Raine Allen-Miller

Raine Allen-Miller (born September 1989) is a British film director and writer. She is known for her debut feature film Rye Lane.

Early life Born in Manchester, Allen-Miller spent her early childhood in Moss Side. She has two younger sisters and a younger brother. Her mother worked in prisons teaching art and created centres to support pupils excluded from schools. Her mother would frequently take her to Blockbuster, which fueled her love for films. Upon arriving in London, Allen-Miller's grandmother took her to Brixton Market to connect with her heritage and get "Jamaican spice or plantain or an Afro comb". Allen-Miller would put on one-man shows as a child, recreating the musical Annie for her family.

Allen-Miller attended the BRIT School in Croydon, where she studied art. She began her studies in Illustration at Camberwell College of Arts, but dropped out.

Career Allen-Miller worked as an agent for artists and photographers, and then in art-buying and creative production. She left her job to form a creative duo with school friend and copywriter Lisa Turner-Wray, submitting portfolios to agencies and landing their first advertising gig with Anomaly in October 2014. This was followed by further gigs with Saatchi & Saatchi and Mother.

She directed her first music video for Salute's "Storm" in the aftermath of the 2016 EU referendum and made it a celebration of immigration. This was followed by Denai Moore's "Trickle" in 2017 as well as Allen-Miller's first short film Jerk in 2018, about an older man from the Windrush generation. She also worked on campaigns for ASOS, the Tate Modern, and Squarespace, and on a workshop for the Creative Circle Foundation. She was named a 2021 Screen International Star of Tomorrow.

Despite having mixed feelings on the genre, Allen-Miller's first feature film Rye Lane (2023) is a romantic comedy drama set in Peckham, south London. The project came about through Jerk, where she met the BBC Film producer Eva Yates. Yates then recommended Allen-Miller to be the director for writers Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia's screenplay, originally set in Camden. According to Allen-Miller, in addition to its two lead characters, Dom (David Jonsson) and Livewire Yas (Vivian Oparah), the film's setting should also be considered a character. She called it "a love letter to South London".

The film opened at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. At the British Independent Film Awards 2023 the film was nominated for Best British Independent Film with Allen-Miller being nominated for Best Director. Actor Colin Firth has a cameo in the film. The film's production company Searchlight planned for a straight-to-streaming US release. She also has a heist film in development. She pulled a reference from the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show when framing wide shots close to actors' faces without breaking the fourth wall, which cinematographer Olan Collardy called the "Peep shot".