Mutli- Nominated feature film THE COBBLER'S WIFE 

A lonely, almost childlike cobbler, secretly builds the perfect woman in the back of his store.

 

This film was my ode to Baltimore. Baltimore is where I learned a lot of my art of filmmaking. Working with great Director Of Photography Seth Herzog and I teamed up for a feature film and made THE COBBLER'S WIFE. Thank you to Clarke Shoe repair Express in Bel Air MD for allowing us to use his store for some scenes. They're such great people. I am thankful baltimore helped us also Brewers art the same place THE WIRE was filmed and many others. Thank you so much we filmed this movie with $14,975 in 7 days.  Press kit below

Executive Summary

The Cobbler’s Wife

Writer/Director - Isma’il Bronson

Executive Producer - Isma’il Bronson

Director Of Photography - Seth Herzog 

Producer- Isma’il Bronson, Travis Persick

Composer- Davide Pericio

Production: Three Hundred One Motion Pictures, Revival Studios

Location: Maryland, US

Cast, Daniella Ochman, Loralee Tyson (The Deuce, HBO), Gabriella Scott, CeCelia Brit (Oceans 11 Warner Bros, Charm City Kings HBO), JUSTIN ZOJE ORATOKHAI, Ki Lenice

Budget: SAG-AFTRA MICRO BUDGET

Run time: 60min

Genre:  Psychological/Thriller/sci-fi/Romance 

Logline: A lonely, almost childlike cobbler, secretly builds the perfect woman in the back of his store.

Synopsis: A lonely Cobbler Arthur secretly builds the perfect woman in the back of his store. The life size doll he builds is named Norah. The perfect robotic doll is supposed to reflect his idea of the perfect woman as he has a terrible relationship with his alcoholic mother due to his father passing away who she thought is the perfect man and takes it out on Arthur. The doll caters to all his needs and does not speak and expresses itself through dance. One day Arthur receives the perfect heels to finally complete his doll from a customer named Rachel who gives him perfect sparkling heels. Rachel soon discovers the robotic doll as Arthur keeps deceiving her the reason why she does not have her heels back yet. This causes massive conflict in Arthur as he starts falling for Rachel and not the doll anymore trying to fulfill his heart.

 

Characters: 

 

Arthur - A lonely son of a deceased master Cobbler who fixes shoes in his family owned shop for a living while taking care of his alcoholic mother. 

 

Norah - A robotic doll that was built by Arthur of his idea of a perfect woman. She wears a wedding dress and a wedding veil to cover her face. 

 

Rachel - Customer that came in the shoe repair store to get her heels cleaned up before her work event. She fell for Arthur’s charm as he was really nice to her. She’s very forgiving. 

 

Josephine - Rachel’s friend and coworker who is also attending the work event. She dislikes the relationship between Rachel and Arthur from the beginning 

 

Arthur’s Mother - Arthur mom is an alcoholic who is a widow. She lost her husband years ago due to him overworking himself. She since then stopped working and made Arthur take care of her and the store.

 

Directors Statement by Ismāʿīl Q. Bronson

 

Why make this movie? Why now?

 

As they say don’t write movies to the market. This film was made after a previous project didn’t go through. I was tired of African American actors not having our own cinema outside of a lot of type casting roles. We can do more. Despite how many successes there are in Hollywood, we fall staggering below in diversity of projects, funding, and distribution. I wanted to show we can have something a little more artistry.  I thought this film was a good film for a first one that was in a contained budget with what I had access to. The Cobbler’s Wife in a nutshell is a movie about domestic violence. I didn’t want the audience to blame women and get that message. The doll, Norah, doesn’t speak for this reason. 

 

There wasn’t any special reason as to why this particular issue, it’s something I find interesting. I like stories that are about who you are when you’re alone. There is a lot to unpack in this film about Arthur’s character and I enjoy darker sophisticated conversations. I have these conversations often in my everyday life as an observer of the world and how things work. 

 

I wanted a film where black people can be shown in artistic cinematic ways, and a sophisticated story. I got two things going for me that I wanted to see. Some people will say this is a romance, but I don’t see it that way. I see it more of a conversation about romance, but nothing romantic about Arthur’ or Rachel’s relationship. Cinema to me is a way you can reflect on our lives and have a conversation. That’s what makes people want to see your film. 

 

How did you make a movie? 

 

Film is a mathematical equation. I read over 20 production novels, volumes, talk to PGA, WGA, and DGA members over the course of 2 years before this film to get as much information as possible. A lot of people believe just because they have the money they can make a movie. They’re wrong, let me explain. Most independent filmmakers make a movie and you never see it again. Simply put, it never made it past post production. A lot of films also never pass pre-production either. You hold out as long as possible until everything is set up before spending a dime. From experience watching other indie filmmakers. I have seen people spend 30K and not have a drop of footage made. I have been on sets where they make a film and it’s never completed. This is a problem from 0 dollars to 100M dollars as many big titles get canceled all the time.  Films to me are a mathematical equation through and through. I believe not seeing it this way is a problem. You have accountants, line producers, and payroll services. There are more ways to foresaw money running out. I grinded out every possibility to fit the production into budget, especially a micro budget film to make every cent as powerful as it can with what we have. Experience is a big plus too as everyone is experienced on crew/cast. We all knew a goal and reached it together. 

