10 Things to Know About Ryan Coogler
The young auteur is this year's ABFF Rising Star.
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10 Things to Know About Ryan Coogler - After a breakthrough debut with Fruitvale Station, an acclaimed box office hit in Creed and a Marvel franchise (Black Panther) on deck, there's no doubt that Ryan Coogler's time has arrived. The prolific director is this year's recipient of the ABFF's Rising Star Award, and it's about time the world gets to know him better. That said, here are some things to know about the young auteur.(Photo: Jerod Harris/Getty Images For TheWrap)
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Paging Dr. Coogler - Coogler initially planned on going to medical school to become a doctor. After a class writing assignment, in which he told the story of his father almost bleeding to death in his arms, Coogler’s professor recognized his narrative talent and advised him to pursue a career in filmmaking.(Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for FIJI Water)
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Football Hero - Another career Coogler considered before turning to filmmaking? Football. He was a college athlete, playing wide receiver on a Saint Mary’s scholarship before the school shut down their football program. He then transferred to Sacramento State where he started taking every filmmaking class he could. (Photo: Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for Variety)
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Black Lives Matter - Oscar Grant, the subject of Coogler's debut film Fruitvale Station, lived and worked in the same community as Coogler. Grant was killed by an overzealous police officer at a BART station on New Year's Day in 2009. “When it happened, it really affected me. That’s also something that I deal with on a day-to-day basis, losing friends to gun violence,” Coogler said at the film's New York premiere. (Photo: Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for BET)
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Secret Ambitions - In an interview with EW following the Fruitvale Station Sundance premiere, Coogler said he was working on a graphic novel aimed at young adults. He didn't say what it's about, but we'd like to get a look ASAP!(Photo: AdMedia / Splash News)
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Chance Encounter - Coogler met with Oscar winner Forest Whitaker back in 2011 while still a student at USC film school. The actor's production company was looking for new talent to develop projects, and Coogler pitched the idea for Fruitvale Station. After the meeting, he had a green light, a modest budget and an entertainment giant in his corner. (Photo: Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Variety)
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Social Matters - Just because he went Hollywood doesn't mean Ryan forgot about his roots. In 2014, Coogler’s group “Blackout for Human Rights” held a major movement when the group boycotted Black Friday after the non-indictment of officer Darren Wilson, the Ferguson policeman who shot and killed Michael Brown. (Photo: KCS Presse / Splash News)
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#OscarsSoWhite - Despite the fact that Coogler and his Creed star Michael B. Jordan are viewed as Oscar snubs in this years awards, he encouraged Sylvester Stallone, who is nominated for his role in the film, not to boycott the ceremony. Stallone recounted, “I said, ‘If you don’t want me to go, I won’t. He said, ‘I want you to go.’ That’s the kind of guy he is. He wanted me to stand up for the film.”(Photo: Hugh Dillon/WENN.com)
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Women Do It Better - Coogler, who has hired female cinematographers for both of his feature films, said, “I feel like women are better filmmakers than men…They’re equipped to do this job, in many ways, better that us. They’re infinitely more complex. They’re stronger and sharper." (Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Variety)
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One For the Team - Even before Coogler was tapped to direct the upcoming Marvel filmBlack Panther, he was already expressing his belief that the film needed a Black director, regardless of who was chosen. “I think that there is a potential for a greater truth when a filmmaker comes from a particular culture that they’re dealing with," he said. Coogler will be the first Black director to take on a Marvel franchise.(Photo: Max Mumby/Getty Images)