'Yard' a surprise success
Pictured opened at No. 1 in January
"Sony had test screenings that went through the roof, and I was confident people would like this movie," he says of "Stomp," which arrives on DVD May 15.
His hunch was right on. "Stomp the Yard" opened at No. 1 in January with $25.8 million take at the box office and ended up with just over $61 million.
Not bad for a film with an estimated $14 million budget.
"Hollywood has always underestimated the African-American audience," White explains.
"We started with grassroots advertising and were endorsed by the NAACP. The best thing we did marketingwise was defining urban -- young hip-hop-listening kids -- and to tap into that we leaked trailers and scenes onto YouTube, where we had a half-million hits in the first three days."
