September 24th, 2008 Byron Beck | Special Section Stories
Behind the Seams  Clothes make the indie movie roll. So does
Amanda Needham.   Amanda Needham knows what looks good. The
27-year-old native Portlander is the costume designer for films
including The River Why and Wendy and Lucy. She’s also
contributed her talents to help such diverse directors as Gus
Van Sant and Bruce Campbell. And she happens to be pretty tight
with Neil Kopp, her boyfriend and the winner of the Piaget
Producers Award at this year’s Film Independent’s Spirit Awards
for his work on Paranoid Park and Old Joy. Shy–but far from a
wallflower–Needham is making her way in the world of movie-
making. Willamette Week was lucky enough to work with her on
“Lights, Camera, Fashion” in between some of her commercial jobs
(Nike and Michael Jordan) and beginning work on local director
Matt McCormick’s first feature film, Some Days are Better Than
Others. Here’s what she had to say during a break in her busy
schedule.  WW: When did you first get inv