Magnolia Pictures, 2929 Productions, Park Pictures & Washington Square Films Productions

Presents

A MAGNOLIA PICTURES RELEASE

PERMANENT

A film by Colette Burson

93 minutes

Official Selection

2017 Austin Film Festival

FINAL PRESS NOTES

Distributor Contact:	Press Contact NY/Nat’l:	Press Contact LA/Nat’l:
Matt Cowal	Michelle DiMartino	Michele Robertson
Arianne Ayers	Falco Ink	MRC
Magnolia Pictures	Michelledimartino@falcoink.com	mrobertson@mrc-pr.com
(212) 924-6701 phone
publicity@magpictures.com

SYNOPSIS

Bad hair day? Nope! More like a bad hair life.

Set in 1982 in small town Virginia, PERMANENT centers around 13-year-old

Aurelie Dickson (Kira McLean) and her parents, Jeanne and Jim (Patricia Arquette and Rainn Wilson).

In this hilariously awkward and unique telling full of wit and wisdom of a hairstyle gone wrong, the Dicksons are struggling through major life changes together all the while trying desperately to emerge intact on the other side.

For the Dicksons family, just getting through the day is a win.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT – COLETTE BURSON

I was raised in the South. Not the South with charming wisteria and spiked iced tea, but the redneck South. This movie is set there in 1982, and focuses on a family outside of the cultural slipstream, completely devoid of irony. In a way, the movie is a coming-of-age for all of them, but it’s also a unique father-daughter story that is not often seen.

And yet… PERMANENT is a comedy, through and through. Most of the film is based on events that actually happened to me—unfortunately and yet perfectly enough. When I was 13, my parents took me to get a perm. A mistake was made with a timer in a janky-ass beauty school and I ended up with an afro. Yep, an afro. Or at least that’s what my ignorant classmates called it. I bewilderingly was then completely rejected for my hair. I had no friends and was isolated along with one of the few black girls at my southern school, who became my friend after initially wanting nothing to do with me.

It was a crazy moment of adolescence that makes me laugh out loud now, and I’m so excited to bring all these voices and memories in my head to the screen.

What’s that saying about tragedy plus time equals hilarity?

That’s this story.

-Colette Burson

ABOUT THE CAST

PATRICIA ARQUETTE (“JEANNE”)

Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette starred in “Boyhood,” the critically acclaimed 12-year project from Richard Linklater, for which she has won the Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG, New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics and Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.

Patricia can most recently be seen as Special Agent Avery Ryan on the CBS spinoff “CSI: Cyber.” Arquette appeared in the fifth season of “Boardwalk Empire” opposite Steve Buscemi. She also starred as Allison Dubois in “Medium,” on the Network, for which she received numerous accolades, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and subsequent Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. Among Arquette’s television movie credits is “Wildflower,” directed by Diane Keaton, for which Arquette earned a CableAce Award for Best Lead Actress.

Arquette has worked with a stellar list of directors in such critically-acclaimed films as Sean Penn’s “The Indian Runner,” John Madden’s “Ethan Frome,” Tony Scott’s “True Romance,” Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood,” John Boorman’s “Beyond Rangoon,” David O. Russell’s “Flirting With Disaster,” David Lynch’s “Lost Highway,” Roland Jaffe’s “Goodbye Lover,” Steven Frears’ “Hi Lo Country,” Rupert Wainwright’s “Stigmata,” Martin Scorsese’s “Bringing Out the Dead” and Michael Gondry’s “Human Nature.” Other feature film credits include “Stigmata,” “Little Nicky,” “The Badge” and “Holes.”

The granddaughter of comedian Cliff Arquette (best known for his television personality “Charlie Weaver”), Arquette comes from a family ensconced in the entertainment industry. Her father was actor Lewis Arquette and her siblings – Rosanna, Alexis, Richmond and David Arquette – are all actors.

