Ryan Coogler

The brilliant award-winning filmmaker Ryan Coogler is a director, producer, screenwriter, and entrepreneur. He is best known for the Marvel superhero movies Black Panther, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and for the Rocky spin-off Creed. He is a founding member and supporter of the Blackout For Human Rights campaign, and since the age of 21 has been a counselor for incarcerated youth at San Francisco’s Juvenile Hall.

Born and raised in California, Coogler grew up with a natural talent for sports and attended the Saint Mary’s College of California on a football scholarship. There he discovered a love for creative writing and was encouraged to take up screenwriting. He transferred to Sacramento State, where he studied finance and took film classes. After graduating he took a Master’s at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Coogler directed a number of short films while at USC, winning various awards. Then in 2013 he wrote and directed his first feature-length movie, Fruitvale Station, which went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. He then expanded into blockbusters, making Creed, a spin-off of the Rocky story featuring Sylvester Stallone, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Coogler then co-wrote and directed Black Panther for Marvel, which was a critical and commercial success, grossing $1.3 billion worldwide and breaking numerous box office records to become the highest-grossing film directed by a Black filmmaker. It won three Oscars and was also the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture.