Before Sinners became a record-breaking movie or before Black Panther became a billion-dollar success, Ryan Coogler was born in May 1986 in Oakland California. Growing up, his mother loved movies, which introduced him to many films, and his father was a former college football player. Coogler was an amazing student and athlete, even getting a football scholarship to St. Mary’s College of California. However, his professor for creative writing saw Coogler’s talent at writing and told him to try screenwriting.

After the football season, Ryan transferred to California State University. He was still playing football, but this time he was also taking film classes. He would graduate with a degree in business and finance then enroll in at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts where he would make four short films. Three out of the four of his shorts won awards at film festivals.

With awards to his name, he started working on his first feature film, Fruitvale Station. Forest Whitaker saw Coogler’s previous shorts and his passion for this project and decided to produce the movie. This is how Coogler met Micheal B. Jordan, who has been in each of Ryan’s movies sense. The movie debuted at Sundance and won awards and the American Film Institution recognized it as one of the best movies of 2013. After this, Ryan has made 4 blockbusters and has been nominated for numerous Oscars, which cements his spot as one of the best working directors to date.