Ryan Coogler | |
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Born | Ryan Kyle Coogler May 23, 1986 Oakland, California, U.S. |
Education | St. Mary's College of California California State University, Sacramento (BA) University of Southern California (MFA) |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2009–present |
Spouse | Zinzi Evans (m. 2016) |
Ryan Kyle Coogler (born May 23, 1986) [1] is an American filmmaker. He is a recipient of four NAACP Image Awards and four Black Reel Awards, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Grammy Award.
He made his feature-length debut with the independent film Fruitvale Station (2013), which won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. It also won at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, for Best First Film. [2]
He has since co-written and directed films such as the Rocky series spinoff, Creed (2015), and the Marvel film Black Panther (2018), the latter of which broke numerous box office records and became the highest-grossing film of all time by an African American director. [3] Coogler also co-wrote and directed its sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).
Coogler's films have received widespread acclaim and commercial success. [4] His work has been hailed by critics for centering on often overlooked cultures and characters—most notably African Americans. [5] [6] He frequently collaborates with actor Michael B. Jordan, who appeared in all five feature films directed by Coogler, as well as composer Ludwig Göransson, who has scored all of his films. [7]
In 2013, he was included on Time 's list of the 30 people under 30 who are changing the world. [8] In 2018, Coogler was named the runner-up of Time's Person of the Year and he was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. [9] In 2021, Coogler, his wife, Zinzi Coogler, and Sev Ohanian founded multimedia company Proximity Media to create event-driven content across various platforms. [10]
Coogler was born on May 23, 1986, in Oakland, California. His mother, Joselyn (née Thomas), [1] is a community organizer, and his father, Ira Coogler, is a juvenile hall probation counselor. Both parents graduated from California State University, Hayward. He has two brothers, Noah and Keenan. [11] His uncle, Clarence Thomas, is a third-generation Oakland longshoreman, and the former secretary treasurer of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. [12]
Coogler lived in Oakland until age eight, when the family moved to Richmond, California. [11] During his youth, he ran track and played football. [13] He went to a private Catholic high school, Saint Mary's College High School in Berkeley, California, [14] and did well in math and science. [15] [16]
Coogler attended Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California on a football scholarship as a redshirt wide receiver his college freshman semester, intending to major in chemistry. [11] The football players were encouraged to take a creative writing course. Coogler's teacher praised his work, noting that it was very visual, and encouraged him to learn screenwriting. [16] [17] As a student athlete coming up in the Bay Area, Coogler befriended and often played against NFL running back Marshawn Lynch. [18]
After Saint Mary's canceled its football program in March 2004, [19] Coogler transferred and earned a scholarship to Sacramento State, where he had 112 receptions for 1,213 yards and 6 touchdowns during his four years playing football. [20] At Sacramento, he obtained a bachelor's degree in finance and also took as many film classes as he could fit in with the rigors of college football. Following graduation, he was accepted into the highly competitive three-year master's program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he made a series of short films. [21] [11]
While at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Coogler directed four short films, three of which won or were nominated for various awards. Locks (2009) screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the Dana and Albert Broccoli Award for Filmmaking Excellence. Fig (2011), written by Alex George Pickering, won the HBO Short Film Competition at the American Black Film Festival, the DGA Student Film Award, and was nominated for Outstanding Independent Short Film at the Black Reel Awards. Gap (2011), written by Carol S. Lashof, won the Jack Nicholson Award for Achievement in Directing.[ citation needed ]
In 2013, Coogler wrote and directed his first feature-length film, Fruitvale Station (originally titled Fruitvale), which told the story of the last 24 hours of the life of Oscar Grant (played by Michael B. Jordan), who was shot to death by a police officer at Oakland's Fruitvale BART station on January 1, 2009. Produced by Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, [22] the film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the top Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize in the dramatic competition and was released in theatres on July 20, 2013. Made on a budget of $900,000, the film grossed over $17 million worldwide after its theatrical run. [23] [24] [25]