After visiting Haiti and seeing first-hand the destruction caused by the devastating earthquake that hit the island, Arquette started up the charity, GiveLove, to help provide victims of the Haiti earthquake with sustainable housing and assist in rebuilding communities in the aftermath of the disaster. For further information on GiveLove, please visit www.givelove.org.

Born in Chicago, Arquette currently resides in Los Angeles. Her birth date is April 8. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @PattyArquette. She is represented at 3 Arts Entertainment.

RAINN WILSON (“JIM”)

Rainn Wilson is an Emmy nominated and SAG award-winning actor who has found himself in a variety of comedic and theatrical roles throughout his career. His first breakthrough role came when he played assistant mortician “Arthur Martin” in HBO’s SIX FEET UNDER, winning him and the cast a Screen Actors Guild Award for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.” Wilson is best known for playing the inimitable “Dwight Schrute” for nine seasons on NBC’s Emmy award winning comedy THE OFFICE.

Wilson’s film credits include HESHER, opposite Natalie Portman and Joseph Gordon-Levett; SUPER, with Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler, and Ellen Page; COOTIES opposite Elijah Wood; and the acclaimed comedies JUNO and ALMOST FAMOUS. Most recently he starred in THE BOY, which premiered at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival; PERMANENT, opposite Patricia Arquette. And next up, co-starring in Warner Bros horror-adventure feature MEG, opposite Jason Statham. Wilson can soon be seen in the Netflix feature SHIMMER LAKE, directed by Oren Uziel.

On TV, Wilson portrayed the irascible but brilliant Detective Everett Backstrom in FOX's subversive/comic crime procedural BACKSTROM; and he recently appeared as a special guest star in Cameron Crowe’s Showtime series ROADIES. He is upcoming in the new season of STAR TREK as conman ‘Harry Mudd.’

Wilson has an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts, and spent ten years doing theatre in New York before moving to Los Angeles. He was on Broadway in THE TEMPEST with Patrick Stewart, and the Tony nominated LONDON ASSURANCE. Wilson worked off-Broadway at The Public Theater and Playwrights Horizons, and performed regularly at The Arena Stage, The Guthrie, and with the touring repertory theater The Acting Company. The comedy show he created, THE NEW BONANZA, had a successful off-Broadway run at The Cherry Lane, and later played in Los Angeles at The Hudson Guild and The Tiffany. Most recently, Wilson performed the critically acclaimed one-person monologue THOM PAIN (BASED ON NOTHING) at The Geffen.

Wilson founded the YouTube channel Soul Pancake, which has over 1.7 million subscribers. In 2015 he published his memoir, “The Bassoon King: My Life in Art, Faith, and Idiocy.”

KIRA MCLEAN (“AURELIE”)

KIRA MCLEAN was born at the Blanchfield Army Community Hospital and lived in Clarksville TN for the first few years of her life. At age 6, she began to pursue the business after hearing a radio commercial for an acting and modeling competition.

McLean started off working in commercials, instructional videos and music videos in the southeast market but then moved to Los Angeles when she was 9 after her military father became stationed there. Soon after arriving in California, McLean booked a supporting role in the Blumhouse feature film THE VEIL as well as a role in the TBS comedy series ANGIE TRIBECA. She booked her first lead role in the summer of 2016 in the feature PERMANENT which she stars in opposite Patricia Arquette and Rainn Wilson.

MIKE GREEN (“JERRY”)

Mike Greene is a refuge from showbiz currently living upcountry in Maui. He was talked into coming out of retirement to do PERMANENT.

NENA DANIELS (“LYDIA”)

Nena Daniels is a Junior at Appomattox Regional Governor School. Her past credits at ARGS includes "She Loves Me" in the role of Customer #5,"12 Angry Jurors" in the role of Juror #9, and recently she has costarred in "Permanent" With Patricia Arquette and Rainn Wilson in the role of Lydia. Nena enjoys reading, watching movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood and acting. All her life she knew she was meant to be a star and "Permanent" is getting her closer to achieving this dream. She aspires to be a successful actress one day. This year will be a year of wonderful memories for her!

