With an estimated two to eight million Muslims in the United States, the look of Islam in America has many faces. New Muslim Cool, a new feature-length documentary by Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, shows us just how diverse the American Muslim community can be through the compelling story of Hamza Pérez. Born to Puerto Rican parents, Hamza converted to Islam at age 20, pulling himself off the streets to become a community activist and rising star of the Muslim hip-hop generation. Using hip-hop culture to take his religious message to the streets, slums, and jail cells of urban America, Hamza faces the fractious environment of the post-9/11 world with a message of redemption and hope, forging unlikely friendships with a Jewish poet, a prison chaplain, and many others along the way. Through Hamza’s journey, audiences experience an authentic, intimate, and fresh take on life in one of the world's most rapidly growing and least-understood communities.

As compelling as it is complex, Hamza’s multi-faceted identity—as a Latino, youth organizer, person of faith, prison educator, family man, and artist—presents a unique opportunity to bring together people from all walks of life, all of whom will see a part of their own story in Hamza’s. Tapping into the leadership and energy of youth movements and interfaith networks, Taylor and nonprofit media strategy company Active Voice are building an ambitious campaign that will use New Muslim Cool to open conversations about faith, race, class and culture; inspire new community and civic engagement; and strengthen coalitions across identity lines.
 
New Muslim Cool has a multi-faceted distribution plan which leverages both new, innovative methods along with traditional routes of sales and release.
 
Viral Distribution and Social Networking
New Muslim Cool already has a strong following on the Facebook, with nearly 1600 fans and counting. Taylor is using the Facebook to generate an organic word-of-mouth campaign leading up to the broadcast premiere. She is also serially releasing clips and deleted scenes from the film to encourage users to regularly return to the New Muslim Cool YouTube channel.
 
National Partnerships
To ensure broad reach for the film, Taylor and Active Voice are developing strategic partnerships for the national roll-out. Partners will help build the profile of the campaign, get the word out to their members and networks, and host or co-sponsor events in select communities. Confirmed partners include The Center for Asian-American Media, The Hip Hop Summit Action Network, The Inner-City Muslim Action Network, The Interfaith Youth Core, The National Coalition-Building Institute, The Pluralism Project, and Voto Latino.
 
Festivals and Sneak Preview Screenings
Several high-profile sneak preview screenings are scheduled for New York, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, San Diego, Los Angeles, Sioux Falls, and Chicago. Taylor and Active Voice are continuing to schedule additional premieres via an online contest that is encouraging fans of the film to enter to win the opportunity to host these special sneak preview events, many of which will feature appearances by Taylor and/or Hamza Pérez, helping to build buzz around the film in advance of its national broadcast.

Public Television
New Muslim Cool has been chosen as the Opening Night film in the 2009 season of the acclaimed PBS series P.O.V., and on June 23, millions of viewers across America with have the opportunity to watch the film. Taylor and Active Voice are developing materials to support viewing parties of the film on the night of the broadcast, providing opportunities for dialogue in communities across America.

Campus and Educational Use
Drawing on New Muslim Cool’s incredible youth appeal, Taylor and Active Voice are working with The Interfaith Youth Core, Voto Latino and other youth-focused national partner organizations to develop campus screenings at colleges and universities before, during, and long after the P.O.V. broadcast. Screenings are already scheduled to take place at U.C.L.A. and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, with numerous other possibilities in the works.

Strategic Long-Term Applications
Taylor is working with Active Voice to identify strategic long-term applications for the film. They have already begun to develop partnerships with organizations interested in using the film to educate both the public and law enforcement officials about profiling and surveillance.