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called the film "a gut punch of a movie" and "an unstoppable cinematic force". [26] A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote that Coogler's "hand-held shooting style evokes the spiritually alert naturalism of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne". [27] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called it "a compelling debut" and "a powerful dramatic feature film". [28] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a score of 94% based on 195 reviews, with a critical consensus that reads: "Passionate and powerfully acted, Fruitvale Station serves as a celebration of life, a condemnation of death, and a triumph for star Michael B. Jordan." [29] The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2013. [30]
In 2015, Coogler released his second film, Creed , a spin-off of the Rocky films, which Coogler directed and co-wrote with Aaron Covington. The film starred Michael B. Jordan as Apollo Creed's son Donnie, who is trained and mentored by his father's old friend and former rival Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone. [31] [32] [33] [34] It received critical acclaim from critics and audiences and grossed over $173 million worldwide. Among its accolades, Stallone won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. [31] [32]
In 2018, Coogler co-wrote and directed the Marvel film Black Panther, [35] [36] making him the first African-American Marvel Studios director. [37] The film starred Chadwick Boseman as the titular character, who is crowned king of Wakanda following his father's death, but is challenged by his cousin, Erik Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan), who plans to abandon the country's isolationist policies and begin a global revolution. [38] [39]
Upon release, the film grossed $1.3 billion worldwide and broke numerous box office records, becoming the highest-grossing film directed by an African-American director, the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time and the second-highest-grossing film of 2018. Black Panther received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus reads, "Black Panther elevates superhero cinema to thrilling new heights while telling one of the MCU's most absorbing stories—and introducing some of its most fully realized characters." [40] The film was also noted for its representation of African-Americans and subject matter related to Afrofuturism. [41]
The film was nominated for seven awards at the 91st Academy Awards, winning three, and received numerous other accolades. Black Panther is the first superhero film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, and the first MCU film to win several categories (those being for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Original Score).
In 2021, Coogler served as a co-producer alongside Charles D. King and Shaka King on the Fred Hampton biopic Judas and the Black Messiah , directed by Shaka King, [42] which focused on the betrayal of Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya), chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in late-1960s Chicago, by William O'Neal (played by LaKeith Stanfield).
The film received critical acclaim and earned Coogler, Shaka King and Charles D. King an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, the first for an African-American producing team. Judas and the Black Messiah earned five other Oscar nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for both Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield, and won Best Supporting Actor for Kaluuya and Best Original Song ("Fight for You"). For his performance as Hampton, Kaluuya also won Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and BAFTA Awards.
That same year, Coogler served as co-producer on the Space Jam sequel Space Jam: A New Legacy , starring LeBron James. [43] The film received generally mixed-to-negative reviews and was a financial failure, grossing $163.7 million worldwide on a budget of $150 million.
Coogler served as co-writer and director on the Black Panther sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , which was released in the United States on November 11, 2022. It was a critical and commercial success, being nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one. [44] [45]
Coogler served as an executive producer on the ESPN 30 for 30 film The Day the Series Stopped, about Game Three of the 1989 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, when an earthquake shook the Bay Area to its core. [46]
In January 2013, Coogler said he was working on a graphic novel and young adult novel about an undisclosed subject matter. [47]
Coogler will work with Jordan in the upcoming film Wrong Answer, based on the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal. [48]
