Ryan Coogler is not afraid to express his love for his wife out loud. During the Critics’ Choice Association’s 8th Annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television, Coogler accepted the Director Award. However, while the industry celebrated his work on the critically acclaimed film “Sinners,” the director took a moment to celebrate his wife and business partner, Zinzi Coogler.
“In 2003, I saw a young girl kicking everybody’s a** on the track. I didn’t get her number that day. I built up my courage and got it at the next track meet. She changed my life. She made me a better football player, a better student, a better person, and she made me a better filmmaker,” he said, fighting back tears.
Before the world knew Ryan as the visionary behind “Sinners,” “Black Panther,” “Fruitvale Station,” and “Creed,” Zinzi knew him as the student athlete at Saint Mary’s College, hustling to keep his scholarship with big dreams. A producer in her own right, Ryan consistently credits his now-wife, then-girlfriend, for supporting his dreams. For instance, when he was a “broke” college student struggling to write his early scripts in Microsoft Word, Zinzi pulled together what little money she had and bought him Final Draft, the industry-standard screenwriting software.
“My wife, she was my girl at the time, [and] they had a software where you could write screenplays. I was trying to write in Microsoft Word. It’s impossible because your format gotta be right,” he said in a Hot 97 interview. “And my wife scraped together some cheese and bought me Final Draft, which is the software that you write your movies on. And she got me that.”
In addition to getting married and building a family of three children, the couple built Proximity Media, a production company committed to telling stories rooted in culture, authenticity, and impact.
“She was there on every set, always played the background and never gave her credit,” Coogler continued in his speech. “For this movie she was my boss. And it was f*cking awesome. And I think she’s the biggest reason why this movie is so good. Zinzi, thank you. I love you.”
