Ryan Coogler

Ryan Coogler
Coogler at San Diego Comic Con in 2016
Born	Ryan Kyle Coogler (1986-05-23) May 23, 1986 (age 30) Oakland, California, United States
Alma mater	California State University, Sacramento, USC School of Cinematic Arts
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter
Known for	Creed, Fruitvale Station
Spouse(s)	Zinzi Evans

Ryan Kyle Coogler (born May 23, 1986) is an American film director and screenwriter. His first feature film, Fruitvale Station (2013), 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 (2015).

Coogler was born on May 23, 1986 in Oakland, California. His mother, Joselyn (née Thomas), is a community organizer, and his father, Ira Coogler, is a juvenile hall probation counselor. Both parents graduated from California State University, Hayward. He has two brothers, Noah and Keenan. His uncle, Clarence Thomas, is a third-generation Oakland longshoreman, and the former secretary treasurer of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

Coogler lived in Oakland, California until age eight, when he moved to Richmond, California. During his youth, he ran track and played football. He went to Saint Mary's College High School, a private Catholic school in Berkeley, California, and was good at math and science. He started his college journey at Saint Mary's College of California on a football scholarship as a redshirt wide receiver his freshman semester intending to study chemistry. While he was there, his English professor Rosemary Graham encouraged him to pursue a career in screenwriting.

After Saint Mary's canceled its football program in March 2004, he transferred and earned a scholarship to play at and attend Sacramento State, where in his four years he grabbed 112 receptions for 1,213 yards and 6 touchdowns. At Sacramento he majored in finance and took as many film classes as he could fit in with the rigors of college football. He then attended USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he made a series of short films.