Colette Burson co-created and executive produced HBO’s Golden Globe-nominated series “Hung.” She helmed several episodes of the show. Her other directing credits include short “Little Black Boot” and feature “Coming Soon.”

“Permanent” hits theaters, On Demand, Amazon Video, and iTunes today, December 15.

W&H: Describe your film for us in your own words.

CB: The tagline sums it up nicely, “Hairstyles are temporary. Family is forever.” On a deeper level, “Permanent” is a coming-of-age story set in the South in 1982. The whole family is coming of age — the mother, the father, and the daughter. They’re each figuring out who they are, and the metaphor of hair, which is both universal yet personal, influences everyone’s identity, particularly at that moment in time.

It is also the story of being outsiders, which runs through my work from “Hung” and “The Riches” to this film. In this case they are outsiders in the South.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

CB: In many ways I wanted to tell a different kind of Southern story, one that was not redneck comedy like “Joe Dirt” and not magic realism like “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” but rather to show the South as I see it and used to live it — yet still make it funny!

Many of the basic elements of the story come from my real experiences. I had a permanent in seventh grade that was often called an afro, and my Dad wore a toupee 30 years ago. He also had a college scholarship that insisted on his swimming, so all that came from real life. The demographics of the place — for example, one black kid on the school bus — are also a pretty true picture of how I grew up and what the reality is in many small towns in certain parts of the South.

I felt there was a lot of pain there coming from my friends who were black, and I wanted to tell that story, too. And so I wrote and directed a movie that on the one hand is a Southern family comedy, and on the other confronts racism and bullying.

I think that odd mix is very true to how life was in the South back then. In this way and many more “Permanent” is a creative rebellion for me. I didn’t worry if other people would like it or not — I just wrote scenes that were funny to me, and also often [based on truth].

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

CB: I want them to feel that they have been to a wonderfully unique world and that it was fun to go there even if it was totally unfamiliar.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

CB: I think my film was difficult to make because it combines unfamiliar southern characterizations and unexpected racial dynamics. It might have been easier to write a southern family comedy that was less complicated, but then likely less interesting, too.

On a super simple level, it can also be hard to get funding when you have a young girl playing such a big part.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

CB: My film was funded by a production company called 2929. I wrote and re-wrote the script, and then my agency submitted it to Rainn Wilson who got on board. Then, with Rainn attached, my wonderful film agent Hailey Wierengo and my persistently kick-ass producers — Mary Ann Marino, Sam Bisbee, Josh Blum, and Haroula Rose — submitted to financiers and distribution companies.

W&H: What’s best and worst advice you’ve received?

CB: I tend to remember the advice people gave me, and so lots of different pieces of advice stick in my mind. Three come to mind. 1. A bad page is better than no page. 2. Do one thing every single day to help get your movie made, even if it seems very far away. 3. The process is the reality. That last one I’ve pondered for years, and I leave you now to ponder it.

The worst advice I’ve been given is that “All that matters is that people think the work is great” and “Women in Hollywood are perceived in the same way as men.”

W&H: What advice to you have for female directors?

CB: Because you’re female, you’re likely to get less money and less time. It’s frustrating. It’s hard for me to make that sound like advice. Maybe my advice is just to be aware. Hopefully things are changing.

Accept that some of the rewrites where you will invariably combine characters — as you approach your shoot date — are actually super good for the movie.

Remember that what actors want most from you is your aesthetic opinion calmly yet consistently available for them. And sometimes you win actors’ hearts most by standing your ground.

I really enjoy hiring a lot of female crew, and you might too.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

CB: There are many, but off the top of my head, I’m going to go with a TV show and say Reed Morano’s pilot for “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which was so incredibly beautiful and powerful and did just what the director of a pilot needs to do, which is strongly set the tone for the whole series.

I recently saw and loved Angela Robinson’s “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women” because it took on an incredibly complex intellectual idea, and yet made me believe it and believe in a transformation on an emotional level.

W&H: There have been significant conversations over the last couple years about increasing the amount of opportunities for women directors yet the numbers have not increased. Are you optimistic about the possibilities for change? Share any thoughts you might have on this topic.

CB: I hear these numbers are getting better, and that’s what makes me optimistic. I heard Amazon now wants 50 percent, and that gives me a reason to cheer.

But you know, I first started creating television shows because I wanted to be a TV director, which now strikes me as absurd — and yet it really speaks to the frustration I felt as a woman trying to break into the profession.

When I became a showrunner, I was fiercely committed to having 50 percent women directors and finally succeeded at that during “Hung’s” third year. And with just 50 percent, “Hung” was the show on cable during its time with the highest percentage of female directors.

In that process, I had a front-row seat for why women don’t get hired. There’s truly the weirdest double standard. When men don’t make their day, everyone says, “Well, a truck was in the way” or “It was raining.” In other words, they point to what is often the true reason. But when women don’t make their day everyone says, “Ouch, we have to admit, gosh, she didn’t make it” and they look at her shooting schedule with no mitigating factors considered.

I have to confess that I myself did this once during “Hung.” My dear friend and the DP of the show, Uta Briesewitz, pointed it out to me and said, “Colette, why are you pointing out why this particular woman didn’t make her day when three of our guys haven’t made their day?” And I knew she was right and I was thrilled she was right. Even though the subject mattered so much to me, I had to readjust and realize I had been biased just like everybody else, and cut it out.