Latest news with #JudasandtheBlackMessiah
Business Insider
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Ryan Coogler's production company Proximity Media is thriving — and 'Sinners' is just the beginning
There was a time when the only person who believed in Ryan Coogler was his wife, Zinzi. Back in the early 2000s, when Coogler was playing football at Saint Mary's College of California, he began thinking about life beyond the gridiron and whether becoming a storyteller could possibly be his next passion. He was told that if he were serious, the first thing he had to do was get the software that all scribes in the business use to write their stories: Final Draft. But barely surviving off the scholarship money he had, he couldn't afford it. "She bought it for me," Coogler told Business Insider over a video chat while sitting next to Zinzi, who gave a shy smile in response. Five movies and two Oscar nominations later, it turned out to be money well spent, as Coogler has become one of Hollywood's top visionary filmmakers. But he's not stopping there. Alongside Zinzi Coogler and producer Sev Ohanian, the trio launched the production company Proximity Media in 2018, which handles everything from feature films to documentaries and podcasts. Their efforts helped bring the 2021 best picture Oscar nominee "Judas and the Black Messiah" to the screen. They also teamed with LeBron James for the remake of "Space Jam" in 2021 and launched the popular podcast "In Proximity." The three formed a close bond in the 2010s when Ohanian was Ryan's classmate at USC (Zinzi and Ryan, who have known each other since they were teens, married in 2016). There was even a time when Ohanian was sleeping on the Cooglers' couch while they were making Coogler's debut feature, "Fruitvale Station," in 2013. Five years later, the three went into business for themselves, forming Proximity. "We were young people trying to make it in this business before we started the company," Coogler said. "We are a company that was built on that feeling of not being taken seriously because of our age and constantly being told we're doing it wrong because we want to do right by people. That has been the common theme; it's a blue-collar aspect." That blue-collar approach has become the company's guiding light. While many production companies led by Hollywood heavyweights are locked into first-look deals at a studio, Proximity has taken the less-traveled path and is a free agent in the business. This has led to them being busy all over town, working with Marvel Studios on the upcoming "Black Panther" spin-off series "Ironheart" and landing Coogler's latest directing effort, "Sinners," at Warner Bros. following a heated bidding war. "When we know we're doing something right, it's often when we can approach things unconventionally and not necessarily industry standard," Ohanian said. But Proximity isn't focused on just the moving image. Under the leadership of Oscar-winning composer and longtime Coogler collaborator Ludwig Göransson, the company was behind the soundtracks for " Creed III" and "Judas and the Black Messiah," the latter of which earned an Oscar nomination for best original song. The company will also be releasing the "Sinners" soundtrack. Meanwhile, Paola Mardo is heading its audio division, Proximity Audio, focused on continuing to grow the Webby Award-winning "In Proximity" podcast. "We have had Jordan Peele and Michael B. Jordan sit across from Ryan, but the pie in the sky is to keep having those intimate and in depth conversations about how we do what we do, to just give perspective on the many different things it takes to put something on screen for audiences to enjoy," Zinzi Coogler said. With a staff of around 25, the founders describe Proximity as a scrappy working environment fueled by the underdog mentality from which the company was born. They often hire people who, like them, once had little to no industry experience, just a drive to work in the business. This has led to Proximity's much-sought-after paid internship program. "At any given time, there are brilliant young filmmakers and podcast makers that are in and out of our company getting college credit and getting paid to learn," Ryan Coogler said. "It has gotten to the point that some of these people have gone on to be assistants to major Hollywood players." " Sinners" shows off the fruits of Proximity's labor. The genre-bending thriller, written and directed by Coogler and produced by the Cooglers and Ohanian, had the biggest opening weekend for an original movie since the pandemic, making $48 million domestically. In addition to handling the soundtrack, Proximity also used its podcast "In Proximity" to give a deeper insight into the movie and its themes, with its latest episode featuring a conversation between Coogler and Göransson. "Our first goal was to make a film that would be very music-oriented if not a full-blown musical, and I think with 'Sinners' we've accomplished that," Ohanian said. While "Sinners" is poised to continue its success at the box office, there's plenty more in the pipeline at Proximity. An adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel "California Bear" and an adaptation of the graphic novel series "A Vicious Circle" are both in development. They're also in production on an as-yet-unannounced docuseries following the success of "Stephen Curry: Underrated," which was released by Apple TV+ in 2023. I ask Zinzi if she ever imagined that buying Ryan Final Draft would lead to all this. "Not at all," she said softly. "I mean, we grew up with parents who had very practical jobs. I had zero expectations. I just knew it was something that he was very interested in and curious about."
