The Impact of Filmmaker Ryan Coogler on Cinema

Writer/director Ryan Coogler is having a moment. One that has lasted most of his career.

From film school to multi-million-dollar movies there seems nothing he can’t produce that isn’t celebrated by critics and audiences alike. Ryan Coogler’s films have left a profound mark on contemporary cinema, merging powerful storytelling with cultural appeal. His work is known for its exploration of themes like identity, community, race and social justice.

He Started Like Us

Coogler was born in Oakland, CA. Mom Jocelyn was a community organizer and dad Ira was a JV hall probation counselor. Solid folk and no doubt how young Ryan and his two brothers learned family and social values that are still reflected in all his works.

An athlete who also excelled in academics, he was awarded a football scholarship to St. Mary’s College of California. Along with his higher level academics, Ryan was encouraged to take a creative writing course and the die was cast.

He pursued creative writing and film at Sacramento State and USC. His shorts Locks (screened at Tribeca in 2009) and Figs (2010) won awards and brought him to the attention of many who helped him pursue his cinema dreams. We discuss his key achievements.

Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan) in Fruitvile Station. Photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company

Fruitvale Station (2013)

Coogler wrote and directed Fruitvale Station beginning a longtime collaboration with actor Michael B. Jordan. It was a breakout hit. Coogler was drawn to the story of Oscar Grant, the young man who was shot in the back. Coogler has stated that because he was from the Bay area and felt deeply the injustice of the situation that ignited the entire country, he wrote the award-winning script; and that being the same age of the young black man who was murdered, it was impossible not to see himself in the situation in more than one way. Writing your passion is always a strong step forward artistically and for Coogler it was exactly the right one.

The steps to the film for Coogler who was 25 at the time aren’t fully clear, but it can be assumed that his success with his award-winning shorts was instrumental in helping to make that transition. At the time, Coogler was reportedly 200k in debt from school loans, so the pressure was on him to succeed. 

Actor/producer Forest Whitaker’s company, looking for new projects, took an interest in Fruitvale and backed the movie along with actress Olivia Spencer (The Help), providing a giant leap for the young filmmaker; and to everyone’s credit, it became a perfect vehicle to launch Coogler’s career. 

Like many of Coogler’s films, and perhaps one of the keys to his successes, Fruitvale was deeply felt by Coogler. He admits that his parents were protective, as all parents are, and when he lived in Richmond, CA. He could only walk the one block to his uncle’s house alone. Certainly, growing up as a young Black man he understood many of the lethal dangers that his generation faced as they dealt with systemic prejudice.

Black Panther (Chadwick Bosman) Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios

Black Panther (2018)

The king of Wakanda’s journey was about as perfect a superhero movie as could be written. Total immersion in African culture both ancient and modern day; a movie villain with an anger that is unquenchable, but who also has a strong moral core; a youth, T’Challa, who grew up worshiping his father and the Panther legacy, but is ultimately disillusioned. So many major and minor aspects that created a flawless storyline both incredible and credible. 

The themes in Black Panther are multi-dimensional. Coogler never blinked in delivering a quiet storm of societal issues. T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) is a naive prince who is elevated to King by his father’s death. Both his on-again off-again girlfriend, Nakia Okoye, played by Lupita Nyong’o, and his newly-discovered cousin, Erik Stevens aka Killmonger played by Michael B. Jordon, have lessons to impart on the newly appointed king. As in Fruitvale Station, you can see a lot of Coogler reflected in T’Challa’s journey.

The personal journey Coogler takes into his culture’s roots is so amazing. No one is more aware of a people’s potential than Coogler and that is shown with Wakanda as a land of wonder where people of color not only achieved, but surpassed any other culture in the world. Wakanda is magical and blessed. Coogler is saying that given just the right push, miracles can happen.

During his journey, T’Challa, as king, eventually recognizes his father’s failings and sees clearly that isolating Wakanda from the world is the same as had been done to people of color is a bravura catharsis for any character let alone a super-powered hero.

Death Destroys His World 

When Chadwick Boseman died in 2020 it shattered Coogler. Like many filmmakers, Coogler goes back to cast and crew he can count on. Boseman was, is, a world-class actor as is Michael B. Jordan who played Killmonger in Black Panther and many other roles including the lead(s) in Sinners. Beside the obvious issues with the sequel to BP, Coogler faced the loss of a dear friend and rock-solid teammate. It took months for him to right the production ship and I doubt if he’s ever really recovered from the loss of a man he so admired and loved.

