Permanent Midnight is a 1998 independent drama film written and directed by David Veloz. It stars Ben Stiller, Maria Bello, Elizabeth Hurley, Owen Wilson, Cheryl Ladd and Janeane Garofalo. Based on Jerry Stahl's autobiographical book of the same name, it depicts Stahl, a successful TV writer for popular series like thirtysomething, Twin Peaks, and ALF, and his struggles with substance abuse. Permanent Midnight grossed only $1.1 million in limited theatrical release in the United States, but performed better in the home video market. Stiller's performance was critically acclaimed. A soundtrack album for the film was released on September 15, 1998 from DGC Records. Plot Approaching the end of a drug rehabilitation program, Jerry Stahl quits his job at a fast food restaurant on an impulse when an attractive woman named Kitty pulls up at the drive-through window. The two check into a motel, where Jerry tells her about his life between bouts of sex. A series of flashbacks, intercut with their conversations, details his working life to this point. After moving to Los Angeles from New York City, Jerry, who is already addicted to various prescription medications, becomes friends with fellow addict Nicky. At the urging of Nicky and his girlfriend Vola, Jerry marries Vola's friend Sandra so she can get her green card. Sandra uses her position at a television studio to get Jerry onto the writing staff of the popular comedy series Mr. Chompers. He uses memories from his childhood, including his mother's hysterical grief over his father's death, to fuel his writing. He juggles his Mr. Chompers job and regular visits to a heroin dealer, Dita. However, his drug use eventually gets him fired. Sandra finds him a new job with a different series, No Such Luck, whose star Pamela Verlaine–herself a recovering addict–sternly but sympathetically insists that he kick his habit first. As soon as Jerry starts on a methadone program, he runs across a dealer named Gus, who introduces him to crack cocaine and later Dilaudid. His increased drug use costs him his new job, and Sandra throws him out, disgusted at his decision to shoot up when she tells him she is pregnant. Her opinion of him falls even further when he shows up high for the birth of his daughter Nina. While looking after Nina one night, he gets high and is arrested by the police. The incident causes him to lose custody