Special to the AmNews
“They” say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Then maybe a captioned picture with a few juicy quotes is worth at least twice that amount. Here are a few choice selects from my second annual Hollywood road trip.
Next Thursday, and continuing through Black History Month, do expect much, much more from the creative community of color, including some exclusive tidbits about a new, romantic comedy around President Barack Obama’s romantic pursuit of his wife, Michelle; a conversation with actor and producer Pitobash Tripathy (Disney’s “Million Dollar Arm”) about his documentary on the unfolding violence in Pakistan, with footage smuggled out of the country; and exciting “need to know” for all developing writers to join the new meet-up (in “The Writer’s Room”), created by producer Sunil Sadarangani.
I’ve decided to keep everything 100 percent about my annual road trip to Hollywood, and a highlight to an already amazing trip was an unexpected coffee date with Stephanie Allain, established film producer and the current Los Angeles Film Festival director.
Spending time with Allain is like basking in warm, continual and positive spiritual light. This storyteller is a major force for good.
My host Sadarangani and I caught up with her a day after she was honored by the African American Film Critics Association with a Special Achievement Award, along with Universal Pictures Chairman Donna Langley and Blacklist co-founder Franklin Leonard.
As a Columbia Pictures executive, Allain was instrumental in the making of John Singleton’s “Boyz N the Hood,” which garnered Singleton two Academy Award nominations and set the bar for contemporary urban dramas. She spent a decade at the studio, launching the careers of first-time filmmakers such as Singleton, Robert Rodriguez and Darnell Martin.
During her tenure at Columbia Pictures, Allain rose through the ranks to become senior vice president of production, the highest creative production position for an African-American for more than a decade. She formed her own production company, Homegrown Pictures, and in 2004, produced Craig Brewer’s “Hustle & Flow,” which won the Audience Award at Sundance in 2005 and an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and earned a Best Actor nomination for Terrence Howard.