Coogler served as an executive producer on Creed II , and wrote the story outline for Creed III . [49]
In February 2021, Coogler's production company Proximity Media signed an exclusive five-year deal with Disney to produce content for them, which includes a Disney+ television series based in Black Panther's home country of Wakanda. [50] Proximity will also co-produce the Marvel series Ironheart for the streaming service; star Dominique Thorne had debuted as the titular character in Wakanda Forever. [51] More recently, former HBO executive Kalia Booker had joined the television arm of Proximity Media. [52]
In January 2024, it was announced Coogler will work with Jordan for a fifth time on Sinners , a supernatural horror film. The film will be released in theatres on March 7, 2025, by Warner Bros. Pictures. [53]
In November 2024, Denzel Washington stated that Coogler is currently writing the script for Black Panther 3 and he has been cast in an undisclosed role. [54]
Coogler has worked since age 21 as a counselor with incarcerated youth at San Francisco's Juvenile Hall, following in the footsteps of his father, who has long shared the same occupation. [55] Coogler is also a founding member [56] and supporter of the Blackout For Human Rights campaign, which is committed to addressing racial and human rights violations happening throughout the United States. [57]
Coogler married Zinzi Evans in 2016, with whom he has two children. [58]
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Locks | Yes | Yes | Also actor and sound editor |
2011 | Fig | Yes | No | |
The Sculptor | Yes | Yes | ||
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Fruitvale Station | Yes | Yes | No | |
2015 | Creed | Yes | Yes | No | |
2018 | Black Panther | Yes | Yes | No | |
Creed II | No | No | Executive | ||
2021 | Homeroom | No | No | Executive | |
Judas and the Black Messiah | No | No | Yes | ||
Space Jam: A New Legacy | No | Uncredited rewrites [59] | Yes | ||
2022 | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | Yes | Yes | No | |
2023 | Creed III | No | Story | Yes | |
Stephen Curry: Underrated | No | No | Yes | [60] | |
2025 | Sinners | Yes | Yes | Yes | Post-production |
Year | Title | Developer | Executive producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | The Day the Series Stopped [46] | No | Yes | TV movie |
2021 | What If...? [61] | No | No | Episode: "What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?"; creative consultant |
2025 | Ironheart [51] | No | Yes | Miniseries; 6 episodes |
Eyes of Wakanda [50] [62] | Yes | Yes | Miniseries; 4 episodes |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | On the Grind | Camera operator | Documentary short |
2010 | Get Some | Boom operator, sound editor and sound mixer | Short film |
2012 | It's Just Art, Baby | Camera operator and grip | |
2020 | Soul | Special thanks [63] | |
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(December 2022) |
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Austin Film Critics Association | Best First Film | Fruitvale Station | Won |
Boston Online Film Critics Association | Best New Filmmaker | Won | ||
Cannes Film Festival | Prix de l'Avenir d'Un Certain Regard | Won | ||
Grand Prix d'Un Certain Regard | Nominated | |||
Caméra d'Or | Nominated | |||
Chicago Film Critics Association | Most Promising Filmmaker | Nominated | ||
Detroit Film Critics Society | Best Breakthrough | Nominated | ||
Gotham Awards | Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award | Won | ||
Las Vegas Film Critics Society | Breakout Filmmaker of the Year | Won | ||
Nantucket Film Festival | Vimeo Award for Best Writer/Director | Won | ||
National Board of Review | Best Directorial Debut | Won | ||
New York Film Critics Online | Best Debut Director | Won | ||
Phoenix Film Critics Society | Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera | Nominated | ||
San Francisco Film Critics Circle | Marlon Riggs Award | Won | ||
Sundance Film Festival | Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic | Won | ||
Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic | Won | |||
2014 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Director | Nominated | |
Outstanding Screenplay, Adapted or Original | Nominated | |||
Central Ohio Film Critics | Breakthrough Film Artist | Nominated | ||
Independent Spirit Awards | Best First Feature | Won | ||
NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture | Nominated | ||
Satellite Awards | Honorary Satellite Award | Won | ||
2015 | African-American Film Critics Association | Best Director | Creed | Nominated |
Indiana Film Journalists Association | Best Director | Nominated | ||
Las Vegas Film Critics Society | Best Director | Nominated | ||
Los Angeles Film Critics Association | New Generation Award | Won | ||
NAACP Image Award | Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture | Won | ||
Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture | Won | |||
New York Film Critics Online | Best Director | Nominated | ||
2016 | Empire Awards | Best Director | Nominated | |
2018 | Saturn Awards | Best Director | Black Panther | Won |
Best Writing (with Joe Robert Cole) | Nominated | |||
African-American Film Critics Association | Best Director | Won | ||
Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Screenplay, Adapted (with Joe Robert Cole) | Nominated | ||
San Francisco Film Critics Circle | Best Adapted Screenplay (with Joe Robert Cole) | Nominated | ||
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | Best Director | Nominated | ||
Best Adapted Screenplay (with Joe Robert Cole) | Nominated | |||
2019 | Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay (with Joe Robert Cole) | Nominated | |
Satellite Awards | Auteur Award | Won | ||
Georgia Film Critics Association | Best Adapted Screenplay (with Joe Robert Cole) | Nominated | ||
USC Scripter Award | Best Adapted Screenplay (with Joe Robert Cole) | Nominated | ||
Writers Guild of America Award | Best Adapted Screenplay (with Joe Robert Cole) | Nominated | ||
Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Director | Won | ||
Outstanding Screenplay (with Joe Robert Cole) | Nominated | |||
2021 | Academy Awards | Best Picture | Judas and the Black Messiah | Nominated |
2022 | Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Picture | Space Jam: A New Legacy | Nominated |
Hollywood Music in Media Awards [64] | Best Original Song in a Feature Film | "Lift Me Up"(from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ) | Won | |
2023 | Golden Globe Awards [65] | Best Original Song | Nominated | |
Critics' Choice Movie Awards [66] | Best Song | Nominated | ||
Academy Awards [67] | Best Original Song | Nominated | ||
2024 | Grammy Awards [68] | Best Song Written for Visual Media | Nominated |
Michael Bakari Jordan II is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his film roles as shooting victim Oscar Grant in the drama Fruitvale Station (2013), boxer Adonis Creed in Creed (2015), and Erik Killmonger in Black Panther (2018), all of which were written and directed by Ryan Coogler. Jordan reprised his role of Creed in Creed II (2018) and Creed III (2023); the latter also marked his directorial debut.
Daniel Kaluuya is an English actor and filmmaker. His work encompasses both screen and stage, and his accolades include an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. In 2021, he was named among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.
Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson is a Swedish musician, composer, conductor, songwriter, and record producer.
Fruitvale Station is a 2013 American biographical drama film written and directed by Ryan Coogler. It is Coogler's feature directorial debut, and is based on the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, a young man killed in 2009 by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer Johannes Mehserle at the Fruitvale district BART station in Oakland, California. The film stars Michael B. Jordan as Grant, with Kevin Durand and Chad Michael Murray playing the two BART police officers involved in Grant's death, although their names were changed for the film. Melonie Diaz, Ahna O'Reilly, and Octavia Spencer also star.
Black Panther is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, and it stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. In Black Panther, T'Challa is crowned king of Wakanda following his father's death, but he is challenged by Killmonger (Jordan), who plans to abandon the country's isolationist policies and begin a global revolution.
Creed is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Aaron Covington. It is the first spin-off of and is the seventh installment in the Rocky film series. It stars Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Tony Bellew, and Graham McTavish. In the film, amateur boxer Adonis Creed (Jordan) is trained and mentored by Rocky Balboa (Stallone), the former rival turned friend of Adonis' father, Apollo Creed.
Rachel Morrison is an American cinematographer and director. For her work on Mudbound (2017), Morrison became the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. She has twice worked with director Ryan Coogler, as cinematographer on the films Fruitvale Station (2013) and Black Panther (2018). Morrison's feature film directorial debut is the biographical sports drama The Fire Inside (2024).
Aaron Covington is an American screenwriter and sound designer from Northwest Indiana.
Hannah Beachler is an American production designer. The first African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Production Design, she is known for her Afrofuturist design direction of Marvel Studios film series Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Beachler has been involved in numerous projects directed by Beyoncé, including Lemonade and Black Is King.
