Randall Miller

Randall Miller is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and occasional actor. He is known for directing Bottle Shock, CBGB, Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School, Nobel Son, The 6th Man, Houseguest, and Class Act, and for producing Savannah.

Randall Miller
Born
Pasadena, California, U.S.
OccupationFilm director, producer, screenwriter, editor, actor
Years active1984–present
Spouse(s)
Jody Savin
(
m. 1999)

In 2015, he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of camera assistant Sarah Jones during the filming of Midnight Rider, which he was directing and producing.[1] Miller served one year in jail and is currently completing nine years of probation.[2] Miller is the first film director in history to be convicted in the U.S. for the death of a cast or crew member.[3]

Early life and education

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.[4] His father, Alexander Miller, was a Professor at UCLA in Microbiology after completing his graduate studies at Cal Tech in Pasadena.

Miller attended UC Davis where he studied biochemistry inspired by his own parents' careers in medicine.[5][6][7]

Career

In 1993, Miller was nominated for CableACE Awards for his writing and direction of a short children's musical entitled Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School[8] (later remade as a feature film with the same title).[9] In 2000, he was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Children's Programs for the Wonderful World of Disney episode "H-E Double Hockey Sticks".[10][11] He then directed a number of independent films, including his self-distributed 2008 film Bottle Shock which premiered at the Sundance Film festival in 2008.[12] His previous film Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005; Nobel Son premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007[13] and CBGB in 2013.[14][15]

Class Act, released in 1992, is a modern-day comedic take on The Prince and the Pauper, about a pair of teenagers with switched identities.[16][17][18]

In 1995, Miller helmed Houseguest, another movie about mistaken identities. The Los Angeles Times said of it, "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.[19]

In 2005, Miller wrote and directed Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School, a full-length feature of his 1990 short film of the same name.[20][21][22] Nobel Son was written and directed by Miller, and was a 2007 American black comedy release about a dysfunctional family dealing with the kidnapping of their son for ransom following the father's winning of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It featured Alan Rickman in the leading role.[23]

Alan Rickman returned in a leading role for Miller's movie Bottle Shock in 2008, a dramedy about a 1976 wine competition where a California wine defeated a French wine in a blind taste test. Miller and wife, Jody, were introduced to Marc and Brenda Lhormer, the founders of the Sonoma Valley Film Festival, in 2006 at the opening night of Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School. In 2008, the founder couple presented the screenplay of a story involving the 'Judgement of Paris' to Miller and his wife. This story interested Miller and Jody and they took the story on board. They ended up writing, directing and producing Bottle Shock.[24][25]

Rickman returned for the third time to play Hilly Kristal in CBGB,[26] a 2013 historical film about the former New York music venue of the same name. Miller wrote the screenplay, produced and directed the film revolving around the life of Kristal, musician and owner of the CBGB club.[27]

Midnight Rider manslaughter conviction
See also: Safety for Sarah movement and Midnight Rider (film)

In 2014, on the first day of production of Midnight Rider, camera assistant Sarah Jones was killed during the filming of a scene.[28] The film was never completed. A police investigation in the town of Jesup, Georgia concluded that Miller and crew were trespassing on an operating railway line and that the train was unscheduled.[29] Charges for criminal trespassing and involuntary manslaughter were eventually brought against Miller, his wife Jody Savin (Producer), Jay Sedrish (Producer/UPM), and Hillary Schwartz (1st Assistant Director) for Jones' death.[30][31]

On March 9, 2015, Miller agreed to a plea deal in exchange for having charges dropped against his wife. He was sentenced to ten years, the first two to be served in jail followed by probation, along with a $20,000 fine and 360 hours of community service. Sedrish and Schwartz were sentenced to 10 years probation with no jail time, and ordered to pay fines. The terms of Miller's probation stipulated that he would be prohibited from serving as director, first assistant director or supervisor with responsibility for safety on any film production until his sentence was completed. Sedrish and Schwartz's sentences contained similar provisions.[32][33][34][35] Miller's conviction marked the first time a director was sent to prison for the death of a cast or crew member.[3]

