Saturday, May 20, 2023

FINAL CUT by Marjorie McCown

Jenn McKinlay: One thing I love about the writing community is the introductions from author to author. In this case, our friend Ellen Byron introduced me via email to Marjorie McCown, today's guest, and I was delighted when I read her post (I have a thing for hats, you know). But here's our guest to tell us more. Welcome, Marjorie!

Marjorie McCown: Many thanks to Jenn McKinlay and her Jungle Red colleagues for inviting me to be here today! 



     I began writing FINAL CUT, a murder mystery that takes place behind-the-scenes of a big budget Hollywood film in production, during the second year of the pandemic -- four years after I retired from the film industry. My protagonist, Joey Jessop, is a key costumer who finds the body of a murdered coworker on set and winds up having to investigate the crime in order to save herself. 

     I spent 27 years as a costumer and costume designer for movies, so setting my story within the professional community that I was part of for a quarter century gave me a lot of comfort as a fledgling author. But as I got farther into the process of writing the book, I realized there was a deeper meaning for me in the return to that familiar world than knowing the customs and vocabulary of the film industry back to front. 

Marjorie's Desk

     Writing became my comfort zone during those Covid years, an activity that not only occupied my creative mind but also helped soothe some of my social anxiety about being cut off from direct contact with so many of the people I love. And that's why revisiting my film career, at least in the pages of the book I was writing, became an important lifeline for me not only as creative inspiration, but as a way to console the part of me longing for connection. 

     There is a strong sense of community within the costuming profession. It's a job that requires the collaboration of many talented people working together as a team toward a common goal. That interdependence fosters lasting bonds with colleagues, many of whom become lifelong friends. For me, those relationships are the most enduring benefit from my film career. 

     One of my greatest hopes as I worked to make the transition from costuming to writing was to become part of a new creative community, though I didn't really know what to expect. I'd always viewed writing as a largely solitary profession, and of course there are hours spent sitting at the computer with only imaginary characters for company. But despite my debut author status, I've already been the beneficiary of great kindness from authors who have been welcoming and helpful -- again, many thanks to Jenn McKinlay for the opportunity to post on this wonderful blog and to Ellen Byron, who introduced us. 

     I do see significant parallels between the occupations of costuming and writing that hadn't necessarily occurred to me before I had a better view of both disciplines, beyond the obvious that they're both creative endeavors. Both have similar processes -- a lot of research accompanied by an obsessive quest to select the combination of elements that will produce the best work. 


     For a costumer, that might mean looking at 500 men's fedora hats at 6 different costume houses in addition to an exhaustive online search to find the perfectly proportioned hat for a character in one particular scene of the movie. 


     The writerly version of that quest is the continual hunt for the exact word or phrase that sparks the emotion we hope to stir in our reader or reveals the soul of one of our characters or propels our narrative forward. And that's one of the shared bonds throughout the writing and costuming communities, one of the most basic features that makes us all true colleagues. It is that obsession we all share as artists, that endless search for perfection. 

 Question for Readers: Do you believe you have an obsessive streak that fuels your work or any of your other interests or activities? 

Leave a comment and be entered in the random drawing for a signed copy of Final Cut (limited to the U.S.). 

ABOUT THE BOOK: FINAL CUT

Every day on a big-budget Hollywood movie in production is full of surprises, but the last thing key costumer Joey Jessop expected to find on the first day of shooting was the body of a murdered coworker. Because Joey found the body, and the victim was seeing her ex, she’s suspected of being the killer. The story soon blows up in the press and social media -- and Joey finds her well-ordered life in shambles. That's when things really start to go wrong for Joey and the movie as a series of dangerous mishaps interrupt the shoot. As circumstances spiral out of control, at work and at home, Joey is forced to take matters into her own hands to try to salvage her career, and to save her own life.


     Marjorie McCown spent 27 years working as a key member of the costume design teams for a string of successful movies that includes Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, The Firm, A Bronx Tale, Wag the Dog, The Aviator, Hairspray, Angels & Demons, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and X-Men Days of Future Past. Her debut murder mystery, FINAL CUT, is set behind-the-scenes of a blockbuster Hollywood movie in production. Marjorie is a member of Sisters-in-Crime and Mystery Writers of America. She lives in Southern California with her cats Monkey and Max.












58 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Marjorie, on your debut book . . . I’m looking forward to meeting Joey.

    Am I obsessive? Perhaps, but more likely it’s just me being stubborn . . . .

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    1. Thank you, Joan! I share your penchant for stubbornness -- I find it (mostly) an extremely useful quality . . .

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  2. Congrats on your book. I would love to read about some of what happens behind the scenes of making a movie. The only thing I'm obsessive about is I hate to be late for anything. I would rather be the first one there than late. Thank you for this chance at your giveaway. pgenest57 at aol dot com

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  3. 1. A need for escapism fuels my reading and writing. Is this an obsession?
    2. Question for Marjorie: since costuming is a visual occupation, does this carry over to your writing- do you see the scenes you're writing play out like a film, in your mind?

