Redneck Miller

Producer and co-writer W. Henry Smith was a former power company lineman who also owned the Palmetto Drive-In in Florence, South Carolina. The venue did well exhibiting exploitation films, so Smith decided to start producing similar projects, teaming with Charlotte, North Carolina exhibitors Ulmer S. Eaddy Jr. and Robert McClure to produce writer-director-star Albert T. Viola's successful 1971 comedy Preacherman under their new production company banner Preacherman Corporation. The company followed that film with Hot Summer In Barefoot County (1974) and Truckin' Man (aka Trucker's Woman; 1975). Miller, McClure, and screenwriter Joseph Alvarez then formed the Nu-South Films Ltd. banner to produce Redneck Miller, the highest quality production of the bunch (it was announced in trade publications as D.J. Redneck Miller, owing to the title character's occupation as a radio disc jockey). The film premiered on November 24, 1976 at Smith's Palmetto Drive-In. Smith passed away in 1978. Redneck Miller was subsequently revived circa 2007 by director Quentin Tarantino for his screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas, and later at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. It did not appear on home video until the Blu-ray release in 2024, and subsequently on streaming. In December 1978, Variety magazine announced a new Preacherman Corporation sports comedy called First And Goal, directed by Albert T. Viola. It is unknown whether this film was ever made or released.