Buzz Feed
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
"Sinners" Director Ryan Coogler Opened Up About His Favourite Part Of Filmmaking, And It's Not What You'd Expect
If you know anything about filmmaker Ryan Coogler, it's that he's passionate, insightful, and deeply intentional with his work. But when he sat down with us to discuss Sinners, the filmmaker opened up about what truly fuels his love for the craft, and it's not honestly so inspiring. Speaking to BuzzFeed UK alongside Michael B Jordan, Ryan shared that there isn't any part of the filmmaking process he doesn't love, but he finds producing most rewarding, saying; 'I feel like I'm helping somebody do the thing that I really like.' Ryan went on to say that while he loves writing and directing, the feeling of bringing someone's dream movie to life is the pinnacle; 'It's very addictive. You're in service to somebody else's vision in an art form that you know can be impactful,' he shared. Sinners is the first feature film he's has written, directed, and produced, but the first film he produced through Proximity Media – his production company – was Judas and the Black Messiah back in 2021. The Fred Hampton biopic picked up numerous accolades, and director Shaka King has been open about how much of an impact Ryan's input had on its success. Shaka revealed that it was Ryan who suggested Daniel Kaluuya play Fred and that Ryan's involvement was something that gave him confidence in the film's potential, saying; 'I expected, quite frankly, all of the studios to jump at the opportunity to make it just because of the stacked team we were bringing to them. With Ryan Coogler right on the heels of Black Panther." And though he loves producing, those who have worked with Ryan Coogler when he's wearing his director hat shared the same high praise – Hailee Steinfeld described watching his process on Sinners as a "core memory." Warner Bros. Pictures
Express Tribune
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Winners' Oscar thank-you speeches over the years
At the Oscars over the years, we have seen it all with the winners' speeches, ranging from dull, endless, cringe, heartwarming or, when we're lucky, hilarious. A few stick in the mind, from the astounded gasps of an 11-year-old Anna Paquin to Patricia Arquette's rousing feminist oration that brought Meryl Streep to her feet for a standing ovation. But, taken together, an AFP analysis of nearly 2,100 speeches dating back to March 1953, of which 80 per cent are by men, reveals winners most often thank the Academy, their family, the film crew or a film influence. Pithy and epic Speeches averaged nearly three sentences in the 1950s but since winners have become more talkative on stage: in 2024 they reached 15 sentences. On Tuesday, this year's nominees were urged to stick to a 45-second speech. Daniel Kaluuya, Best Supporting Actor for Judas and the Black Messiah in 2021, delivered the most epic speech ever, running for almost 70 sentences. In three minutes 30 seconds, the British actor who has Ugandan parents thanked some 30 people from God to his team, taking in his family and "everyone (he) loves, from London Town to Kampala". At the other extreme, nearly 200 winners took the fast route back to their seats, delivering one-sentence speeches. In 1954 when Titanic trio Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch and Richard Breen won Best Original Screenplay, Brackett barely got out a "Thank you" before the trio was ushered aside on stage. Women, meanwhile, are the longest orators, averaging over nine sentences compared to seven for men. By category, Best Actress winners deliver the longest speeches, with 18 sentences, two and a half more than their male counterparts. All about gratitude Naturally, most thank-you speeches are all about saying thanks - the word "thank" appears in nearly 95 per cent of all speeches in AFP's analysis. Of the five per cent remaining, some were being more imaginative in their choice of words – Vincente Minnelli for example expressed his "gratitude" in 1959 when he received the Best Director Oscar for Gigi. Arthur Harari won in 2024 with Justine Triet for Best Original Screenplay (Anatomy of a Fall) - his partner had given all the thank-yous. Looked at by category, the Best Actresses with their longer speeches are also the ones who say thank you the most, using "thank" 6.2 times on average. Positively loquacious with her more than 60 sentences, Halle Berry dedicated half of those to thanks in 2002 when she became the first Black actress in Oscar history to win, for Monster's Ball. After opening with two "Oh my Gods" followed by "this moment is so much bigger than (her)," she dedicated her award to "every nameless, faceless woman of colour that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened". In contrast, Frances McDormand, not one to mince her words, almost skipped the "thanks" entirely when she won her first of three top actress awards for Fargo in 1997 by the Coen brothers. She did slip one in right at the end – "Thank you for acknowledging our work" - and had dished out a congratulation to producers for "allowing directors to make autonomous casting decisions based on qualifications and not just market value". From God to Spielberg The giver of the golden statuette, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is the most frequently cited entity in speeches. In the 1950s it features in one out of 12 speeches; in the last decade, one out of two. Another frequent reference is to "God," appearing nearly 190 times in over 140 speeches. More than six out of 10 occurrences refer to the religious figure, among which slightly less than half are as part of phrases with "God bless" to the audience, America, the Academy. Among all instances of "God", one in five corresponds to the phrase "Oh (my) God", which does not directly refer to the religious figure. Among individuals, Hollywood titan Steven Spielberg - a nominee 23 times and winner three - is the most mentioned name, coming up around 40 times. AFP