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    1. Thank you for this question because my work in film did influence my writing process. Breaking down the screenplays to chart the costume changes in the film, then later watching that film being created shot by shot on set taught me a lot about story structure. As a writer I'm an outliner, but I use that outline very much like the daily shot list for camera setups on a movie -- and when I'm writing, I always have the movie version playing in my head.

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  4. Comment above by Becky Sue Epstein

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  5. Congratulations, Marjorie, and welcome to the crime fiction community! (Ellen's the best, isn't she?) The new book and the series premise are perfect for an amateur sleuth.

    I found great respite in my writing during the worst part of the pandemic. Crafting fiction provided an escape and a comfort, a retreat into worlds I could actually control. I suppose my obsession is writing and more writing!

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    1. Thank you Edith, for your kind words! And I agree -- Ellen's absolutely fantastic!

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  6. This is going to be the perfect gift book for my niece who fell into costuming in college because she could sew and it was a campus job opportunity. Sewing on a few buttons as a freshman quickly expanded to costume design for some of the theater productions. Since graduating she has even done some costuming for a couple of small productions in Chicago as a side hustle. I am curious to know how you got your start in the Hollywood costuming industry.

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    1. Hi, Brenda! Like your niece, I started designing for theater and opera after I graduated from UVA with a theater degree and moved to NYC. I loved my work in theater but was also curious about film. I came out to Los Angeles to give that a try and was fortunate to connect with Ruth Myers, who was just beginning principal photography on the first "Addams Family." She hired me to assist her on the movie, and I continued to work with her for 2 years..

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  7. Oh, this is wonderful! I am so happy to begin a series right at book #1. The premise is terrific! I love to be reminded of costumes in movies. There are so many iconic pieces, like Indy's hat!

    Congratulations and best of luck on your debut, Marjorie. No one here is surprised at the encouragement and help you have received from the writing community. Their generosity is evident in the selfless way they introduce one another to readers and fans.

    I am sure that I am obsessive, probably over things that do not matter to anyone else. I think that is the nature of obsession.

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    1. Thank you, Judy, for your kind, encouraging words! And you are so right -- the writing community is filled with some of the most generous and kind -- as well as incredibly talented -- people I have ever met.

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  8. From Celia: I think introducing myself by starting my comments with my name may be a link to my obsessive behavior. I am so frustrated by Blogger. But that’s not the task at hand. It’s lovely to meet you Marjorie, congratulations and lots of luck in your new endeavor. As Judy said it’s great to start at the beginning of a series. But back to obsessive. I certainly have those traits, being on time, neatness and of course being organized. But I think it’s more about the project for me. An example which sprang to mind was finding nylon stockings with a seam. I was costuming Anne Frank for the local community theater and I wanted the correct hose for Mrs Frank! I found them too. Of course in reality she probably didn’t have hose while it hiding but a local reporter noticed and I did get a compliment in the paper. I do love the challenge.

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    1. Thank you, Celia, for your good wishes! I admire your persistence in sourcing those seamed stockings. And equally, I admire your attitude, embracing the challenge of that search. Kudos for your mention in the paper -- it's not always you have costumes singled out for praise in that way!

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  9. Marjorie, what a fun career, and so engrossing. The Tom & Lorenzo blog, formerly Project Rungay, used to recap Mad Men episodes. One of the bloggers had been a costumer, so they also analyzed every episode's costumes and set design for potential meanings and portents.

    Before reading these I had no idea how much visual shorthand and thought goes into every theatrical production, and how much it does to shape our perceptions. Those skills and your awareness of how this process works must be invaluable for writing, mysteries in particular. Do you agree?

    I never thought of it before, but I think I am a serial obsessor, with enthusiasms, one after another. For many years it was all things sewing, then I was consumed with plans for our new home. For the last four years it's been creating a garden.

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    1. Hi, Karen! Your insightful comment is right on target -- I think the kind of awareness and appreciation for the importance of detail that is essential in costume design (and many other professions about which I am less knowledgeable) is also essential in the crafting of any mystery plot.

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  10. Congratulations on your debut! I was reflecting yesterday on my career as a 9-1-1 dispatcher and supervisor because yesterday was 40 years since my hire date. I'm now happily retired. I don't think I would have made it through that job without a deep determination. So despite all my sins of omission and failure to follow-through in various areas of my life, there's a steely core that can just push through.

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    1. Hi, Gillian, and thank you! I can only imagine the grit and stamina (and compassion) it must have taken to do that job for so many years. You must have some amazing stories of your own to tell!