 

I put together the top sheet, payroll, hiring, location scouting, phone calls, casting, editing, sound team, marketing and more. I put this film in a time limit for each phase of production. Filmmakers are used to working on a film for as long as possible. I want to go to the next level and the next level, your distributors, investors and other players want to know when is the film finished? 

 

My goals were simple. I had the film on a conveyor belt spearheading each phase of production on my business plan to see how much time is needed. 

 

• Writing March 2023- production (7 re-writies) 
• Business plan, copyright, other, continues
• Casting September 2023 - October 2023 (over 1,000 submissions)
• Hiring August 2023- production (1,000hrs min) 

 

• Production Nov 13-19th (75 hours)

 

• Post Dec 1st- Jan 15th 2024 (500 hours)

 

• Marketing continues 2024 

 

Once we were on set Travis took my directory, sent emails out for me, handled businesses, did call sheets, everything else, and saved me so much stress. Couldn’t of asked for anyone better to work with. 

 

Location(s), how did you get them? 

 

We used a total of 5 locations. We only paid for the airbnb. We filmed at the same restaurant HBO filmed THE WIRE many years ago! Ask nicely and people open their doors. I tell filmmakers here Maryland is the blue ocean for filmmaking. Unmarked water to grow yourself. Not much is shot here, but tons of talented filmmakers! That’s your ocean.

 

Why does Norah never speak?

Norah is a mechanical doll that is built to service Arthur. Arthur is a lonely man with a lot of problems. In order for me to convince the audience that Norah is doing what he wants it was easier to take away as much anatomy as possible so the audience does not blame her for Arthur’s issue as that isn’t what the story is conveying. Norah does dance to express herself. Gabriella Scott is an amazing artist and I cannot thank her enough for taking this role. 

 

                               -    

 

 

5/23/2024 

Movie Premier Greenbelt Maryland 

“The Overall direction after the dark twist felt very Jordan Peele” 

“There is a lot of passion and dedication in this film”

-The Black Stubs 2024

 

7/15/2024

Columbia Film Festival 

9/7/2024 

Prince Georges Film Festival 

 

 

Key Crew

 

Ismāʿīl Q. Bronson

Writer/Director/ Producer and Executive Producer. Founder of Three Hundred One Motion Pictures LLC

 

An African American filmmaker multi nominated in the international film market. Extremely passionate about creating new stories and a space for African American story telling. Roughly less than 6% of directors,writers, or producers are African Americans. This is a glaring issue across the board of media spectrum and he’s determined to make a change spearheading his production company, which is to represent the area he grew up in the 301 silver spring, Maryland. Featured in TIME magazine for standing against injustice. Currently spearheading the production company straight into the market to focus on his audience in a way not done before.

 

Travis Persick 

 Producer/1st Assistant Director/ Production Coordinator 

 

An amazing filmmaker that came onto the scene after graduating from Towson university in 2023. First year down multiple feature film movies, commercials, and short films. Travis has a reputation for being on time, ready to get the work done, and an amazing teammate. Travis helped organize day to day operations on this production. 

 

Seth Herzog

Director Of Photography/Cinematographer 

 

Seth Herzog grew up in the theater as both parents are teachers of stageplay, lighting theaters, and acting. Seth understands chemistry and has a reputation of being a great role player to any film. Seth hired all of camera and GnE for this production. Seth is a non- binary teammate who is a great friend for lending their abilities to this production

 

Phoenix Steele 

Wardrobe Hair and Makeup

 

10+ years of experience in SFX hair and over 8 in wardrobe. Phoenix has done theater, commercials, films and more. She brings fire to the sets as a switch blade to the set with multi problem solving skills for actors and various tasks on set. Phoenix was the mom on set as she helped prepare meals on set during lunch and was absolutely an amazing asset to production. 

 

Andrew Auten

Re-Recorder/Foley/Sound Design

 

Andrew has been a guitarist for multiple bands such as Halequin and The Secrets We Keep with hundreds of shows and multiple ep’s released.  After years of playing in bands, Andrew formed Revival Sound Studios and has worked on multiple video game and film titles and continues to dive deeper into the rich arts of game and film sound design. In his free time he spends time with his wife and daughter and is a RTS game fanatic.

 

Davide Perico 

Composer

 

Davide is multi-instrumentalist based in Milano, Italy, with over 30 years of experience as film and game composer, sound designer and producer. His soundtracks have won many international awards.He's an important lo-fi artist with millions of streams and an award-winning CG artist and director, therefore he has a 360 ° knowledge of the audio-video world.

