Montco baton maker creates replica for upcoming Bradley Cooper movie

All right, finally, at four, baton making is in Mark Horowitz's blood. From his basement in Ambler, he's molded delicate batons for famous conductors for decades. Then Hollywood came calling, and now this Montgomery County native's work will be on the big screen. When the prop team for Bradley Cooper's upcoming film, Maestro, was looking for an authentic Leonard Bernstein conductor baton, they turned their eyes to Ambler, Pennsylvania, specifically Mark Horowitz. His family is known for making conductor batons. In fact, his dad, Richard, was Bernstein's baton maker. When the props guy called me, I said, you know, I've been expecting your call. It was sort of natural. It wasn't a surprise to you? It wasn't a surprise. I mean, that speaks volumes about your work and also the legacy of your dad. Horowitz made seven replicas for Cooper, also a Philadelphia area native, but didn't know if they were ever used until about three weeks ago. And he said at the beginning of the movie, when Bernstein was not well known and much younger, they got a different baton. And then when Bernstein was older and better known, that's when they used mine. Horowitz makes the batons out of his basement, all crafted by hand, tapered to a tip with a circumference no larger than about 1 16th of an inch. It takes about two hours to do, then another couple hours to be painted by hand and then dry. It costs $100, but seeing his work and his dad's legacy on the big screen, he says, is priceless. When he sent the last four batons to the props guy, he brought the mailing tube up with him to see Jamie Bernstein. And he took out a baton and he handed it to her and she started crying because it was the baton that she grew up with and it was the baton that she knew that her dad used. It's nice that his legacy is, you know, continuing. And very cool to get to be a part of this. Now, Horowitz says he wasn't invited to the premiere in October, but he is very excited to see that film drop on Netflix. I was just saying to you, what a specific skill. I mean, and people from all over the world seek this man out and his dad before he passed away just for this. Incredible. Yeah, very cool. That'll do.