It is not every day that a prop master for a major film from one of the hottest streaming platforms calls a local Dresden business, but that is exactly what happened when Kip Bartlett of Apple Original Films reached out to Dresden & Company for help in producing 100 replica baskets for their movie “Emancipation”.
Bartlett wanted to contract an American company to create historically accurate baskets that would be used in a pivotal scene in the movie. He turned to nowhere else but America’s Basketmaking Capital, Dresden Ohio, and the Dresden & Company team who specializes in producing high-quality items for the home including baskets, pottery, food, leather bags, and more.
The D&Co. design team including Michael Kennedy, Andy Wolfe, and Ryan Lepi met with Bartlett and immediately got to work researching the attributes of baskets used in the cotton fields during the 1800s, the timeline in which the movie takes place. Bartlett also left an antique basket with the team to use for inspiration. Originally baskets of that time and use were made of white oak, but Dresden & Company baskets are typically crafted using maple, so adjustments had to be made to replicate the look of white oak baskets. Every detail was meticulously planned from how many baskets had cutout handles (which ended up being half) and how many had none, to the size (25 inches in diameter by 14 inches in height) to the inverted bottoms, and the wrapped band with a custom-made soft curve that mimicked the original basket perfectly.
When the movie’s prop team received the baskets they aged them by adding paint, mud, et cetera to show different levels of wear and portray a true-to-life depiction of what heavily used cotton picking baskets would actually look like.
“Emancipation” was released on December 2, 2022 in select theatres and later that month on Apple TV+. It can currently be streamed through an Apple TV subscription. The movie stars Will Smith, Ben Foster, and Mustafa Shakir, and was directed by award-winning director Antoine Fuqua and written by William N. Collage. The movie is inspired by a true story. It focuses on an enslaved man who risks his life to escape and return home to his family.
The Dresden & Company team is proud to have been chosen for such an important movie. “We feel it’s an important recognition for our extraordinary talents and the basketmaking legacy of Dresden, America’s Basketmaking Capital,” said D&Co. Founder Jim Lepi. “I’m so proud of our team and basketmakers.”
You can discover more about Dresden and Company by visiting them online at dresdenandcompany.com