 

Morris Northcutt

2x Grammy nominated Trumpet Soloist

 

Morris Northcutt is known for his lyricism, artistry and ability to cross the boundary between classical and jazz, a result of decades of craft with both the trumpet and the cornet. This Global Music Award Medal Winner, and Schilke Solo Performing Artist, has shared the stage with a wide range of diverse performance groups. From Critical Mass Big Band, Mannheim Steamroller,  and The Blues Brothers Reunion Band, to Federal Way Chorale, Seattle Symphony Chamber Orchestra and Tacoma Symphony, Northcutt’s list of collaborations is endless.

 

Northcutt’s rich freelance career has seen him play everywhere, from locally, to internationally in Canada, South America and Europe. In both 2014 and 2017, Northcutt performed as a guest soloist with Denis Gautier Big Band in Southern France. And in 2018 he toured Ireland with the Tacoma Concert Band as a featured soloist. 2019 then saw him complete a solo tour of concerts and recitals in Ireland that included an appearance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

 

Northcutt has been the lead trumpet player for legendary jazz saxophonist Pete Christlieb and his Tall and Small Big Band as well.  He also continues to play as principal cornetist for the internationally recognized Tacoma Concert Band, a position he has held for over 20 years. 

 Morris Northcutt

(Ismāʿīl Q. Bronson, JUSTIN ZOJE ORATOKHAI, Seth Herzog)

 

Full Credits of Cast and Crew

Cast

Justin Oratokhai Arthur

Ki Lenice Rachel

Gabriella Scott Norah

CeCelia Birt Arthurs Mom

Daniella Ochman Josephine

Loralee Tyson CEO

Isma'il Q. Bronson Paramedic

PRODUCER(S)

Travis Persick

Isma'il Bronson

Production Coordinator

Travis Persick

First AD

Travis Persick

SCRIPT EDITOR

Nanoi Francis

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Seth Herzog

CAMERA DEPARTMENT

Jack Anglada 1st AC

Patrick Mcallistar 1st AC

Sara Maerten 2ND AC

Lauren Scott 2ND AC

Zhanna Snyder Camera PA

GRIP AND ELECTRIC

Karl Riemer Gaffer

Ben Toppi Key Grip

Justin Hyde Grip

MAKEUP HAIR AND WARDROBE

Phoniex Steele

SOUND OPERATORS

Pierre Daphcolly

Batya Rotherberg

POST PRODUCTION

FILM EDITOR, COLORIST

POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR

Isma'il Q. Bronson

REVIVAL SOUND STUDIOS

Composer

Davide Perico

Rerecording Mixer

Andrew Auten

Songs

Party Background Music

"Hold Me" Performed by Davide Perico, Jasmine Fields, Summerfields

Waltz

"Snow Flake Waltz" Performed by Davide Perico, Morris Northcutt

PERSONAL ASSISTANTS

Justin Hyde

Ben Guevara

Brandon On

Chidi Nwoga

Still Photography

Tobi Ajuwon

Akwasi Marty Abankroh

CASTING DIRECTOR

Isma'il Q. Bronson

Extras

Business Professionals

Vincent Bronson

Brandon On

Bryan Clarke

David Mukasa

Donella Harvey

Special Thanks to

Film Donors

Miguel Roa

Nanoi Francis

Kahleb Aberra

Alberto Torres

Eyuel Dagnchew

Gabriel Saryee

Justin Hackley

Nathaniel Logan

Ancha Jaiteh

Ben Guevara

Sherwen Triguero

Elizabeth Leik

Kelvin Exum

Zahar Alao

Ronald Nicholas

Annunciata Scott

J A Anglada

Dorothy Greehern

Jay Hack

Jessica Moore

Brannan W

Will Anglada

Demarcus Brooks

Sam Abangma

Tylar C

Marut Tangtrongwanit

and Anonymous

Special thanks to

Locations for sponsoring this film

Clarke's Express Shoe Repair, Bel Air MD

Brewers Art, Baltimore MD

Patterson Park, Baltimore MD

Z Vault, Bel Air MD

Filmed in Charm City Baltimore, Maryland

 

Production Houses 

301 Motion Pictures - Finance, Legal, Casting, Pre-Production, Production, Post Production, Marketing 

Revival Sound Studios - Sound Design, Foley, Composing, Mixing and Re-Recording 

 

Camera

Sony Fx6 with Mamiya645s

 

Applications

Certified Dolby Atmos Mixing Studio

Black Magic Design Davinci Resolve 

Break Down Services 

 

RED FACE: Logline

The United States is about to give up on crime infested Wing City (fictional city inspired from Baltimore, Maryland) and about to enforce martial law, so they’re sending S.W.A.N (special weapons and neutralization), but two hot headed siblings will do everything in their power good or bad to stop it. (crime/thriller)

 

Short