Jeff Mackintosh, a Star Wars enthusiast and close acquaintance of Matt Forbeck (the writer behind the junior novelization of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), passed away in the autumn of 2016 due to brain cancer. To honor his memory, and with the consent of both Jennifer Heddle and the Lucasfilm Story Group, Forbeck chose the name "Toshma Jefkin" for the Rebel trooper portrayed by Christopher Patrick Nolan in the movie; this was a tuckerization of Jeff's actual name.