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  11. I definitely have an obsessive streak. When I played Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion, not only did I read the play constantly, watch the film with Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller, listen to a recording of the play, but I also read biographies of Shaw, and a book about the first production with Mrs. Patrick Campbell. When I started ballroom dancing, it was the same.

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    1. Hi, Elizabeth! I similarly found dedication to immersive research and study was key to understanding and creating the world inhabited by the characters of any play or movie I designed. I find that practice equally useful when I'm writing, to feel authentically connected with my characters and their circumstances.

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  12. Congratulations on your debut! I love finding new to me authors and this is one of the best places for that.

    I understand obsessiveness - a deep interest and engagement in some activity or another. I often feel sorry for folks who don't feel that way about anything. But perhaps they engage broadly rather than deeply and enjoy life just as much.

    Good luck with continued writing!

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    1. Thank you, JC! I'm with you -- I can't imagine living without that desire to engage so fully with a project. But then again, without people who are quite different from us, the world wouldn't be nearly such an interesting place!

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  13. The obsessive hunt for just the right word can lead to many unfinished manuscripts... But I do believe in the ability to suss out the wrong word when you see it. "It's what I wrote but it's not what I meant" should lead to rethinking, but not to hauling out the thesaurus! Congratulations on the book! How exciting, Marjorie. Now tell us what you're wearing to your book launch events!

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    1. Hi, Hallie! Thank you so much! I keep my closet edited to clothing pieces that I really love, because (as much as I love to plan everything else in my life) I prefer to see how I feel on any given day before I decide what I'm going to wear.

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  14. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 20, 2023 at 10:42 AM

    Oh, I am absolutely in love with this! A costume designer/stylist, that is fantastic! I bet you have a million stories… And we’d love love love to hear them. And we welcome you here with open arms.
    What are some your favorite costumes that you’ve ever seen in a movie or TV show ? For TV, I offer Outlander, and Lady Mary’s red dress in Downton Abbey. In movies? The Devil wears Prada and Working Girl. What are yours?
    So wonderful to see you here today!

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    1. Hank, thank you so much! I love your picks for both TV and film! For TV I have to say for me it's hard to top the inventive fun fashions of Sex and the City. And then for opulent fantasy, Game of Thrones. In movies, I will always be thrilled by the vision of Glinda the Good Witch in the Wizard of Oz -- and the design for that whole movie is pretty extraordinary. And then for the sheer beauty and artistry of meticulous detail -- Memoirs of a Geisha.

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    2. Oh, yes yes yes to all! Sex and the CIty--yes! (nd talk about dressing each individual, right?) And whoa, Game of Thrones, I was constantly in awe.

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  15. Congratulations on your debut mystery, Marjorie and welcome to JRW!

    Whenever I learn about a new subject that interests me, I can become "obsessive" for a while. In the Fifth Grade, my class received a visit from French teachers. I learned a few words like "cinq" for Five in the French language. I was so interested in learning the language for a while.

    Another big interest was movies. At that time many movies had NO captions unless I went to see a Foreign Language film with my family, If I wanted to know about American films, I would read movie magazines to get some idea of what the movie was about. Sometimes they would have a line of dialogue from the movie.

    Diana

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    1. Hi, Diana, and thank you! Your comment is so interesting -- you make me think back to my own grade school days and to interests like learning to play the piano and to knit that absorbed me at the time. I wonder if we're born with that kind of focused curiosity, especially when it shows up so early in life.

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  16. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 20, 2023 at 10:43 AM

    Oh, and now I’m thinking of something else. How do you “dress“ your characters in your novels? What secrets from your career do you use? How much focus do you have on what people are wearing?

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    1. That is a great question! I approach dressing my characters on the page very much like I did when I was a costume designer, because costume design is about using clothing to help tell a story -- about a particular set of characters in a particular situation at a particular point in time. That's what sets costume design apart from fashion design. The clothing (hopefully) provides cues to the character's inner life as well as any practical considerations -- such as profession, economic status, etc. I still find that analytical process endlessly interesting and entertaining.

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  17. As a librarian my love for analyzing and digging for answers came in quite handy. And if there were those who shortened the first to anal… I always enjoy learning through reading and the life of a costumer sounds very interesting. Congratulations on the book baby. I look forward to reading it.

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    1. Hi, Becca! Thanks for the congratulations -- and also for making me laugh out loud! Yes, I too find that being anal - ytical is often beneficial.

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  18. A bit of OCD is rather helpful as a painter.

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    1. Hi Libby! I'll bet that's very true, and I'd really love to hear more about your process!

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  19. Marjorie, congratulations on the publication of FINAL CUT! I'll be looking at your answer to hank, because I always notice what characters are wearing in books (as well as in film) and I'm always curious as to how other authors make those costuming decisions.

