MIAMI, FL., April 13, 2020 – Inspired by true events, BAD EDUCATION premieres on Saturday, April 25, exclusively on HBO and HBO GO. The film follows Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman) and Pam Gluckin (Allison Janney) who reign over a popular Long Island school district on the verge of the nation’s top spot, spurring record college admissions and soaring property values. But when an embezzlement scheme surfaces that threatens to destroy all they’ve built, Frank is forced to maintain order and secrecy — by whatever means necessary.
BAD EDUCATION is directed by Cory Finley, written by Mike Makowsky and is based on a New York Magazine article by Robert Kolker. The film stars Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe and Tony Award winner Hugh Jackman (“The Greatest Showman,” “Les Misérables”) and Emmy®, Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Allison Janney (“I, Tonya,” “Mom”).
The film also stars Ray Romano as Big Bob Spicer, the school board president. Additional cast includes Geraldine Viswanathan, Alex Wolff, Rafael Casal and Annaleigh Ashford.
Predominantly shot in and around the Long Island town of Roslyn, fifteen years after the scandal came to light, the film, as realized by director Finley and writer Makowsky, is a carefully orchestrated comedic drama as it focuses on the dichotomy of Frank Tassone (Jackman) – both an ardent and passionate educator dedicated to seeing his students succeed, and an expert manipulator willing to steal from the very same people he was so eager to help. The film deftly uses this small-town story to examine the systemic failures that enabled him. Allison Janney plays Pam Gluckin, Dr. Tassone’s major domo and right-hand, the business manager for the Roslyn school district who worked her way up through sheer grit and passion.
Intelligently written and tautly directed, the film shows a community wooed by the charismatic superintendent and enamored by the school’s success and the resulting economic impact. It is also a celebration of the Roslyn High community – their ability to expose that dark time in the school’s history and their continued tenacity to remain one of the top schools in the country today.
BAD EDUCATION, an HBO Films presentation, is directed by Cory Finley; written by Mike Makowsky, based on a New York Magazine article by Robert Kolker; produced by Fred Berger and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones for Automatik; Julia Lebedev, Edward Vaisman, and Oren Moverman for Sight Unseen Pictures; Mike Makowsky for Slater Hall; executive produced by Leonid Lebedev and Caroline Jacko.