AIDEN FISKE (“BRETT”)

Aidan Fiske is a young actor who has already established an impressive resume, appearing in the film IMPERIUM, and numerous TV series, including “Outsiders,” “The Blacklist,” “Gotham,” and “The Family.” He has enjoyed working alongside award winning actors David Morse, Daniel Radcliffe, and Joan Allen, to name but a few. Aidan expressed an interest in performing at a very young age and participated in the prestigious SPARC program in Richmond, before branching out to film and television. He has had the opportunity to work on multiple projects with His older brother, Devin Druid. When not on set, Aidan enjoys spending time with his family, which includes his siblings, two rescue dogs, 5 rescue cats, and a guinea pig. Aidan is represented by Shirley Grant Management and PARADIGM.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

COLETTE BURSON, WRITER & DIRECTOR

Colette Burson is the co-creator and executive producer of the HBO television series HUNG, starring Thomas Jane, Jane Adams, and Anne Heche. Widely praised by critics, the New York Times described Hung as “the most topical fictional programming on television” in 2010. The show ran for three seasons, during which time it was nominated for four Golden Globes and also a WGA award.

Hung is also notable for its commitment to gender and racial diversity at a time when it was not commonly discussed or held up as a goal for television creators. As a showrunner, Colette made diversity a priority in hiring for “Hung” despite the fact that it featured a male lead (which at the time was frequently used as an excuse not to hire women-helmers.) By the third season of Hung, 6 out of 10 of the show’s directors were women, which according to an official DGA study released in 2011 (comparing over 2,600 episodes in TV) ranked it the #1 top cable show in terms of hiring female episodic directors.

The writers’ room for Hung was also notably and unusually committed to diversity, with 1/3 writers of color and over 1/2 female writers on staff. As a writer, Colette recently completed the pilot “Retired” for Paramount Television. She has also written original television pilots and episodes for Showtime, FX, NBC, and Canal+/Europa. Her work as a director prior to “Permanent” includes “Little Black Boot”, starring Jane Lynch, which premiered at Sundance and won over ten national and international awards (including the Grand Prize from Planet Out and Best Short Film Prize from Logo Television). Additional directing credits include COMING SOON starring Mia Farrow, as well as several episodes of HUNG including the third season premiere, DON’T GIVE UP ON DETROIT.

MARY ANN MARINO, PRODUCER

Mary Ann Marino’s early career was launched on MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO and EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES with Gus Van Sant and Laurie Parker. Soon after, she became the Senior V.P. of Production at Tim Burton Productions where she was a producer on MARS ATTACKS, oversaw JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH and helped develop THE CORPSE BRIDE.

After the closing of TB Productions, Marino’s creative producing career flourished on short form assignments with directors like Ang Lee, Alejandro Gonzalez Inñaritu, Mark Romanek, Emmanuel Lubezki and Lance Acord. In 2007, Acord brought her on to run Park Pictures West in Los Angeles where she led them from a boutique spot shop to a top industry contender. Marino’s work at Park earned an Emmy, multiple Cannes Film Lions, UK Shots awards and prestigious Cameraimage awards. At Park, she produced the indie feature PERMANENT with writer/director Colette Burson which stars Patricia Arquette and Rainn Wilson.

Currently, Marino serves as the Head of Physical Production at Amazon Studios Original Movies which she joined in early 2016. She’s inspired to support visionary filmmakers tell human stories that are current, deep and honest.

