Producer Stephanie Allain on Being a Black Woman in Hollywood: ‘I Couldn’t Help but Be an Activist’ (Exclusive)

For film producer Stephanie Allain, it all started with a love of stories. “Since I was little, I just watched The New York Times best-seller list,” she tells PEOPLE. “And I remember Godfather and The exorcist two films were on the list [where] I read books. And then, of course, the movies came out right after that… I literally had to sneak into theaters because I was too young.” This proved monumental in showing her “different ways of telling stories,” and led to an extensive career in the entertainment industry. Her production credits include films such as 1991 Boyz n the Hoodin 2014 Dear Whitesin 2017 Burning Sands and in 2023 Exorcist: Believerand television like the 2017 Netflix adaptation Dear Whites. She currently serves as president of the Producers Guild of America, where she is the first woman of color to hold that role, and previously served as director of the LA Film Festival. “Films are like children to me,” Allain says. “They’re unformed when you take them, whether it’s an idea or a book or a script or an article, and help it become the best it can be.”

Stephanie Allain.

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Reading at home helped launch her career

Allain, who grew up between Los Angeles and New Orleans, says she did not come from an “artistic family.” Her father is a biochemist and her mother is a teacher, but the family studied at home. Allain graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a degree in poetry, and after graduation, he got a job as a script reader. It was in this role that she met the young John Singleton, who came to her with the initial idea for his film Boyz n the Hood while talking for her job. “As soon as he walked into the room, he started telling me about the script he had written,” says Allain. “He wasn’t interested in the job, but he got me interested in the script. So I followed that script until I got my hands on it, and then I read it and thought, ‘This is why I’m here.'”

John Singleton’s successful life and career in photographs

The second film she was passionate about was 2005 Hustle & Flow, which starred Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard. Allain says she sold her house to get the money to finance the project, which helped launch the career of director Craig Brewer.

Stephanie Allain.

Stefanie Keenan/Getty

“When you read something that’s authentic, and you feel the vulnerability of the writer, when you feel the truth, it’s kind of undeniable,” she says. “And that gives me the confidence to go out and get people to spend millions of dollars, because I’m a big believer that value is there, and passion is the only thing that really rules Hollywood.”

She was the first black Oscar producer, among other accolades

Allain also made history as the first black female Oscar producer, working on the 2019 series and has her own film and television company, Homegrown Pictures. “If you are a woman, if you are [a] Brown woman, you’re mostly in white spaces,” she says. “Either you look at it as a burden or you look at it as a blessing. And for me, I felt like, even though it was hard at times and almost everything I did was a struggle, the satisfaction of helping start new voices… it was so, so satisfying.” Allain’s latest film, An exposition of forgiveness, proves exactly that. The film, directed by Titus Kaphar, follows a black artist who reconnects with his estranged father, who is a recovering addict, according to IMDb. Allain says the project, which recently premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, is “the best film I’ve ever made.”

Stephanie Allain.

Kevin Winter/WireImage

Kristen Stewart, Pedro Pascal, Steven Yeun and more stars will debut new films at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

“It’s a beautiful film, beautifully presented,” says Allain. “And it’s a really difficult film because it asks really interesting, provocative questions about the nature of forgiveness and aspects of generational healing that can be diluted through art.” Allain is working on a number of new projects, including his first documentary, which will cover ’70s singer Billy Preston. She works on musical projects in part thanks to her husband Stephen Bray, who was a member of the band The Breakfast Club and a composer and lyricist for the Broadway production Purple. But Allain also has his own musical preferences.

Stephanie Allain with her book ‘Who’s in charge?’.

Stephen Bray

“We got through the pandemic by going out, me on the drums, him on the piano,” she says. Allain is also making his author debut later this year with a picture book Who is in charge?, written together with her friend Jenny Klion, and illustrated by Marissa Valdez. The book details the importance of boundaries for children.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Uplifting others, regardless of their age, has long been part of the job. “Being a black woman in Hollywood for 40 years, I couldn’t help but be an activist,” she says. “You are, by virtue of being in the room, because no one is going to speak for what you want to see but you… and being able to advocate for others, for underrepresented voices, is a burden that I call a blessing.” ”

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Source: HIS Education