#BlackHistoryToday: Meet Hollywood’s Newest Director, Ryan Coogler!

Although this year has been full of controversy involving Hollywood and its lack of diversity, there has been some major moves made by a few young black people in the industry including filmmaker Ryan Coogler.
 
Ryan Coogler is the 29-year-old director of “Fruitvale Station” and “Creed,” two films that took the industry by storm bringing in more than $150 million combined. Coogler is what some might call a rookie to the filmmaking field but his resume and his talent has everyone from Forest Whitaker to Sylvester Stallone supporting him.
 
When interviewed by NBCBLK, Coogler spoke about how he and Oscar Grant were the same age when Grant’s death sparked protests and national news coverage in their hometown of the Bay Area. His ode to the lost life of Oscar Grant chronicled the last day of his life before he was killed by a transit cop.
 
Coogler’s more recent film “Creed” was an out of the blue blockbuster that really brought the director to the forefront. People wanted to know who was behind this masterpiece that explored issues of family strife to abandonment. The film starring Michael B. Jordan brought in a Golden Globe for supporting role by Stallone and multiple critics awards around the country. When the Oscars So White hashtag resurfaced Stallone came out publicly saying that he wouldn’t go to the ceremony if Coogler didn’t want him to, saying that Coogler told him to go.
 
Ryan is much younger than most of his competition today and seems to have more up his sleeve. He snagged the gig as the director of Marvel’s “The Black Panther” which got many excited to see how he interprets and executes the film.
 
We can’t wait to see more of Coogler’s work!
 
Source: NBCBLK, https://stg.theshaderoom.com/celebrating-black-history-month-meet-tristan-walker-the-face-behind-bevel/
 
TSR Intern: Jalen M @jalenmosby on IG.