    You're right in that all of us sit at our desks alone while working, but we're a very collegial group. You'd be surprised at the number of authors who have a background in theater - I suspect some of us are driven to perform every part, and to be the director, scene designer, and costumier at the same time.

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    1. Hi, Julia, and thank you for your good wishes! I will say that as much as I enjoyed working with a group of talented collaborators -- director, other designers, the actors, etc. -- in both theater and film, there's a great deal of satisfaction when, as an author, one is in control of the entire mise en scene!

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  20. Congratulations Marjorie on your book. I am so looking forward to reading it. I had the privilege of hearing you speak recently at my local library, West Valley regional, and you and the other two costume designers were so fascinating. It truly made watching the Oscars so much more interesting. I am looking forward to reading your book in October with my library book club.

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    1. Hi, April! I just loved being part of that event! Didn't we have fun that day -- it was such a warm, wonderful group of people, I enjoyed every minute! Thank you for your kind words; I am very much looking forward to returning to the library to talk with your book club and your fantastic librarian, Daryl Maxwell!

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  21. I love this post, Marjorie, and am so looking forward to reading FINAL CUT. Love Hollywood mysteries - always and forever!

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    1. Jenn, I can't thank you enough for this terrific opportunity and for the warmth and kindness you've shown me! I've been reading and enjoying the Jungle Red blog for years, and it's a real honor to be invited to write a post.

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  22. I've mellowed out but in my younger years I wanted hard and fast answers not possibilities. I obviously didn't care much for philosophy class. The movies you've worked on are fabulous! My son had an Indiana Jones fedora. I think he wore out two of them. I love the clothes on the Phrynne Fisher series and Mrs Maisel. I can't wait to read Final Cut! Does that refer to the movie or the costume construction?

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    1. Hi, Pat, and thanks for such a fun question! I wish I could claim I came up with the title; Madeline Rathle at Crooked Lane Books suggested it. But I think it's that play on meaning you pointed out that makes the title so fitting -- no pun intended.

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  23. Congratulations Marjorie. A wonderful post which I enjoyed. I am not obsessive but very interested in reading which can take over everything else in life if I allow it to.

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    1. Thank you so much! I feel the same when it comes to reading -- I wouldn't be a writer if I weren't in love with reading, which has been my main and favorite form of entertainment throughout my life.

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  24. Congratulations on your debut book, Marjorie! I love expanding my knowledge of different careers, and costuming in Hollywood has so many ways it could be fascinating. What does happen to most of the costume items from a movie or show after it's over. I'm sure some of the most famous ones must be preserved, but how does even that occur?

    Me, obsessive? I certainly was in my academics, starting in junior high and lasting through my Masters. I've chilled in my older years, but I do think I probably obsess over my book reviews a bit much.

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    1. Hi, Kathy and thank you! The costumes for a movie are "held" in reserve until the movie is released, even if they have been rented from a costume house like Western Costume Company, one of the big independent rental houses. After the movie is released, any rental items are returned to their owners. Costumes that have been made or purchased specifically for the movie are the property of the producing entity, whether that is a studio or some smaller independent production company. Studios will often add those costumes to their costume rental stock or archives -- or sell them to rental houses or consignment stores that specialize in movie memorabilia. Independent production companies will nearly always sell off the inventory from a movie.

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    2. Thanks for this information, Marjorie! I read a mystery about a vintage Hollywood movie store last year, and it was interesting about the items they had, clothing and props.

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  25. Congrats on your debut!

    The things I obsess over aren't related to my job, unfortunately. They have more to do with hobbies than that.

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    1. Thank you, Mark! I think being passionate about hobbies can be beneficial to our work. Outside interests can bring us balance along with a larger view of the world.

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  26. Marjorie, so happy to read your post! Your career is absolutely fascinating. I hope this book is the first of many because I know you have more great stories to tell. As to being obsessive, with me it's a case of always feeling I don't deserve to relax because there's something else to do, whether's it personal, like cleaning out drawers, or professional, like writing. I'm haunted by guilt!

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    1. Thank you so much -- I really appreciate your words of support! I believe I may know what you mean about feeling like you always have to be doing something productive. I have some of that, too. But I think we owe it to ourselves to try to let go of that tension and guilt -- at least give ourselves a break from it. When we relax, that's when our imaginations are most open to the possibilities all around us.

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  27. Yes, I can be obsessive. When I started reading the Tarzan series as a teen, I looked up everything mentioned in the books in the encyclopedia. I follow Renee Patrick's series with Edith Head as co-sleuth so your book sounds interesting.

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    1. Thanks so much, Sally! I love that series, too!

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  28. I have been homeschooling for a long time and even today when my daughter will be graduating high school next year and I am still obsessed with provided her with the best. Not only do I want to provide her a great education but I also want to provide her the proper socialization so she can grow into a balanced adult. It truly is a labor of love but it can also be draining. Congratulations on your debut!

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