San Francisco Frontiers - Ryan Coogler: from indie to blockbuster to Oscar

And now, just shy of his 40th birthday, Coogler is an Oscar winner, for best original screenplay for horror period piece "Sinners," an unlikely mash-up of racial segregation, Southern blues and vampire-fueled gore.

The Warner Bros film -- starring Coogler's steady collaborator, Michael B. Jordan, as twins in 1930s Mississippi -- became a box office smash, raking in nearly $370 million worldwide.

"I'm very nervous and they're gonna play me off. I grew up in Oakland, California, and we can talk a lot," Coogler said Sunday.

"This is an incredible honor."

Despite initial skepticism by industry insiders about the film, "Sinners" shattered the record for most Academy Awards nominations for a single film with 16.

It ended up with four awards -- best actor for Jordan, Coogler's prize, best score for Ludwig Goransson and best cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first woman to ever win in that category.

- From Oakland to Cannes -

Coogler's rapid ascent onto Hollywood's A list was hardly likely back when he was intending to major in chemistry at college.

He was born on May 23, 1986 in Oakland, California, across the bay from San Francisco.

He remained in the area for his entire childhood, running track and playing football -- a sport that would lead to a scholarship for college.

Praise from the teacher of a creative writing course during his freshman year sparked an interest in screenwriting, and Coogler took film classes while earning a degree in finance.

A gift of screenwriting software from girlfriend Zinzi -- now his wife, production partner and mother of their three children -- further kindled his ambition.

"When football began to feel like a chapter he might be closing, I could see he was looking for a place to pour that same energy into, and filmmaking was it," she told The Hollywood Reporter.

Two years after earning a graduate degree from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, Coogler wrote and directed "Fruitvale Station," his first feature.

The 2013 film recounted the real-life story of Oscar Grant, a young Black man who was shot dead by a transit police officer in Oakland during a 2009 arrest, sparking protests and riots.

The movie marked his first collaboration with Jordan -- who has gone on to star in all of Coogler's work. It earned multiple awards, including at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals.

It was only the beginning.

- Blockbusters -

Coogler followed up with "Creed" (2015) a spin-off of the "Rocky" franchise, with Jordan as the young boxer, and Sylvester Stallone reprising his iconic role -- as his trainer.

Three years later, he released "Black Panther," putting a rich portrait of the fictional high-tech African country Wakanda on screen -- and elevating Black representation in Hollywood.

"Black Panther" went on to win three Oscars, and secured a best picture nomination.

Its 2022 sequel was largely defined by the death of star Chadwick Boseman after a battle with cancer, which forced Coogler to rewrite the film.

"Me and Chad were getting closer, so it was like a wound to the heart," Coogler told The Hollywood Reporter.

- Vampires and the blues -

So far, "Sinners" is perhaps his most personal project -- sparked by wanting to learn more about a great-uncle who had introduced him to the blues and was from Mississippi.

It also came from his own imagination, not from current events or existing intellectual property.

"I did feel more vulnerable," Coogler told The New York Times about the experience.

Jordan plays both Smoke and Stack, twin brothers who fought in World War I and return home to the southern state after a time in Chicago working for crime lords such as Al Capone.

They want to open a juke joint -- but their dreams collide with the ghosts of slavery, white supremacy and the white vampires as a metaphor for the exploitation of Blacks.

One central scene that employs magical realism to trace the history of Black music from West Africa through the blues to present-day hip-hop is a standout -- before the blood flows.

"I see Ryan the most in this movie," Jordan told The Hollywood Reporter.

Upcoming projects include the third "Black Panther" film and a new cinematic take on "The X-Files," the 1990s hit sci-fi show about FBI agents investigating the unknown.

O.Green--SFF