David A. Permut (born March 23, 1954) is an American television and movie producer. In 1979 he was the producer of Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (the first theatrical live comedy concert), and Dragnet (1987), an early example of remaking a television series into a motion picture. He is owner and president of Permut Presentations, Inc. of Los Angeles. Since 1999 he has maintained a second home in Palm Springs, California.
Id be honored to work with Steven Spielberg...but my real challenge is to discover the next Steven Spielberg.
#
Fact
1
After the success of "Give 'Em Hell, Harry" Bill Sargent and Permut made offered The Beatles fifty million dollars to reunite for a live filmed concert. The offer alone garnered worldwide attention. They made the cover of People magazine and publications around the globe. The Beatles ultimately declined. After the Beatles said no, Sargent returned to his early roots as a fight promoter. He had promoted a young fighter named Cassius Clay, later known to the world as Muhammud Ali. The blockbuster "Jaws" was the number #1 grossing movie of the year and Sargent with Permut offered two shark divers from Australia (one was to serve as a back-up) to fight a shark to the death in a live closed circuited event called "Death Match"... Either the man or the shark would die in an 80 foot in diameter ring which had been constructed with 6 underwater cameras covering the spectacle. The International Humane Association banned the fight from taking place in US waters however it could be broadcast there. Sargent announced it would be held in Western Samoa and shown around the globe including in the US. Multiple venues were booked including Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas. However, "Death Match" never came together for a variety of reasons even though Sargent had invested heavily in the event.
2
Was a motion picture and television agent earlier in his career and was David Letterman's first agent.
3
Screenwriter Gustin Nash was selling cameras in a mall in Burbank when Permut first met him. He produced Nash's first feature film Charlie Barlett starring Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey and hired Nash to adapt the classic novel Youth In Revolt starring Michael Cera which became Gustin Nash's second film credit.
4
Met stereo salesman turned screenwriter Dale Launer in the early 80's when Dale shared a true story with Permut about a girl who was set up on a blind date which turned into a disaster when she got drunk and went out of control. The pair created a bidding war among four studios. Launer wrote the screenplay Blind Date which Permut produced and had Bruce Willis' starring debut opposite Kim Basinger. Launer went on to write Ruthless People, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and My Cousin Vinny among others.
5
Permut went on with Bill Sargent and Mark Travis to form Special Event Entertainment (SEE) and finance "Richard Pryor - Live In Concert" in 1979. This was the first filmed comedy concert, shot over two nights in front of a live audience. The film was then turned down by every studio for distribution, so the team booked the theater screens on their own and released the film three weeks after it was recorded. The movie is one of the highest grossing comedy concerts in history racking up over thirty million dollars.
6
He was president of Theatre Television Corp. and filmed James Whitmore in a one-man show staged in front of a live audience on one night in 1976. Every studio turned the film down for distribution so Permut and partner Bill Sargent released the film themselves three weeks after it was filmed. The one man cast starring James Whitmore won a Best Actor Academy Award nomination and grossed over eleven million dollars on a budget of under one hundred thousand.
7
In 1986 he was the first to come up with the idea to translate a T.V. show into a feature film. He sold the idea to Universal with the shortest movie pitch in history...he hummed the trademark notes of the classic television series Dragnet...Dum De Dum Dum to the head of the studio and produced one of the highest grossing movies of 1987... Dragnet starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks.
8
At age 16, Permut was the publisher of Beverly Hills Map Company selling Maps To The Stars Homes on Sunset Boulevard. Author Joe Hyams wrote a novel inspired by Permut's stories of his map selling days when he was a teenager called The Pool which Hyams dedicated to him.
$10 Million
