Ryan Coogler
Ryan Coogler
Ryan Kyle Coogleris 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. He also wrote and directed the seventh film in the Rocky film saga, Creed...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth23 May 1986
CountryUnited States of America
catholic education fit hood kids money mostly playing private school send spent
Before playing football, I didn't fit in anywhere. My parents didn't have a lot of money, which they spent on our education to send us to Catholic private school in Oakland, mostly black. The other kids had more money than I did. I started school early; I was young. So I'd come back to my hood and read.
area contact men mostly people places whether white
There are so many people that don't come in contact with black men. Whether they live in a homogeneous area that's mostly white or whether they live in places where they don't have to come in contact with them. So what kind of contact do they have with African-American males? They have the media, and that's it.
awesome bad bit cool experience felt grew review reviews student writes
Even reading my first bad review was an awesome experience. It was cool because you make something and not everybody's going to like it. I felt like that kind of grew me up a little bit into a professional. I was a student filmmaker, and no one writes reviews about student films.
cannes kodak
In 2009, I went to Cannes with a short film in the Kodak emerging program at the American Pavilion.
directed given people terms written
I've directed things that other people have written before, and I've written things and given them to other directors. So I'm very versatile in terms of that, and I enjoy all of it.
authentic camera chose grain love shoot super tactile tech work
I'm kind of a tech geek. With the camera work, I chose to shoot super 16, which has a real tactile feel. I feel it's as authentic as possible; I love the way the grain feels.
dad domestic following grocery hang pick remember
I kind of remember when I was young, I used to hang out with my dad sometimes. And I can remember just following him in and out of these domestic situations. Going to the grocery store, we'd go pick up my other brother, or we'd go here, go there.
angles people
What's important to me is offering perspectives into worlds that people don't often get to see. Do you know what I mean? From angles they don't often get to see.
black care considered families good job lives men render strong taking time whatever women youth
We look at the African-American community, for a long time those of us who be considered strong - black men - for whatever reason, haven't done a good job of taking care of the weak. And we were doing things that render taking care of our youth and taking care of our women and our families impossible, when our lives are taken.
gets hopefully human incredibly inspired learning letting profound rocky time
'Rocky' is an incredibly human story, and 'Creed' is very inspired by the Rocky lore, but there's something kind of profound in letting it all go. This is the first time I'm co-writing, and I'm learning as I go. This process is so different from 'Fruitvale'; hopefully it gets made.
alternate comic episodes liked school stuff watched
I used to write in school a lot; I always liked it and used to write on my own, comic books, come up with alternate story lines to the stuff I watched and read, a lot of books and TV, episodes of 'Twilight Zone.' I didn't think about it.
asian grew hispanic knew pacific
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?
human massive
Black-on-black crime is a massive human rights issue that's going on in America.
came crazy familiar gone life lonely personal rocky small takes
I came up with this really crazy idea, this really small personal story that takes place in a universe that we are familiar with. Rocky is retired, kind of set adrift. He's very lonely in his world. His life has gone by waiting for the inevitable. It's not 'Rocky 7.'