Miller was released from jail on March 23, 2016 after serving slightly more than one year, due to a two-for-one deal made during negotiations for the original plea agreement with Georgia Assistant District Attorney John Johnson, requiring the court to revise the original sentence as it was deemed improper. Sarah Jones' father Richard Jones said in his statement to the court, "When [Sarah’s mother] Elizabeth and I agreed to this plea, it was our understanding that he would be serving two years in jail. If had we understood that it would have been one year, we would not have agreed," and "I want to be clear that we don’t want to inflict — we don’t mean to inflict more pain to Mr. Miller’s family. We understand that … can imagine it’s been quite a lot of pain for their family, but this is, in our view, about a bigger purpose. It’s about making the film industry a better, safer place. And in order to do so, we feel very strongly that this is an important element that Mr. Miller be held fully accountable for what he did."[2]

In July 2017, Sarah Jones' family were awarded $11.2 million in civil damages. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, "the jury found that CSX (the train's operator) was primarily liable for the accident and should pay 35% of the total judgment.... Miller was found responsible for 28% of the amount of the latest ruling. Rayonier Performance Fibers, owners of the land where the accident occurred, are responsible for 18% and the rest of the liability is divided between individual members of the film's production company."[36]

Higher Grounds controversy

In 2019 Miller directed the movie Higher Grounds in Serbia, London, and Columbia while on probation which prevented him working as a "director, first assistant director or supervisor with responsibility for safety in any film production".[37][38][39] After being made aware early 2020, the Jones family alerted Georgia's DA office that Miller was directing, a probation violation. Georgia Assistant District Attorney John Johnson said "Randall Miller has violated the terms of his probation, as a director, he’s in violation."[37] before requesting an arrest warrant be issued.[38][40] Attorney Mike Smith previously stated to the film crew of Higher Grounds that Miller was able to direct as long as he did not oversee safety, although ADA Johnson noted that Smith likely has a conflict of interest as he is also the movie's Executive Producer.[37][39] The Jones family also called for the Directors Guild of America to expel Miller after backlash that the Guild had greenlit the production and still lists Miller as a member.[39]

Personal life

Miller has been married to his wife Jody Savin, since March 13, 1999.[34]. He and Jody have two school age children.

Filmography

Production credits
Year Title Position Notes
1990 Parker Lewis Can't Lose Director Episode: "Parker Lewis Must Lose"
Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School Director, producer, editor and writer Short film
Thirtysomething Director Episode: "Melissa and Men"
1991 Salute Your Shorts Pilot episode
1992 Class Act
Northern Exposure Episode: "The Bad Seed"
1993 Running The Halls 5 episodes
CityKids 3 episodes
1995 Houseguest
1997 The 6th Man
1999 The Wonderful World of Disney Episode: "H-E Double Hockey Sticks"
H-E Double Hockey Sticks Television film
2000 A Tale of Two Bunnies Director Television film
2001 Popular Episode: "Fire in the Hole"
Jack & Jill Episode: "Pressure Points"
Freakylinks Episode: "Subject: Police Siren"
Till Dad Do Us Part Television film
Dead Last Pilot episode
2005 Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School Director, producer, editor and writer
2007 Nobel Son
2008 Bottle Shock
2013 CBGB Director, producer and writer
Savannah Producer
2020 Higher Grounds Director, producer and writer Post-production

Acting credits
Year Title Role Notes
1984 The Ratings Game Car Attentant Television film
1985 Highway to Heaven Ice Cream Attentant Episode: "The Brightest Star"
Cheers Michael Episode: "The Executive's Executioner"
1987 Throw Momma from the Train Bucky
1993 Da Vinci's War Randy
1995 Houseguest Drunk at party
1996 The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo Conyers Episode: "The Missing Astronaut"
1997 The 6th Man Booster
2008 Bottle Shock Patron
gollark: Would most *humans* actually know about the relevant foundations of arithmetic? I think that axiomatic set theory isn't that popular.
gollark: How can you tell what it doesn't understand except based on its inputs/outputs?
gollark: You're basically just assuming how it works internally in order to claim that it's doing certain things internally.
gollark: Really?
gollark: GPT-3 can sometimes do probably-novel logical reasoning. It has learned to do arithmetic despite being really poorly structured for it.

