Stephanie Allain Named Director of Los Angeles Film Festival

Producer Stephanie Allain has been named director of the Los Angeles Film Festival. She will step immediately into the post, where she succeeds Rebecca Yeldham, who recently stepped down for personal reasons.

She will be work with festival managing director Gloria Campbell and festival artistic director David Ansen, as well as associate director of programming Doug Jones, senior programmer Maggie Mackay and programming coordinator Jenn Wilson.

“Stephanie has served on the Film Independent Board of Directors since 2007 and been involved in many aspects of the organization. She's chaired the Spirit Awards Nominating Committee and been a huge supporter of Project Involve, as well as our year-round educational programs,” Sean McManus, the newly named co-president of Film Independent, which produces the annual festival, said. “Stephanie has a clear vision for the festival, a stellar track record as a producer and a deep commitment to the festivalʼs filmmaker-centric focus.”

“We so appreciate all that Rebecca has done to grow the Los Angeles Film Festival into what it is today, and usher it into its new, vibrant home downtown. Rebeccaʼs creativity, taste, and warmth attracted top-notch filmmakers to the festival, and she departs with a world-class curatorial team in place,” co-president Josh Welsh said.

A producer and former film exec, Allain joined Columbia Pictures in 1989 and worked her way up through the ranks, eventually becoming senior vp of production. From 1996 to 2000, she served as president of Jim Henson Pictures. In 2000, she moved to 3 Arts Entertainment, where she headed production. And in 2004, she formed her own production company Homegrown Pictures, where she produced Craig Brewer’s Hustle & Flow.

Her other films include Sanaa Hamri’s Something New, Brewer’s Black Snake Moan and Tina Gordon Chism’s We the Peeples.