Snow on tha Bluff’s executive producer, Michael K. Ultimately, the film’s widespread appeal can be, at least in part, attributed to marketing Tha Bluff within a hyperreal framework following the film’s mainstream DVD and digital streaming release. Despite its controversial subject and non-conventional narrative, Snow on tha Bluff was the most watched film on Netflix Instant on September 11, 2012. Snow on tha Bluff premiered at the 2011 Slamdance festival, and gained widespread distribution on June 19, 2012, making it available on DVD, digital download, and instant steaming via Netflix, iTunes, and Amazon.
Shortly after, Russell and Snow constructed a lightly fictionalized narrative around Snow’s footage and began shooting dramatized scenes. The project began when Curtis Snow contacted director Damon Russell, requesting help editing hours of raw footage documenting his everyday life. Snow steals the kids’ video camera and begins filming his daily activities in the Bluff.
The film begins with Snow robbing robbing three young people, who obviously don’t come from the Bluff, attempting to buy drugs. Tha Bluff seamlessly combines raw footage with dramatized scenes, following real life crack dealer and stickup man, Curtis Snow. Atlanta’s most dangerous neighborhood, the Bluff, acronym for “Better Leave You Fucking Fool,” is the setting for Netflix-described “hyperreal gangster drama,” Snow on tha Bluff (2011).