The Martial Arts Kid from producers James Wilson and Cheryl Wheeler and starring martial arts legends Cynthia Rothrock and Don ‘The Dragon Wilson, is a film that aims to tackle the subject of bullying and a responsible training in and use of martial arts.
Due to the important subject matter and through their many years work in the industry, the team were also able to assemble a dizzying amount of appearances by legendary and acclaimed masters and grandmasters of martial arts.
GERRY BLANCK, PETE “SUGARFOOT” CUNNINGHAM, JEFF SMITH, OLANDO RIVERA, CHRISTINE BANNON RODRIGUES, DEWEY "BLACK KOBRA” COOPER and many many more.
The film is now getting a theatrical release on both coasts which is great news!
The details are below:
The details are below:
New York
Friday September 18th
The Anthology Film Archives
Theatre: Maya Deren Theatre (street level)
Time: 5PM SHOWING
Address: 32 second ave New York, New York 10003
Sunday September 20th
The Anthology Film Archives
Theatre: Court House Theatre (2nd floor)
Time: 4PM SHOWING
Address: 32 second ave New York, New York 10003
Los Angeles
Friday Septemeber 18th
Theatre: The Downtown Independent
Time: 7:30PM SHOWING
Address: 251 South Main St. Los Angeles, CA 90012
Saturday & Sunday SHOWINGS TBA
GET TICKETS HERE
TRADITIONZ ENTERTAINMENT PresentsFriday September 18th
The Anthology Film Archives
Theatre: Maya Deren Theatre (street level)
Time: 5PM SHOWING
Address: 32 second ave New York, New York 10003
Sunday September 20th
The Anthology Film Archives
Theatre: Court House Theatre (2nd floor)
Time: 4PM SHOWING
Address: 32 second ave New York, New York 10003
Los Angeles
Friday Septemeber 18th
Theatre: The Downtown Independent
Time: 7:30PM SHOWING
Address: 251 South Main St. Los Angeles, CA 90012
Saturday & Sunday SHOWINGS TBA
GET TICKETS HERE
THE MARTIAL ARTS KID
Directed by Michael Baumgarten
Starring

DON ‘THE DRAGON’ WILSON CYNTHIA ROTHROCK
JANSEN PANETTIERE KATHRYN NEWTON
MATTHEW ZIFF T.J. STORM
CHUCK ZITO BRANDON TYLER RUSSELL
Synopsis
Robbie (Jansen Panettiere), an Ohio teen with an attitude, moves in with his Aunt (Cynthia Rothrock) and Uncle (Don “The Dragon” Wilson) in sunny Florida. Robbie soon meets Rina (Kathryn Newton), but her boyfriend, Bo, the town bully (Matthew Ziff), beats Robbie down just for talking to his girl. Bo is a student at Dojo Extreme, a mixed martial art gym run by a fierce coach named Kaine (T.J. Storm) who trains his students that “Mite Makes Right.” This type of training goes against traditional
martial art philosophies.
Robbie and Rina are destined to be together, but Robbie must fight to prove himself before that can happen. In this beachside town, Bo & his tough friends run things their way until Robbie learns martial arts, stands up to the bullies, and defends Rina and the citizens of the community.
How the Martial Arts Kid came to be
While in Detroit to film expo footage for Don “The Dragon” Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock, director Michael Baumgarten met martial artist & actor TJ Storm. Michael thought it would be great to work with him on a movie. Around the same time, Don’s brother (James Wilson) told Michael that he wanted him to do a treatment (aka outline) for a martial arts movie with a family film theme and, that he wanted to film it in his and Don’s hometown of Cocoa Beach, Florida.
Michael created a detailed 10-page treatment about a teen nephew in crisis, needing a second chance, and having martial arts be the catalyst for a better life.
To get a jump on filming locations, Michael visited Cocoa Beach.
Months later, Michael returned to Cocoa Beach for open casting calls and additional location scouting.
The local turn-out was so amazing that Michael wrote in a scene to showcase two hundred extras in a martial art demonstration as “thanks” for showing up and wanting to be part of the movie.
In LA, casting directors Jerry Wolff and Kristine Nite brought in actor Jansen Panettiere.
Several days before filming it’s revealed that James Wilson’s 45 day Kickstarter campaign went over its $150,000 goal.
After a 2-year journey, the first day of filming The Martial Arts Kid finally arrived.
The Martial Arts Kid was shot in 14 days – with 6 filming days in Florida and 8 filming days in Los Angeles. Once the movie was nearly picture-locked, the editor and the director came up with a list of additional photography and 1 day of pickups was added. The movie was shot on a pair of Canon C300 HD cameras with some GoPro shots added.
Robbie and Rina are destined to be together, but Robbie must fight to prove himself before that can happen. In this beachside town, Bo & his tough friends run things their way until Robbie learns martial arts, stands up to the bullies, and defends Rina and the citizens of the community.
While in Detroit to film expo footage for Don “The Dragon” Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock, director Michael Baumgarten met martial artist & actor TJ Storm. Michael thought it would be great to work with him on a movie. Around the same time, Don’s brother (James Wilson) told Michael that he wanted him to do a treatment (aka outline) for a martial arts movie with a family film theme and, that he wanted to film it in his and Don’s hometown of Cocoa Beach, Florida.
To get a jump on filming locations, Michael visited Cocoa Beach.
Months later, Michael returned to Cocoa Beach for open casting calls and additional location scouting.
The local turn-out was so amazing that Michael wrote in a scene to showcase two hundred extras in a martial art demonstration as “thanks” for showing up and wanting to be part of the movie.
In LA, casting directors Jerry Wolff and Kristine Nite brought in actor Jansen Panettiere.
Several days before filming it’s revealed that James Wilson’s 45 day Kickstarter campaign went over its $150,000 goal.
After a 2-year journey, the first day of filming The Martial Arts Kid finally arrived.
Below is the trailer and we strongly urge everyone in either New York or Los Angeles to support this movie!