There’s an old saying: “Writing is easy. Just sit down and open a vein.” You can see the blood everywhere in Coogler’s work and the cuts that are the deepest are the personal ones.

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) & Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) Photo courtesy of MGM/ Warner Bros/ Newline

Creed (2015)

Many characters in Coogler’s film are in search of a mentor. Themes of abandonment are strong in most of his work which no doubt has its impetus in the black community’s frequent drumbeat about young boys growing up without fathers. Coogler had strong parental oversight and was an academic and athletic standout, but as in a lot of his films, Coogler reflects issues that haunted his peers. When you see the hunger in Donnie Creed, Apollo Creed’s son, for connection, it’s deeply felt.

It may just come down to the fact that Coogler is reverently grateful for what he’s been given. A dedicated family man, Coogler ties community, or lack of it, into everything. He has two kids. His wife Zinzi is quite accomplished and a strong part of his business. He credits an uncle he spent time with as a source of wisdom. The time with his uncle formed the basis of Sinners, but more it created another of the connections that Coogler always seems to strive for personally and professionally.

Smoke/ Stack (Michael B. Jordan) Photo courtesy of Warner Bros

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Sinners (2025)

Coogler’s latest hit touches on half a dozen themes that have always made an appearance in his work. But Sinners, Coogler’s first wholly original film, uniquely combines the entire gamut of what he wants to say.

The blues are uniquely an American creation. The soulful chords and messages of loss have long resonated in the black community. A supernatural element in Sinners describes that the blues can also open portals to other dimensions and realities. 

(From the Sinners script:)
There are legends of people born with the gift of making music so true. It can pierce the veil between life and death. Conjuring spirits from the past. And the future. 

[More: “Sinners” Is Ryan Coogler’s Bluesy Love Letter To Horror Films]

In Black Panther, Wakanda’s ancestral plain is a different dimension where T’Challa can talk to his father and others, so that otherworldliness shows up to help the storytelling.

Multi-Dimensional

Coogler is a storyteller on many levels at once. The Blues is a storytelling medium, so using it as an overlay to give Sinners more depth is easily apparent. Love, in the form of the brothers and their significant others; religion, spirituality, is another set of overlays as is history and historical struggle. Culture, love, in all forms, themes like loyalty and family are different threads that this master storyteller weaves into a talking quilt.

Most writers see one storyline. Coogler uses a half dozen to give his films unbelievable depth and texture. Are there times where this conglomeration becomes a bit overwhelming? Like life itself, the answer is yes, and yet Coogler, a multi-level artist, can do no less. It’s his world vision.  

On the surface of the water is the main storyline – the vampires; as we dive deeper we encounter more and more of the true strength of the tale Coogler is trying to tell.

Even the title, Sinners, has levels deep within the movie. Blues was once considered sinful because of the deep feelings it engendered. The twins, Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan), are criminals. It’s no accident that the Blues phenom, Preacher Boy (Miles Caton) is indicted by his father, a preacher, for playing with the Devil. The juke joint is a place of drinking, gambling, and fornication. The white supremacists murder without cause. And on and on.

What’s Next?

On a personal level, Coogler continues to serve the community. He is a counselor at Juvenile Hall in San Francisco and a founding member of the Blackout For Human Rights campaign.

He’s got Black Panther 3 to write, a slate of media for Disney, and a half dozen other high-profile projects including an X-Files reboot.

Four movies, four massive successes; that just doesn’t happen by accident. There has to be skill and planning in play. Insight, foresight. Also, great instinct and a true love for the art (and business) of storytelling.

Fates allow, we will be spending many years watching Ryan Coogler spin his wondrous tales.

by Mark Sevi

Mark Sevi is a professional screenwriter (34 scripts sold, 19 movies done as a writer, and 16 credits as a producer of other projects). He lectures and teaches scriptwriting in Southern California. He is also the founder of the OC Screenwriters Association. His book, "Quantum Scriptwriting: Informed Structure" is available on Amazon in ebook or print. His bi-monthly podcast on scriptwriters and scriptwriting (plotpointspodcast) is available on Apple Podcasts and others. He is repped by Wayne Alexander of Alexander, Lawrence, Frumes & Labowitz, LLP in Beverly Hills.

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