References
  1. Johnson, Ted (March 9, 2015). "'Midnight Rider' Director Pleads Guilty, Gets Two Years in Prison". Variety. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  2. Busch, Anita; Leon, Patty (March 23, 2016). "'Midnight Rider' Director Randall Miller Freed From Jail In Shock Ruling – Update". Deadline. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  3. Robb, David; Busch, Anita (March 9, 2015). "'Midnight Rider' Director Randall Miller's Prison Sentence Marks Historic First". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  4. "Dr. Leona Vivien Crook Miller's Obituary on Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  5. "WEDDINGS; Jody Savin and Randall Miller". The New York Times. March 14, 1999. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  6. "Bottle Shock Randall Miller". exclaim.ca. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  7. Scott, A. O. (August 5, 2008). "Plaid Suits, Prize Grapes and the Rise of Napa". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  8. Jennifer Pendleton, "Rivals for CableAces not even close to HBO", Variety, November 17, 1992.
  9. Dennis Harvey, "Review: ‘Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School’", Variety, January 6, 2005.
  10. Dave McNary, "DGA names noms for day, kids", Variety, February 16, 2000.
  11. Jerry Roberts, Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors (Scarecrow Press, 2009), ISBN 978-0810863781, p. 394. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  12. Anderson, John (July 30, 2008). "No Film Distributor? Then D.I.Y." www.nytimes.com. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  13. Dargis, Manohla. "Kidnapping, Suicide and Other Family Matters". New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  14. Foundas, Scott. "CBGB review: New York club gets the biopic it didn't deserve". Variety. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  15. DeYoung, Bill. "CBGB: A conversation with filmmaker Randall Miller". Connect Savannah. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  16. "No Recess For Excelling In High Jinks". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  17. Siskel & Ebert (June 6, 1992). "Class Act". TV.com. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  18. Peter Travers (June 5, 1992). "Class Act". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  19. WELKOS, ROBERT W. (January 10, 1995). "Weekend Box Office : 'Dumb and Dumber' Has Last Laugh". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  20. Catsoulis, Jeannette (March 31, 2006). "A New Life Awaits at 'Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing and Charm School'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  21. Bradshaw, Peter (August 24, 2006). "Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School". the Guardian. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  22. Harvey, Dennis (January 26, 2005). "Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School". Variety. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  23. Dargis, Manohla (December 4, 2008). "Alan Rickman Stars as a Prize-Winning Heel". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  24. "CASE STUDY: BOTTLE SHOCK - Film Independent". Film Independent. January 18, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  25. Brooks, Xan (March 20, 2009). "Film review: Bottle Shock". the Guardian. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  26. Foundas, Scott (October 15, 2013). "Film Review: 'CBGB'". Variety. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  27. Scott, A. O. (October 10, 2013). "'CBGB' Recalls That Closed New York Nightclub and Its Owner". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  28. Robb, David. "Hollywood Production Safety Exec: "We're In A Post-Sarah Jones World"". Deadline. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  29. Ruggieri, Melissa. "Gregg Allman film director gets early release from Georgia jail". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  30. Lewis, Hilary (July 3, 2014). "'Midnight Rider' Director Randall Miller, Producers Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter, Criminal Trespass". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  31. Yamato, Jen; Busch, Anita (September 29, 2014). "'Midnight Rider': 1st Assistant Director Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter". Deadline. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  32. Johnson, Ted (March 9, 2015). "'Midnight Rider' Trial: Executive Producer Jay Sedrish Won't Serve Jail Time". Variety. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  33. Busch, Anita; Leon, Patty. "'Midnight Rider' Director Randall Miller Freed From Jail In Shock Ruling – Update". Deadline. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  34. Cieply, Michael (March 9, 2015). "Randall Miller, Film Director, Pleads Guilty in 'Midnight Rider' Manslaughter Trial". The New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  35. Robb, David; Busch, Anita (March 10, 2015). "'Midnight Rider' First AD Hillary Schwartz Guilty; Gets 10 Years Probation – Update". Deadline. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  36. Varian, Ethan. "Parents of 27-year-old woman killed while filming movie win $11.2-million judgment". latimes.com. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  37. Patten, Dominic; D'Allesandro, Anthony (May 29, 2020). "'Midnight Rider' Director Randall Miller Faces New Arrest Warrant Over Probation Violations". Deadline. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  38. Maddaus, Gene (May 29, 2020). "Director Randall Miller Violated His Probation by Shooting a Film Overseas, Officials Say". Variety. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  39. D'Alessandro, Anthony; Patten, Dominic; Robb, David (May 27, 2020). "Convicted 'Midnight Rider' Director Randall Miller Completes New Movie Overseas; Lawyer Claims Disgraced Helmer Can Work Again, DGA Silent". Deadline. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  40. Maddaus, Gene (June 3, 2020). "Randall Miller to Go Before Judge on Alleged Probation Violation". Variety. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
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