Ryan Kyle Coogler (born May 23, 1986) is an American film director and screenwriter. His first feature film, Fruitvale Station, won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture, Un Certain Regard Avenir Prize, Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Director, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture, New York Film Critics Circle Award...
Nominations
Gotham Independent Film Audience Award, Empire Award for Best Director
Movies
Black Panther, Creed, Fruitvale Station
Star Sign
Gemini
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Quote
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[re Oscar Grant's murder] It really caused an identity crisis here in the Bay Area because we think of ourselves as the most progressive place, the most diverse place, the most accepting place in the country. I grew up with white friends, Asian friends - Vietnamese, Chinese, Pacific Islanders. I had Hispanic friends, not just Mexican friends, but Guatemalan friends, Honduran friends, and we knew the difference, you know? So when we saw that happen to Oscar, and we saw it on video, it was like the wind getting knocked out of us. I was questioning who we were as a community.
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[re making Fruitvale Station (2013)] We shot here [BART station] for three nights after the station was closed, Everybody was there with us: BART employees, safety monitors, train drivers, all the cast members and crew. Some of us would pray; others would just keep to themselves. The energy of it hit everybody. It was the hardest thing I've done in my life, making this movie. Having to see [real-life hero] Oscar die so many times. And having to see the people react to it. That never gets easy, man. Never.
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Fact
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Ryan cast his brother Keenan Coogler in his breakout debut film Fruitvale Station (2013). And like Ryan, Keenan was also a standout football player in a Bay Area college.
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Has worked as a security guard, and also with imprisoned youth at San Francisco's Juvenile Hall.
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Partnered with Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker who agreed to develop and produce his first feature-film project, Fruitvale Station (2013).
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Grew up in Richmond, CA in the East Bay area north of Oakland, CA. He attended nearby Saint Mary's College on a football scholarship, then transferred to Sacramento State College. Later he was a graduate student in the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
$4 Million