HAROULA ROSE, PRODUCER

Haroula Rose is a filmmaker whose work has been screened at over forty festivals around the world including Cannes, Deauville, and Sundance. Most recently her pilot, Lost and Found - which she wrote, directed, and produced - was selected to world premiere at Tribeca 2017 and won the Audience Award at Bentonville Film Festival. She has produced the award winning Fruitvale Station as well as documentaries Heaven Adores You and The Fear of Thirteen. She was a Fulbright scholar in Madrid, was selected for Nantucket Screenwriters Colony, Tribeca's All Access, and Time Warner's Project 150 where she created Lost & Found. Currently she is in pre-production on Once Upon A River, an adaptation of the best selling book by Bonnie Jo Campbell.

SAM BISBEE, PRODUCER

Sam Bisbee is a founding partner of Park Pictures Features, the feature film division of acclaimed commercial production company Park Pictures. Sam produced “The New Tenants” which won the Academy Award in 2010 for best Live Action Short. Bisbee followed with Sundance 2012 Award winner, "Robot and Frank," distributed by Sony/Goldwyn. In 2013, Bisbee produced Golden Globe nominated "Infinitely Polar Bear" (directed by Maya Forbes and starring Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana) and "God's Pocket" (directed by John Slattery and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Richard Jenkins and John Turturro); both films were selected as part of the Dramatic Competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. In 2014, Bisbee produced Sundance 2015 Midnight selection, “Cop Car,” (starring Kevin Bacon and directed by Jon Watts) that was acquired and distributed by Focus World. In 2016, Bisbee and Park Pictures Features teamed with Adam and Naomi Scott’s Gettin’ Rad Productions to produce “Other People” (starring Molly Shannon and Jesse Plemons, directed by Chris Kelly) which opened the 2016 Sundance Film Festival’s Dramatic Competition, and was then picked up by NETFLIX and VERTICAL. “Other People” has been nominated for four 2016 Independent Spirit Awards. In 2017, Bisbee and Park produced Brett Haley’s THE HERO (Sam Ellliott, Nick Offerman, Laura Prepon, Kriten Ritter), which premiered in the dramatic competition at the 2017 SUNDANCE film festival, before being picked up by THE ORCHARD for a June 9 release.

JOSH BLUM, PRODUCER

Joshua Blum is the founder and president of Washington Square Films a production and management-company with offices in New York and Los Angeles.

In recent years the company’s films have been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards (winning one), Seven Independent Spirit Awards (winning one), received two Peabody Awards, and been nominated for and won dozens of other awards and honors. WSF’s films have premiered at every major film festival including Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, New York and nine at Sundance.

In addition to PERMANENT New projects include the 2017 Sundance Competition premiers of Matt Ruskin’s CROWN HEIGHTS (Sundance Audience Award) and Alex Ross Perry’s GOLDEN EXITS starring Chloe Sevigny, Mary Louise Parker, Jason Schwartzman, Adam Horovitz and Emily Browning. Dash Shaw’s MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL SINKING INTO THE SEA (TORONTO, NYFF & BERLIN), and Nathan Silver’s THIRST STREET (Tribeca)

Other recent and notable projects include JC Chandor’s A MOST VIOLENT YEAR, ALL IS LOST and MARGIN CALL, Alex Ross Perry’s QUEEN OF EARTH, and LISTEN UP PHILIP, Steven Soderbergh’s documentary about Spalding Gray AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE, Emmy and Peabody Award winner BILLY STRAYHORN: LUSH LIFE, Brian Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky’s FRANCINE, Kelly Reichardt’s OLD JOY and WENDY AND LUCY, and the PBS series THE UNITED STATES OF POETRY.

Work in development includes an historical adventure/romance film, a period musical TV series, a dramatic TV series, and a staged musical targeted for Broadway in the Spring of 2018.

TODD WAGNER, PRODUCER

Entrepreneur Todd Wagner made his impact in the technology world when he launched Broadcast.com with his business partner Mark Cuban. Broadcast.com was one of the first platforms to stream live sporting events, corporate events and radio stations over the Internet. As CEO of the company, Wagner helped take the company public in 1998, where it set an opening-day record with shares climbing 249% from an offering price of $18 to a closing price of $62.75. In 1999, Broadcast.com was sold to Yahoo! for $5.7 billion. Wagner continued to lead the business as a division of Yahoo! until May 2000, when he declined an offer to become Yahoo!’s Chief Operating Officer to focus on other interests.

