Costume Set Supervisor Dawn Leigh Climie Wraps Production on Amazon’s ‘The Man in the High Castle’

Leading costume set supervisor Dawn Leigh Climie wraps production on the highly anticipated series “The Man in the High Castle” and the film “Forsaken”

Online PR News � 09-November-2015 – Primetime Emmy Award nominee Dawn Leigh Climie, a renowned costume set supervisor, recently wrapped production on the first season of Amazon’s new series “The Man in the High Castle.”

The series, which stars Alexa Davalos (“Defiance,” “Clash of the Titans”), Rupert Evans (“The Village,” “Hellboy”), and Luke Kleintank (“Pretty Little Liars,” “Gossip Girl”), is slated to air on Nov. 20.

Set in 1962, the series, which is based on the Philip K. Dick novel of the same name, revolves around an alternate historical universe where the Axis Powers won WWII leading the U.S. to be divided into a region of Japanese controlled puppet states in the west, Nazi puppet states in the east, and a neutral buffer zone between the two.

Climie admits, “For me the scripts were intriguing and the story was fabulous, although disturbing in its possibilities. But the costumes, being a very subtle combination of period and fantasy, tracked with what happened to the cast in each episode, kept us on our toes as we helped create that believable world.”

As the costume set supervisor of the series, the continuity of each character’s costume from scene to scene fell on Climie’s shoulders, a challenging feat, but one that she is a proven master at accomplishing.

Besides keeping a watchful eye over each costume and tracking changes from shot to shot, she’s the one person ultimately responsible for ensuring that the costume designer’s vision for each character’s wardrobe was accurately represented on set.

“The Man in the High Castle” costume designer, Audrey Fisher (“True Blood”), says, “Working side-by-side with Dawn Climie as costume set supervisor totally changed my perspective on my on-set team. Her leadership, talent, creativity and grace under pressure allowed me to do my job as costume designer even more seamlessly And on set, a chaotic and exhausting work environment, both her professionalism and keen supervision of a large cast in period costume were for me totally indispensable.”

You can currently check out the pilot episode of “The Man in the High Castle” online, which quickly became Amazon’s most watched pilot upon its release earlier this year.

Climie, who is known internationally for her work as the costume set supervisor on an impressive list of feature films including “Fifty Shades of Grey,” “TRON: Legacy,” “Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol,” “The Bourne Legacy” and others, recently wrapped production on the dramatic western “Forsaken” as well.

Directed by two-time Emmy Award-winner Jon Cassar (“24,” “The Kennedys”), “Forsaken” revolves around John Henry, played by Golden Globe winner Kiefer Sutherland, a fearless quick draw shooter who hangs up his gun and returns home to try and repair his damaged relationship with his father Reverend Clayton, played by Donald Sutherland.

The film, which is slated to be released in February of 2016, also stars two-time Golden Globe nominee Demi Moore as Mary-Alice Watson, the love John Henry left behind when he left his small Wyoming town to go off and fight in the Civil War several years prior.

For Climie, working as the costume set supervisor on “Forsaken” was right up her alley. As a seasoned and passionate costumer, Climie not only loves a good shoot-out, but she also knows how to enhance bullet hits with fake blood to assist in making the battle look realistic; and you can bet there are more than a few intense gun fights in the upcoming film.

“When we actually shoot the effect, I coordinate with stunts and special effects and often the makeup department to create and execute the aftermath of the effects –damaged clothing, blood, debris and dirt. Then, because each character that gets shot will usually have multiples of the same outfit, due to pieces of the costume needing to be replaced over the film, or stunt doubles and camera doubles needing to be in costume for additional shooting units, I must match that effect on all of the identical costumes for that character,” explains Climie.

Climie has been in the industry for more than 25 years and the plethora of knowledge and skills she has gained, which include pretty much anything and everything imaginable when it comes to the wardrobe department, has been through her direct experience. In fact, back in the 90s when she was working on the film “In Cold Blood” starring Eric Roberts, Sam Neil and Anthony Edwards, at a time when computers were far from the go-to sources of seemingly endless information that they are today, Climie went to extraordinary lengths in order to research and help accurately recreate the bloody scenes in the film.

“‘In Cold Blood’ is based on an actual event a truly awful event in which a family is murdered I think I was able to gather more by talking to the people involved than I could ever have gathered now using the computer. But I also learned more than I bargained for,” recalls Climie. “I talked to the police that were at the scene and the teachers that taught the children. I talked with the pastor from the funeral and the people at the morgue.”

In addition to the upcoming release of Amazon’s highly anticipated series “The Man in the High Castle,” as well as the upcoming western “Forsaken,” Climie has also signed on to work as the costume set supervisor on the upcoming Bruce Lee biopic, “Birth of The Dragon.”

Climie adds, “I am thrilled to be joining this team. As it is another period story set in the 60s, this project proposes to be fascinating and challenging.”

“Birth of The Dragon”, which is being directed by George Nolfi (“Allegiance,” “The Adjustment Bureau”), is tentatively slated to be released in late 2016.