the world Steven Mallorca (who wrote, directed, produced, hell he event acted) makes a cohesive story involving a wannabe Filipino American thug, a black father and husband, and a white country singer/perfume salesman is really quite mind boggling. The script was excellent.”

• Hyphen Magazine 

“Wisely avoiding the flash and fury of most indie films, director Mallorca draws instead from the character-driven comedy of a RUSHMORE or SIDEWAYS, with an easy-going aesthetic and story-telling flair that never stumbles while it tackles more serious issues.”

• CAAM San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival