Founder, Homegrown Pictures

Stephanie Allain

Stephanie Allain is one of the most prolific African-American film producers working today. Her award-winning films by writer/directors of color, make headlines, launch careers and shape the cultural landscape. Critical acclaim includes Oscars, Independent Spirit Awards, NAACP and Image Awards, and worldwide recognition at Telluride, Toronto, Sundance, and Cannes Film Festivals.

Ms. Allain started her film career at Columbia Pictures where she championed John Singleton’s directorial debut, Boyz N the Hood, which earned $65 million and two Oscar nominations. She stayed for a decade supervising independently-spirited films including Robert Rodriguez’ El Mariachi & Desperado and Singleton’s Poetic Justice & Higher Learning.

In 2003 she founded Homegrown Pictures and produced award-winning films such as Hustle & Flow, Something New, Peeples, Beyond the Lights, Dear White People, French Dirty, Burning Sands, Juanita and upcoming, Stella Meghie’s The Weekend. Set for 2020, is Justin Simien’s Rapper’s Delight for Warner Bros and The Fighting Shirley Chisholm. In television, she is Executive Producer of the Netflix series Dear White People and executive produced Freeform’s Life-Size 2. As a writer, she adapted Misty Copeland’s best-selling memoir, LIFE IN MOTION: AN UNLIKELY BALLERINA,
for New Line Cinema.

For five years Ms. Allain directed the LA Film Festival, creating an inclusive program that celebrated women and filmmakers of color. She is a frequent moderator and panelist at conferences, as well as an inspired lecturer and keynote speaker. She often teaches at USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the Writer’s Guild of America and the Dramatists Guild of America. She sits on the board of Women in Film and the Producers Guild of America. She is a member of gender parity orgs ReFrame and Time’s Up. In 2019, Variety named her an Agent of Change.