PaperCity Magazine

PaperCity Dallas October 2025

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OBSESSIONS. DECORATION. SALIENT FACTS. From left: Lorne Michaels and Madeline Kahn with Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri as Spartan cheerleaders, 1996. "The Coneheads at the Movies" sketch, 1979. 46 S aturday Night Live season 50 wrapped this spring, signaling a milestone both in television history and for the larger cultural consciousness. Spanning generations and TV eras, including the onslaught of streaming platforms, producer Lorne Michaels' program has achieved the improbable: remaining relevant and at the epicenter of our times. This past January, Michaels' bequest to The University of Texas at Austin's Harry Ransom Center was announced to much fanfare. This fall, fans and followers of SNL will be rewarded with a corresponding exhibition: an immersive peek into the creative milieu of Michaels, who A ctors attend movie premieres all the time; that's just another day at work. Arriving at the Venice Film Festival via private water taxi from Hotel Cipriani in a Tom Ford tuxedo or dripping with Tiffany & Co. diamonds, though … That's next level. When director Guillermo del Toro's latest film, a retelling of Mary Shelley's 1818 gothic magnum opus Frankenstein, premiered at this year's Venice Film Festival, Mia Goth — who portrays Victor Frankenstein's love interest, Elizabeth Lavenza — arrived in a necklace iced with diamonds and emeralds from The Tiffany Archives. Five days later, Tiffany & Co. announced its pioneering partnership with the film. For the first time, the house took a bold step into the cinematic universe by collaborating with Frankenstein's makers, setting a new precedent for the role of jewelry in film. It's the natural continuation of Tiffany's storied cinematic legacy that began with Holly Golightly in Gothic Beauty Liiiiiive from Austin Lorne Michaels' SNL Trove to Land at UT Austin's Ransom Center Breakfast at Tiffany's. Because of the depth of its nearly 200-year-old archives, Tiffany & Co. brought together rarely seen vintage masterworks alongside contemporary high jewelry for del Toro's buzzy film. The jewels create a visual language and function as storytellers, adding a heightened level of authenticity to the characters' inner and outer worlds. A total of 27 Tiffany & Co. jewels and objects appear on screen. The film's costume department, helmed by Kate Hawley, curated this dazzling mix of vintage and new jewels, as well as five pieces designed specifically for del Toro's iteration of the cautionary tale. Frankenstein opens in theaters Friday, October 17, and on Netflix g l o b a l l y F r i d a y, N o v e m b e r 7 . Melissa Smrekar fortuitously stockpiled ephemera from decades of the iconic broadcast, as well as other touchstones of his film and television career — Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In to Wayne's World. Highlights include images of the beloved Coneheads in a 1979 segment, Spike Lee and Chris Rock in a 1991 sketch, a circa-2006 Weekend Update starring ascendent talent Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers, plus that Cowbell from the 2000 Blue Öyster Cult sketch and a Five-Timers Club jacket given to Fred Armisen. Rare photos, scripts, and production notes, culled from 700 boxes of archives (some still being catalogued), are augmented by loans of props and costumes from NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures, and more. Stepping up as curator is the Ransom's former curator of film Steve Wilson, coming out of retirement for this occasion; his own history with the show began in 1975 when he was a UT freshman watching the inaugural episodes from Jester Center West's TV room. "Live from New York: The Lorne Michaels Collection" at Harry Ransom Center, The University at Texas at Austin, through March 20, 2026; hrc.utexas.edu. Catherine D. Anspon LORNE MICHAELS COLLECTION. HARRY RANSOM CENTER. PHOTO BY MARY ELLEN MATTHEWS. LORNE MICHAELS COLLECTION. HARRY RANSOM CENTER. Here and above: Mia Goth as Elizabeth Lavenza in Frankenstein, wearing Tiffany & Co. Tiffany & Co. Archive Wade necklace

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