Stephanie Allain Becomes First Black Woman President At Producers Guild of America

Stephanie Allain is making history over at the Producers Guild of America (PGA) by becoming the company’s first Black female president.

On Tuesday, the PGA announced Allain and Donald De Line as its new presidents, Deadline reports. Allain and De Line had been running against each other to replace outgoing presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher.

Allain and De Line were named the company’s new leaders after a vote.

“As proud members of the PGA for over 20 years, it’s a great privilege to serve as presidents,” Allain and De Line said. “Gail and Lucy’s excellent leadership has grown and strengthened the guild, and we will build on their progress.”

“Along with Susan Sprung and her team, we will continue to educate the industry on the role of the producer, support producers’ efforts for fair and commensurate compensation and benefits, welcome and encourage a more diverse membership, and endeavor to attain broader healthcare coverage while educating members on the current benefits and opportunities available to them.”

Allain’s résumé includes serving as the former Columbia Pictures exec who supervised John Singleton’s Boyz N the Hood. She also was the first Black woman to produce the Academy Awards in 2020 and has producer credits on cult classic films and TV series like Hustle & Flow and Dear White People the film and TV series.

Allain directed the Los Angeles Film Festival for five years, from 2011-2016, and served on Women in Film and Film Independent boards. In addition to serving as PGA President, Allain also sits on the boards for Cast & Crew and American Cinematheque.

“Stephanie and Donald are legendary industry leaders, respected former studio executives, and bold, talented producers,” Berman and Fisher said.

“They’re responsible for driving the industry forward, expanding the scope of projects that get made, advocating for diversity, and discovering new talent. As longtime PGA leaders, they’ve dedicated themselves to protecting the rights of producers and advancing the mission of the guild. We are very excited to see how their gifted vision and direction will now lead the Producers Guild forward.”

This content was originally published here.