Wagner later fused his passion for entertainment with his business portfolio to build the Wagner/Cuban Companies. This vertically integrated portfolio of companies spans content creation, distribution and exhibition: 2929 Entertainment, 2929 Productions, Magnolia Pictures, Landmark Theatres and AXS TV. As CEO of 2929 Entertainment, Wagner has provided artistic vision and business acumen critical to such important films as the Oscar®- nominated Good Night, and Good Luck and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, as well as Akeelah and the Bee, We Own the Night and The Road. Wagner’s business interests also include a stake in the Dallas Mavericks, as well as the Weinstein Company. He also serves on the boards of directors for both the American Film Institute and the Tribeca Film Institute.

In 2014, Wagner founded Chideo, a content-driven fundraising platform that offers celebrities, nonprofits and brands an easy way to quickly drive awareness and raise funds for important causes through the creation of unique and entertaining video content. Chideo’s growing list of distribution partners – Sinclair Broadcasting Group, Tribune Company, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Delta and Virgin America Airlines, Twitter, Facebook and more – offer the opportunity to reach audiences across TV, Online, and In-flight—all to benefit the world’s leading charities.

To expand Chideo’s reach and further disrupt today’s online philanthropic space, Wagner acquired fundraising giants Prizeo— a groundbreaking digital sweepstakes platform that enables influencers to use technology to mobilize their fan base to raise maximum amounts of funding and awareness for their chosen causes; and CharityBuzz – the premier online charity auction platform that has raised over $150 million to date for its nonprofit clients. In unifying three of the top digital fundraising platforms, Wagner has solidified his position as the owner of the largest coalition of charity-based fundraising platforms. Through these partnerships, Wagner created the Charity Network, harnessing the power of celebrity, technology and media to raise awareness and funds for some of the world’s toughest challenges.

In addition to his business endeavors, Wagner has made a very substantial commitment of his time, energy and resources to giving back through the Todd Wagner Foundation. Since 2000, the Foundation has implemented Wagner’s vision of venture philanthropy and invested tens of millions of dollars in cutting-edge programs that empower underserved communities and at-risk youth. This includes significant support for such notable charities as the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, KIPP (the Knowledge is Power Program), After-School All-Stars, and the First Tee.

In recognition of his business and philanthropic efforts, Wagner has received numerous honors including induction into the Texas Business Hall of Fame (2012), the After-School All-Stars Inspire Award (2010); Special Care and Career Services Milton P. Levy Volunteerism Award (2008); Dallas CASA’s “Champion of Kids” (2005); Kappa Sigma’s National Man of the Year (2003); and Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2002) by Dallas’ Center for Nonprofit Management. He is a native of Gary, Indiana and received a B.S. from Indiana University, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. He holds a J.D. from University of Virginia.

BEN COSGROVE, PRODUCER

Ben Cosgrove is President of 2929 Productions. At 2929 he produced SERENA, directed by Susanne Bier, and starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper; and DEADFALL directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, starring Eric Bana, Charlie Hunnam and Olivia Wilde.

Cosgrove served as Senior Vice President of Production at Paramount Pictures where he supervised DREAMGIRLS, THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, IMAGINE THAT and THE FIGHTER. He developed INTERSTELLAR with Steven Spielberg (ultimately Chris Nolan), DUNE with Pete Berg, LOST CITY OF Z with Brad Pitt and James Gray, and NICK TUNGSTEN with Doug Liman.

Previously, Cosgrove was President of George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh’s Section Eight production company, where he produced THE GOOD GERMAN and RUMOR HAS IT, and executive produced GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, SYRIANA, A SCANNER DARKLY, THE JACKET, CRIMINAL, and WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD. He also served as associate producer on INSOMNIA. Additional Section Eight productions include OCEAN’S ELEVEN, OCEAN’S TWELVE, OCEAN’S THIRTEEN, FAR FROM HEAVEN and CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND.

