CINCH: A peek behind the psychological curtain of the fashion modeling industry.
CINCHED, formerly SMIZE, was nominated for Best Short Screenplay Nominee at 2024 Austin Horror Film Festival.
LOGLINE:
A last-minute replacement model gets fitted by a world-renowned designer but, with five-minutes to places, there’s no time to alter the clothes to her body…so he alters the body to fit the clothes.
SYNOPSIS:
A model books a last minute gig to work with one of the world's top designers. During her fitting, moments before hitting the runway, the mysterious, silent-genius designer is unhappy with how the garment falls on her. When he pulls out the scissors, the last thing she expects him to alter is her own body.
It would’ve been horrifying, except for how pleased the designer looks… What girl wouldn’t do anything for an opportunity like this? When she hits the runway, the audience is obsessed.
They don’t see the scars - to them, she is perfect. When she returns to the dressing room and sees all the other models around her, she realizes this is what success looks like.
WRITER’S STATEMENT
By Arielle Beth Klein
In high school I had my growth spurt. A male classmate would repeat to me daily “ you should be a model!” My response was always “no, it’s a toxic industry” - how did I know then? Maybe it was episodes of America’s Next Top Model or articles about diets and women’s bodies in Tiger Beat Magazine.
When I moved to New York after college to pursue a career in the arts, I got scouted by a photographer. He saw something in me. He thought I was beautiful. It felt good. We got to work on portfolio photos. After each photoshoot he would always give me advice...lose weight, pluck this, fix that. One day he took a tape measure and measured from the top of my shoulder to the middle of my breast: “your nipple is too low - it should sit here” - and he pulled my breast up to a perky, perfect spot. I believed him.
In my 30s now, I look back and think - how did that teen who knew the dangers of this industry get so sucked in to where I actually thought this photographer was helping me?
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
By Ally Musmeci
The fashion and modeling industry is one of the least regulated in the world. Most modeling gigs are unpaid– whether just a day player for a studio session or walking for Gucci, Prada, or LV. Models have no HR departments to protect them, no unions to fight for them, and the industry has made little effort in the last century to update its standards or safeguard the well-being of its artists.
Most models we’ve spoken to, of all intersectionalities, have a story of the day they were manipulated, dismissed, and dehumanized by the designers and advertisers who only see them as props, not people — living mannequins molded to fit someone else’s vision. This industry needs to change to fight for the models who ultimate represent us, and how diversifying that representation matters. How manipulated these models are, usually femmes and women, to feel less than, unworthy of praise or even food. Our mission is to begin a long overdue conversation about the expectations models are held to. They aren’t just unachievable- they’re impossible.
GOALS:
This short is a snippet of what’s to come. We have a feature in development that will be ready alongside this proof of concept as pitch materials for future investors.
ARIELLE BETH KLEIN
BIO
Arielle Beth Klein (she/her) is a Jewish, queer, New York City-based actor, writer, and teaching artist. She has performed off-Broadway and regionally, notably in New Yiddish Rep's Drama Desk-nominated production of Death of a Salesman in Yiddish and as Sarah in the festival award-winning production of Observant. Her TV/Film credits include A Good Cop (NTD Network), The Red Shoe (World Premiered at Oscar-qualifying Flickers RIIF, Best Actress Award at AMT Int’l Film Festival), and PicMe (Best Actress in a Short Award at Couch Film Festival). As a writer, Arielle's published solo play My Shiksa Boyfriend has been produced multiple times, most recently at the United Solo Theater Festival in 2022. Her short film Tired Mind, which she wrote and starred in, garnered selections at eight film festivals in 2022. Arielle has developed her work at Naked Angels NYC, F.A.B at TBG, and New Ambassadors Theater Lab. She is an instructor at The Barrow Group Theater Company and Training Program and the founder of Jampel Productions, an independent production company that tells stories with soul. Much of her written work centers around themes of Jewish identity, mental health advocacy, and gritty, human experiences.
