WHITE PANTS STROLL INTO THE ANGELIKA - DALLAS
Dallas-based film serves up a heaping helping of local flavor

DALLAS (March 12, 2007) — “The Night of the White Pants” was shot in Dallas. The storyline revolves around Dallas. The film features several cast and crew members from Dallas, including the director. Even the film title has roots in Dallas, inspired by the song by the now defunct local band The New Style American Boyfriends’ “The Night of the White Pants.” So, it is only fitting that the film opening run debuts Friday, April 6 at the Angelika Film Center…in Dallas. Moviegoers can also get a sneak peek during the AFI Dallas Film Festival Friday, March 23.

The film, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2006, has since been selected for numerous regional festivals.

The film stars Oscar and BAFTA nominee Tom Wilkinson (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, “In the Bedroom”) Nick Stahl, who grew up in Harlingen, Texas (“Terminator 3”, “Carnivale”), and Selma Blair (“Cruel Intentions”, “Legally Blonde”). The film also features Frances Fisher of Orange, Texas, Geri Jewell, Fran Kranz, Laura Jordan, and North Texas’ own Janine Turner (“Northern Exposure”, “Cliffhanger”).

The story revolves around a former Dallas power broker, Max Hagan (Tom Wilkinson), who has spent a lifetime pursuing success, and has achieved it in spades. However, a heart attack and an ugly divorce have upended his life – and when his soon-to-be-ex wife throws him out of his house without a penny in his pocket, things go from bad to worse. Max finds himself stuck with his daughter Beth’s (Selma Blair) ne’er-do-well boyfriend Raff (Nick Stahl), Starting at the club where Raff’s band plays, Max and Raff spend an increasingly surreal night together in Dallas that includes a coked up rocker chick, a giant bag of weed, a break-in at Max’s own house to boost an envelope filled with cash, a search for a judge at 2 a.m. to perform an impromptu wedding, and ends with the two of them in jail. When the air clears in the morning, Max has let go of everything he has always thought he wanted, and for the first time in all his years of moneymaking, begun to find a way back to the family he has left behind.

“The Night of the White Pants” is the feature debut of writer/director Amy Talkington. The Dallas native attended the Hockaday School, went on to Barnard College where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Art History, and completed her MFA at Columbia University’s Film Division in 1999. Amy’s award-winning short films, which include “Second Skin” (1988) and “The New Arrival” (2000), have been selected for numerous distinguished festivals including The Sundance Film Festival, and have received a number of accolades including top festival prizes and the New Line Cinema Award for Best Director. Her shorts have acquired by HBO, CANAL + and The Sundance Channel among others.

Working as a writer, Amy wrote screenplays that are in development at 20th Century Fox (“Rodeo Girl”), and Fox 2000 (“The Devil in the Junior League”). She also penned ABC Family’s hit movie “Brave New Girl,” which starred Virginia Madsen and was produced by Britney and Lynn Spears. Amy is currently working on “Deeply Shallow and Really Fake” her original script about the Dallas debutante scene.

Amy’s family has be an active part of the city of Dallas for many generations. Her great, great, great grandmother was Nancy Jane Cochran, an early settler and founder of the first church in Dallas County. Her grandfather, Wallace Savage was mayor of Dallas and her mother, Virginia McAlester, founded Friends of Fair Park. Amy’s brothers are also Texas filmmakers. C.M. “Carty” Talkington directed Renee Zellweger in her first feature starring role in “Love and a .45.” Her brother, Independent Spirit Award Nominee Keven McAlester, was a well-known music journalist and Dallas DJ in the 90s and went on to direct “You’re Gonna Miss Me” about music legend Roky Erikson of the 13th Floor Elevators. Amy’s Aunt Dotsy, who has cerebral palsy and is deaf, was the inspiration for the character of Lolly in the movie. Dotsy is an East Dallas fixture and is loved by many from her years of walking around the Lakewood neighborhood. Her character is portrayed by Geri Jewell who is best known for her work on television including “Facts of Life” and more recently, “Deadwood.” Geri also has partial deafness and cerebral palsy.

The film features more than fifteen songs from Texas bands ranging from the old-school Austin punk-rockers The Dicks, to garage-rock legends The 13th Floor Elevators to pop sensations Spoon. In fact, the soundtrack features over ten tracks from Dallas-area bands, including The Golden Falcons, Max Cady, Record Hop, 25% Toby, who appear in the movie (with Nick Stahl on additional guitar) as Raff's band, The Trophy Wives, and, of course, The New Style American Boyfriends’ “The Night of the White Pants.” The soundtrack also features an original score from LA-based Tony Tisdale, who previously did some additional music for “Little Miss Sunshine. “

Anne Harrison of Harrison Productions developed the script with Talkington. Harrison produced the critically acclaimed Sundance Audience Award winner “Two Family House”, which Lions Gate released in 2000. She began her career in the movie business as director of development for Martin Scorsese. It is the first of several projects under a recently created development fund.

Adirondack Pictures is a New York-based production and financing company run by Paul Hardart, formerly of Universal Focus, and his brother Tom, a former executive at America Online. The brothers, along with Tim Forbes and Glenn Rigberg, served as executive producers for the film.