Cosgrove began in the entertainment industry as a freelance reader at TriStar Pictures, where he ultimately became Director of Creative Affairs.

PAULA HUIDROBO, DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Paula’s love for images developed in her adolescence while taking photography lessons at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Mexico City. Upon high school graduation, she enrolled in the London International Film School, where she realized her true passion was Cinematography. She then ventured to Los Angeles, where she earned her MFA degree and apprenticed under Rodrigo Prieto, Harris Savides, and Emmanuel Lubezki.

Soon after, she shot her first major feature film, Damian Harris’ film, Gardens of Night, which earned her a nomination for Best Cinematography at the 2008 Milan Film Festival. She went on to shoot films such as Aquí Entre Nos for Patricia Martinez de Velasco, Bless Me, Ulitma for Carl Franklin, and 2014 Toronto Film Festival Selection Shelter for Paul Bettany. She has done 2nd unit work on Arthur Newman, Million Dollar Arm, and Weightless for Terrence Malick.

Paula then moved on to shoot Wayne Robert’s feature Katie Says Goodbye, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2016. In the same year, Paula’s film Tallulah starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to high praise. Since then, she has shot Permanent, starring Patricia Arquette and directed by award-winning writer Colette Burson as well as Oh Lucy! which earned a Golden Camera nomination at Cannes Film Festival this year.

Paula is currently shooting Bill Hader’s Barry for HBO. http://www.paulahuidobro.com/

CHRIS PLUMMER, EDITOR

Chris Plummer is an award winning New Zealand film editor.

Plummer went from playing punk music to cutting film, first editing documentaries, and then on a slate of award-winning films. They include Brad McGann's In My Father's Den, Black Sheep and Under the Mountain for director Jonathan King; the acclaimed Vincent Ward documentary Rain of the Children, Toa Fraser's Naming Number Two and My Talks with Dean Spanley. Taika Waititi's breakout hit Boy, Emperor for director English director Peter Webber, Associate Editor for Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson on The Adventures of Tintin, editing on Andrew Adamson's Mr. Pip: and Supervising editor for Lucas Films animated movie Strange Magic.

Plummer studied communications at Sydney’s University of Technology, then spent time at Auckland filmmakers co-operative Alternative Cinema. He credits learning the skills of editing performance by working with acclaimed documentary director Bill Saunders, whose revolutionary cinema verite work chronicled people rarely heard on New Zealand television.

PERMANENT is his first collaboration with writer /director Colette Burson.

CHRISTIAN KASTNER, PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Christian Kastner is an American production designer whose career spans over two decades working in the Art Department in film and commercials. Notably, he has worked on Wes Anderson’s ‘Bottle Rocket', Spike Jonze’s ‘Adaptation’ and the Wachowski's ‘The Matrix Trilogy’ His most recent work in production design can be seen in Fabienne Berthaud’s ‘Sky’.

Christian was born in Fort Worth, Texas and lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

CREDITS

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY COLETTE BURSON

PRODUCED BY MARY ANN MARINO, HAROULA ROSE, SAM BISBEE, JOSHUA BLUM

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS BEN COSGROVE, MARK CUBAN, TODD WAGNER

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS JACKIE BISBEE, LANCE ACORD, DANIELLE RENFREW BEHRENS

CO-PRODUCERS NATALIE GALAZKA, SHAY WEINER

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY PAULA HUIDOBRO

EDITED BY CHRIS PLUMMER

MUSIC BY CRAIG WEDREN & JOE WONG

CASTING BY ERICA ARVOLD CSA

CAST:

PATRICIA ARQUETTE

RAINN WILSON

KIRA MCLEAN

9

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Danielle

2017-11-09

Tess Ornstein