Cinch
- Short Film
- Producer: Arielle Beth Klein
- Writer: Arielle Beth Klein
-
CINCH: A peek behind the psychological curtain of the fashion modeling industry.
CINCHED, formerly SMIZE, was nominated for Best Short Screenplay Nominee at 2024 Austin Horror Film Festival.
LOGLINE:
A last-minute replacement model gets fitted by a world-renowned designer but, with five-minutes to places, there’s no time to alter the clothes to her body…so he alters the body to fit the clothes.
SYNOPSIS:
A model books a last minute gig to work with one of the world's top designers. During her fitting, moments before hitting the runway, the mysterious, silent-genius designer is unhappy with how the garment falls on her. When he pulls out the scissors, the last thing she expects him to alter is her own body.
It would’ve been horrifying, except for how pleased the designer looks… What girl wouldn’t do anything for an opportunity like this? When she hits the runway, the audience is obsessed.
They don’t see the scars - to them, she is perfect. When she returns to the dressing room and sees all the other models around her, she realizes this is what success looks like.
WRITER’S STATEMENT
By Arielle Beth Klein
In high school I had my growth spurt. A male classmate would repeat to me daily “ you should be a model!” My response was always “no, it’s a toxic industry” - how did I know then? Maybe it was episodes of America’s Next Top Model or articles about diets and women’s bodies in Tiger Beat Magazine.
When I moved to New York after college to pursue a career in the arts, I got scouted by a photographer. He saw something in me. He thought I was beautiful. It felt good. We got to work on portfolio photos. After each photoshoot he would always give me advice...lose weight, pluck this, fix that. One day he took a tape measure and measured from the top of my shoulder to the middle of my breast: “your nipple is too low - it should sit here” - and he pulled my breast up to a perky, perfect spot. I believed him.
In my 30s now, I look back and think - how did that teen who knew the dangers of this industry get so sucked in to where I actually thought this photographer was helping me?
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
By Ally Musmeci
The fashion and modeling industry is one of the least regulated in the world. Most modeling gigs are unpaid– whether just a day player for a studio session or walking for Gucci, Prada, or LV. Models have no HR departments to protect them, no unions to fight for them, and the industry has made little effort in the last century to update its standards or safeguard the well-being of its artists.
Most models we’ve spoken to, of all intersectionalities, have a story of the day they were manipulated, dismissed, and dehumanized by the designers and advertisers who only see them as props, not people — living mannequins molded to fit someone else’s vision. This industry needs to change to fight for the models who ultimate represent us, and how diversifying that representation matters. How manipulated these models are, usually femmes and women, to feel less than, unworthy of praise or even food. Our mission is to begin a long overdue conversation about the expectations models are held to. They aren’t just unachievable- they’re impossible.
GOALS:
This short is a snippet of what’s to come. We have a feature in development that will be ready alongside this proof of concept as pitch materials for future investors.
ARIELLE BETH KLEIN
BIO
Arielle Beth Klein (she/her) is a Jewish, queer, New York City-based actor, writer, and teaching artist. She has performed off-Broadway and regionally, notably in New Yiddish Rep's Drama Desk-nominated production of Death of a Salesman in Yiddish and as Sarah in the festival award-winning production of Observant. Her TV/Film credits include A Good Cop (NTD Network), The Red Shoe (World Premiered at Oscar-qualifying Flickers RIIF, Best Actress Award at AMT Int’l Film Festival), and PicMe (Best Actress in a Short Award at Couch Film Festival). As a writer, Arielle's published solo play My Shiksa Boyfriend has been produced multiple times, most recently at the United Solo Theater Festival in 2022. Her short film Tired Mind, which she wrote and starred in, garnered selections at eight film festivals in 2022. Arielle has developed her work at Naked Angels NYC, F.A.B at TBG, and New Ambassadors Theater Lab. She is an instructor at The Barrow Group Theater Company and Training Program and the founder of Jampel Productions, an independent production company that tells stories with soul. Much of her written work centers around themes of Jewish identity, mental health advocacy, and gritty, human experiences.