Ryan Coogler
Ryan Kyle Coogler is an American filmmaker. He has received ten NAACP Image Awards, four Black Reel Awards, a Grammy Award and a Golden Globe Award, along with nominations for five Academy Awards and three BAFTA Awards.
Coogler directed a few short films at the USC School of Cinematic Arts before his feature-length debut with Fruitvale Station. He then transitioned to directing and writing franchise films such as the Rocky series spinoff, Creed, as well as the Marvel films Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Coogler also produced the historical drama Judas and the Black Messiah and the supernatural horror film Sinners, which he also wrote and directed. He received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture for both films, while for Sinners he was also nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
In 2013, he was included on Time
Early life
Coogler was born in Oakland, California. His mother, Joselyn, 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. His uncle, Clarence Thomas, is a third-generation Oakland longshoreman, and the former secretary treasurer of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Coogler was raised Baptist, and attended Catholic schools.Coogler lived in Oakland until age eight, when the family moved to Richmond, California.
During his youth, he ran track and played football. He went to a private Catholic high school, Saint Mary's College High School in Albany, California, and did well in math and science.
After high school, 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. 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. As a student athlete coming up in the Bay Area, Coogler befriended and often played against NFL running back Marshawn Lynch.
After Saint Mary's College of California canceled its football program in March 2004, 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. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance in 2007. He then entered a three-year master's program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he made a series of short films, graduating with an MFA in film in 2011.
Career
2009–2013: Early work and breakthrough
When attending CSU Sacramento, Coogler worked on a few short films that were titled "Story of a Dollar" and "Eyes Like Mine". While at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Coogler directed four short films, three of which won or were nominated for various awards. Locks screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the Dana and Albert Broccoli Award for Filmmaking Excellence. Fig, 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, written by Carol Lashof, won the Jack Nicholson Award for Achievement in Directing. In January 2013, Coogler said he was working on a graphic novel and young adult novel about an undisclosed subject matter.In 2013, Coogler wrote and directed his first feature-length film, Fruitvale Station, which told the story of the last 24 hours of the life of Oscar Grant, 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, 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.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called Fruitvale Station "a gut punch of a movie" and "an unstoppable cinematic force". 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". Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called it "a compelling debut" and "a powerful dramatic feature film". 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." Ann Hornaday, an American film critic for The Washington Post, compliments Coogler's artistic control of not showing biased or vilifying others in Fruitvale Station, but focusing on reflecting on the history of events the film is based on. The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2013.
2015–2019: Expansion with franchise films
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. 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.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 the Loma Prieta earthquake shook the Bay Area to its core. In 2018, Coogler co-wrote and directed the Marvel film Black Panther, making him the first African-American Marvel Studios director. 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, who plans to abandon the country's isolationist policies and begin a global revolution.
Upon release, Black Panther 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." In an interview with the female stars from Black Panther by Entertainment Weekly, the general consensus was that their characters were well respected and well written. The film was also noted for its representation of African Americans and subject matter related to Afrofuturism. 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.
2020–present: ''Sinners'' and producing
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, which focused on the betrayal of Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in late-1960s Chicago, by William O'Neal. The film received critical acclaim and received six nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards, and earned Coogler, Shaka King and Charles D. King a nomination for Best Picture, the first for an African-American producing team. Also in 2021, Coogler served as co-writer and producer on Space Jam: A New Legacy, starring LeBron James. The film received generally negative reviews and was a financial failure, grossing $163 million worldwide on a budget of $150 million. One of the negative reviews previously mentioned comes from Rotten Tomatoes, in which the general consensus was that Space Jam: A New Legacy could not live up to the original Space Jam, even with any effort from Lebron James' humor and acting. Coogler returned to direct and co-write 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. Coogler served as an executive producer on Creed II, and wrote the story outline and served as a producer on Creed III.Coogler collaborated with Jordan for a fifth time on Sinners, a supernatural horror film, which was released in April 2025. It received critical acclaim. Autumn Durald Arkapaw, working alongside Ryan Coogler, shot a substantial share of the Imax sequences — about 20 percent of the film — with IMAX MSM 9802 cameras and 50mm and 80mm Panavision lenses that had been originally custom-designed for Nolan and Van Hoytema on Oppenheimer. Coogler negotiated an unprecedented deal with Warner Bros. for the film, which included a provision for full ownership reversion 25 years after the film's release, granting him control over future licensing, royalties, and sequels. The agreement also granted Coogler first-dollar gross participation and final cut privileges, ensuring creative control. Coogler cited the film's themes of Black ownership and familial legacy—drawing inspiration from his Mississippi-born grandfather's experiences as motivations for the ownership clause. Industry analysts noted the deal challenged traditional studio models, with outlets like Variety questioning its profitability.
At the 98th Academy Awards, Sinners received 16 nominations, breaking the Oscars' all-time nomination record. Coogler was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. At the 79th British Academy Film Awards, Sinners became the most-nominated film by a Black director in the British Academy’s history. Coogler won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Original Screenplay, the Golden Globe Award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, and received nominations at the Directors Guild of America Awards, Producers Guild of America Awards, and Writers Guild of America Awards.
Proximity and Coogler co-produced the Marvel series Ironheart for Disney+ starring Dominique Thorne, who had debuted as the titular character in Wakanda Forever.