Stephanie Allain

Stephanie Allain (born October 30, 1959) is an American producer of independent movies in Hollywood, California.

Stephanie Allain
Born (1959-10-30) October 30, 1959
OccupationProducer
Children3

Early life

Stephanie Allain was born in New Orleans to an African-American father Dr. Charles Allain, a biochemist, and a white mother Gwen Allain Miller, an educator. Her family moved near Los Angeles, California, in 1965, and Allain attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, graduating with a B.A. in English and Creative Writing.

Career

She began her film career in 1985 at Creative Artists Agency, first as a script reader, then as a staff reader. As a story analyst, she worked for 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and finally in 1989, at Columbia Pictures. There, Allain was one of twelve readers at the studio, and one of only two African-American readers. She rose through the ranks to become Senior Vice President of Production and was influential in encouraging and developing an African-American filmmaking community in Hollywood in the 1990s.

During her tenure at Columbia, Allain launched the careers of several young filmmakers including John Singleton, Robert Rodriguez and Darnell Martin. She personally pitched to Columbia's executives Singleton's Boyz n the Hood (1991). The controversial film would become a critical and commercial hit, garnering Singleton two Academy Award nominations. Among the films under her supervision were Poetic Justice (1993), I Like It Like That (1994), and The Craft (1996).

Of her time at Columbia, Allain had this to say:

I was fortunate to find John and Robert Rodriguez and Darnell Martin and my tenure at Columbia was really marked by my own niche which was urban indie movies that had the blessing and the money and the studio behind it; so those filmmakers were able to elevate their game and graduate to the big times pretty effortlessly after their first movies because the studio – Columbia was just so supportive and their work was so good that they got out into the world and I've benefited from that frankly.

In 1996, Allain left Columbia Pictures to become President of Jim Henson Pictures. During her 4 years there, she produced Caroline Thompson's Buddy, as well as Henson brand movies, Muppets from Space and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. After her stint at Henson, Allain joined 3Arts Entertainment, where she developed projects for clients and produced Reggie Rock Bythewood's Biker Boyz.

In 2003, Allain sold her house and founded Homegrown Films. Teaming with John Singleton, Craig Brewer's Hustle & Flow was produced. Hustle & Flow was sold to MTV/Paramount for a 9 million dollars and went on to win the Audience Award at Sundance in 2005, an Academy Award for Best Original Song and earned a Best Actor nomination for Terrence Howard.

In 2006, Allain and Homegrown Films produced another first time director, music video director, Sanaa Hamri's Something New, starring Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker. She also worked again with producer John Singleton, partnering with Craig Brewer and his Southern Cross the Dog production company based at Paramount Pictures. Paramount Vantage released their latest film, Black Snake Moan, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake on February 23, 2007.

She was the Festival Director for the LA Film Festival from 2011 to 2016. In 2021, he received a first look deal with Endeavor Content.[1]

Personal life

She was married to Mitch Marcus from 1988 to 1999. She is currently married to Tony Award-nominated and Grammy Award-winning composer Stephen Bray, who is composer and lyricist of the Broadway version of the Alice Walker book The Color Purple. Allain has three children.

Filmography

She was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

Year Film Credit
1997BuddyExecutive producer
1999Muppets from SpaceExecutive producer
The Adventures of Elmo in GrouchlandExecutive producer
2000RatExecutive producer
2003Biker Boyz
Good Boy!Executive producer
2005Hustle & Flow
2006Black Snake Moan
Something New
2009Hurricane Season
2013Peeples
2014Dear White People
Beyond the LightsExecutive producer
2015French DirtyExecutive producer
2017Burning Sands
2018The Weekend
2019Juanita
TBA
Really LoveExecutive producer
As an actress
Year Film Role Notes
1995A Boy Called HateMa
2015French DirtyWaitress
Uncredited
Thanks
Year Film Role
1995Four RoomsSpecial thanks

Television

Year Title Credit Notes
2016CrushedExecutive producerTelevision film
2018Life-Size 2Executive producerTelevision film
2017−19Dear White PeopleExecutive producer
202092nd Academy AwardsTelevision special
TBALeimert Park: The Digital SeriesExecutive producer
Camera and electrical department
Year Film Role
2010New York Stand-Up ShowLighting technician

References

  1. Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 7, 2021). "Endeavor Content Sets First-Look Film Producing Deal With Stephanie Allain". Deadline. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
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