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). 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 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, she received a first look deal with Endeavor Content. ==Filmography==