The soundtrack for the 2018 American superhero film Black Panther, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and produced by Marvel Studios, consists of an original score composed by Ludwig Göransson and original songs performed or curated by Kendrick Lamar. Göransson worked on all of director Ryan Coogler's previous films, while Lamar and Coogler had previously discussed collaborating and the musician agreed to perform several songs for the film after seeing an early version of it.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a 2022 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Shuri / Black Panther. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to Black Panther (2018) and the 30th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, the film stars Letitia Wright as Shuri / Black Panther, alongside Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Angela Bassett. In the film, the leaders of Wakanda fight to protect their nation in the wake of King T'Challa's death.
T'Challa is a fictional character portrayed by Chadwick Boseman in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. He is initially depicted as the prince of the fictional African nation of Wakanda who holds the appointed title of Black Panther. He uses an advanced vibranium suit and is imbued with superhuman strength and agility granted to him by the heart-shaped herb, as a blessing bestowed upon him by Wakanda's patron deity Bast, from whom the visage of the Black Panther mantle assumed by the chosen royal members is representative and evocative of.
Judas and the Black Messiah is a 2021 American biographical crime drama film directed and produced by Shaka King, who wrote the screenplay with Will Berson, based on a story by the pair and Kenny and Keith Lucas. The film is about the betrayal of Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in the late-1960s Chicago, by William O'Neal, an FBI informant. Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Lil Rel Howery, Algee Smith, Dominique Thorne, and Martin Sheen also star.
Creed III is a 2023 American sports drama film starring and directed by Michael B. Jordan in his directional debut, and produced by Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, Elizabeth Raposo, Jonathan Glickman and Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to Creed II (2018), the third installment in the Creed film series, and the ninth overall in the Rocky film series. The film was written by Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin from a story they co-wrote with Ryan Coogler. The film sees the accomplished and recently retired boxer Adonis Creed come face-to-face with his childhood friend and former boxing prodigy Damian Anderson. Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris, Mila Davis-Kent, Florian Munteanu and Phylicia Rashad also star.
Michael P. Shawver is an American film editor who is known for his collaboration with director Ryan Coogler. Shawver and fellow editor Debbie Berman collaborated on Coogler's 2018 film Black Panther. Before Black Panther, Shawver and Claudia Castello collaborated in editing Coogler's films Fruitvale Station (2013) and Creed (2015).
Sevak "Sev" Ohanian is an American film producer and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-writer and producer of the films Searching and Run, as well as executive producer on the film Judas and the Black Messiah. He is also one of the founders of Proximity Media.
Ironheart is an upcoming American television miniseries created by Chinaka Hodge for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is intended to be the 14th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by Marvel Studios, via its Marvel Television label, alongside Proximity Media sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. Hodge serves as head writer.
Shuri is a fictional character portrayed primarily by Letitia Wright in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, also inspired by the James Bond character Q. She is the courageous and tech-savvy younger sister of T'Challa, and the daughter of T'Chaka and Ramonda, all preceding monarchs of Wakanda. Highly intelligent and a master engineer, she is Wakanda's lead scientist and the princess of the country. Following her father's death, Shuri assists her brother in reclaiming the Wakandan throne from their cousin N'Jadaka and then helps remove Bucky Barnes's programming. Later, she assists the Avengers by attempting to use her technology to safely remove the Mind Stone from Vision's head. However, she gets stopped by Corvus Glaive and shortly after, falls victim to the Blip. After getting restored to life, she joins the battle against an alternate Thanos. Following her brother and mother's death, she becomes the new Black Panther, defeating Namor in combat and forming an alliance with Talokan against the rest of the world.
Eyes of Wakanda is an upcoming American animated television miniseries created by Todd Harris for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics location Wakanda. It is intended to be the 15th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from Marvel Studios and is produced by Marvel Studios Animation alongside Proximity Media, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. It follows the Hatut Zaraze, Wakandan warriors who retrieve vibranium artifacts throughout history, with Harris serving as director.
Sylvester Stallone is on board to reprise his role as Rocky Balboa, with Coogler penning the script along with Aaron Covington. Deadline Hollywood broke the news.
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