Allan has had a remarkable 40-year career in filmmaking, showcasing his versatility and talent as a director and editor. His work on Steven Spielberg's "Survivors of the Holocaust" earned him two Emmy Awards and a Peabody, while his feature documentaries "Old Man River" and "Sounds Of Memphis" collected a total of eight best documentary film awards.
Allan began his career in editing under the "Roger Corman Film School", a renowned institution that has launched the careers of many Hollywood greats. He has directed five narrative feature films, including the comedy-action film "Mutant" (also known as "Forbidden World"),which was recently released by Shout, and the faux documentary "Grunt! The Wrestling Movie". His psychological thriller "Intimate Stranger" starring Deborah Harry remains Showtime's highest-rated film.
In recent years, Allan has taken on a wide range of projects, including an interactive video installation for 20th Century Fox, "The Titanic Attraction"; whimsical documentaries accompanying the DVD releases of Walt Disney classics such as "Cinderella", "The Lion King", "Aladdin", "Lady And The Tramp", and "Pocahontas"; a biography of television humor pioneer Sheldon Leonard, producer of "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "The Andy Griffith Show", and "I Spy"; a documentary with the American Film Institute Archives, "The Art Of Directing" featuring Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, David Lynch, and François Truffaut; and the editing of three pop culture feature documentaries: "TrekNation", "My Marilyn" (which he also directed and produced),and "Dare To Be Different".
Allan's latest documentary, "The Professor", showcases the inspiring work of UC Berkeley's Landscape Architecture professor Chip Sullivan. For the past few years, he has used his editing skills to help first-time directors transform their documentaries into compelling films, including "Refusenik", "America The Beautiful 2", "Iceberg Slim Portrait Of A Pimp", "Curtain Up", and "The Paw Project". His new book, "Celluloid Wars", is based on his experiences editing and directing for Roger Corman, with a companion feature documentary "C-C-Cut: Autobiography Of A Stuttering Filmmaker".