Voices of the Bay: Barrington’s Kimberly Durkin

Projects including The Bodyguard, Little Women, The Town, and The Gilded Age are just some of the things Kimberly Durkin has worked on during her 30-year career in film and television. Raised in Orange County, CA, she began by combining her love of fashion and movies in a summer job with director and producer Roger Corman, working in wardrobe on low-budget films. Over the next 15 years, she advanced from production assistant to costume supervisor.

When husband Brian’s job relocated the family to the East Coast, Durkin stepped away from the industry’s demanding schedule and volunteered on an elementary school production of The Wizard of Oz. Its success led her and Barrington resident Dena Davis to co-found Arts Alive!, a nonprofit that stages student performing arts productions across East Bay schools (ArtsAliveRI.org). Years later, a call from a former colleague drew Durkinback into the industry, where she remains in demand today.

TAKE TWO: My friend from LA was coming to Boston to do The Town and asked me to work on it.  My kids were a little older. I worked for three to five weeks. I did all the chasing and stunt scenes and was kind of back into it. As the kids got older, I started getting more and more work.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: One summer, I got a job answering phones. A producer told me there was an opening in wardrobe. I fell in love with it. It was like going to film school and getting paid. I made so many mistakes. I owe them; they literally let me design my second film. I finally got into the union, and that’s how my career started. I did all the jobs you’re supposed to and worked my way up to costume supervisor. I was in Los Angeles for about 15 years.

COSTUME CREW: On a standard show for my crew, I have a truck costumer who runs the truck, which is equipped for costumes, hangers, bins, drawers, plus two set costumers who work the set with the actors, a background costumer or supervisor, and a production assistant handles the returns after the fittings. There’s also a financial coordinator, a tailor, and sometimes an age-dyer who is responsible for making clothing look 10 years older or breaking down shoes to look a certain age.

BEHIND THE SCENES: As costume supervisor, I oversee the department and work for the costume designer. I read the script, and I have to break it down. How many days does the movie take place? Does it take place over three months or four days? How many changes does each actor have? How many actors are in it? I did Little Women with 110 parts; the main character had 43 changes over the course of four months. We had a huge crew for that.

KEEPING TRACK: I use a digital program called SyncOnSet, which breaks down all my costume changes that go to set. It has all the pictures and the descriptions. My set people will write “pearl necklace worn, four bracelets worn, unbuttoned top two buttons” with pictures, so that we can duplicate it exactly. We film out of sequence, so continuity is
extremely important.

POSITIVE ENERGY: I feel my strength lies in the organizational side. I take pride in creating a strong environment for my team. You have a lot of different personalities, so the biggest challenge is to make sure everybody is happy. Is everyone getting along? Is the job getting done? Is the designer happy? My job is to make it a smooth working machine. I’m not involved in clothes as much as people would think.

ROLL CREDITS: I stay to read the credits. I’ll be the last one in the theater. It’s super rewarding to see your name at the end, but I also love seeing who I know who worked on the movie and supporting them. I am incredibly grateful for my career.