Randall Miller

Randall Miller (born July 24, 1962) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, and occasional actor.

Set in 1962, the short featured a cast of children attending a cotillion.

The film was based on Miller's own experience going to cotillion as a child in Pasadena.

Miller was nominated for CableACE Awards for his writing and direction of Marilyn Hotchkiss.

At the American Film Institute (AFI), Miller received acclaim for his 1990 short film Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School.

This led to a career directing films in Hollywood in the 1990s, including the comedies Class Act (1992), Houseguest (1995), and The 6th Man (1997).

In 1990, Miller directed an award-winning 35-minute thesis film at AFI, Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School.

Miller made his Hollywood directorial debut in 1992 with Class Act, is a modern-day comedic take on The Prince and the Pauper about a pair of teenagers with switched identities.

In 1995, Miller helmed Houseguest, another movie about mistaken identities.

The Los Angeles Times said "Houseguest, a rowdy fish-out-of-water comedy, is as good-natured as its big, Beefy star, comedian Sinbad."

The film debuted at No.3 and went on to gross $26 million in North America, making it a modest commercial success considering its $10.5 million budget.

Miller then directed the 1997 American sports comedy film The 6th Man, starring Marlon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison.

A film review in Variety said Miller "gets so much out of his cast and screenplay."

Miller directed the 1999 Wonderful World of Disney made-for-television comedy film H-E Double Hockey Sticks, for which he was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Children's Programs.

In his 40s, Miller ventured into independent film, taking money out of his house to direct and produce Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School (2005), an expansion of his 1990 short into a full-length feature.

In 2005, Miller expanded his 1990 short Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School into a full-length feature, incorporating material from the short in the form of flashbacks.

The film starred Marisa Tomei, John Goodman, and Robert Carlyle.

It was Miller's first foray into independent film.

Following the death of Miller's father and Savin's mother, the couple risked pursuing their dream of making serious films by taking money out of their Pasadena home to finance the movie.

The film premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

Miller then directed three indie films starring Alan Rickman in the lead role.

Rickman said, "This is the Randy and Jody part of my life... It's a unique thing that Randy and Jody have -- a totally unique and independent energy."

Miller followed this with the indie films Nobel Son (2007), Bottle Shock (2008), and CBGB (2013), all starring Alan Rickman in the lead role.

Miller self-distributed and raised the money for Bottle Shock, his greatest critical success.

Miller has closely collaborated with his wife Jody Savin on many of his projects, writing and producing multiple films together.

The first was the 2007 American black comedy Nobel Son about a dysfunctional family dealing with the kidnapping of their son for ransom following the father's winning of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

In addition to Rickman, the film starred Bill Pullman, Eliza Dushku, and Danny DeVito.

In 2015, Miller pled guilty in the train crash death of film crew member Sarah Jones to keep his wife out jail so that she could return to their two school aged children.

The film was Midnight Rider, which he was directing and producing.

Miller served one year in jail and is completing nine years of probation.

Miller is the first filmmaker to be imprisoned for a film-related death.

Miller grew up in Pasadena, California.

His mother, Leona Miller, was an internist and professor at USC County Medical Center and President of the Diabetes Association.

His father, Alexander Miller, was a professor of microbiology at UCLA after completing his graduate studies at Cal Tech in Pasadena.

Miller attended UC Davis, where he played football and studied biochemistry, inspired by his own parents' careers in medicine.

After getting interested in acting, he transferred to UCLA, but dropped out to pursue his acting career, landing television roles in Cheers, Highway to Heaven, and in commercials.

During that time, Miller met director Bob Zemeckis of Back to The Future fame while acting in a play with Zemeckis' wife.

At Zemeckis' encouragement, Miller completed his undergraduate degree at the USC film school.

He then received a master's degree in film from the American Film Institute (AFI).

Miller met his future wife Jody Savin at AFI, where he was a director fellow and she was a writing fellow.