Ryan Coogler is best known as director and co-writer of the Marvel film Black Panther, which broke numerous box office records and became one of the highest- grossing films of all time. Coogler's films have received significant critical acclaim and commercial success. In 2013, he was included on Time's list of the 30 people under 30 who are changing the world. Coogler remembers the first moment it occurred to him to become a film director. Growing up in Oakland, Coogler was on a football scholarship to Saint Mary’s College in the East Bay, where he had to take a creative writing class. The assignment was to write about a personal experience, and Coogler wrote about the time his father almost bled to death in his arms. He handed it in, and the professor called him into her office. She asked what Coogler wanted to do with his life. “Play ball, become a doctor and be a positive influence in my community,” he replied. He remembers her saying, “I think you should become a screenwriter. You can reach more people.” Coogler thought she was crazy but gave it a shot. Saint Mary’s cancelled its football program, and the young wide receiver got another scholarship, this time to Sacramento State. There he changed his major to finance while taking every film class he could. By graduation he was “in love with filmmaking.” One of his professors had told him about USC film school. “It was either go there or play wide receiver. I was short, my prospects weren’t the highest, so I took a risk and drove to L.A.” Of his features, he says Fruitvale is the closest to his heart. It’s the true story of Oscar Grant, an unarmed man shot in the back by a cop in Oakland. “I saw the riots and the frustration, and they didn’t have an effect,” says Coogler. “I thought if I could get two hours of people’s time, I could affect them more than if they threw a trash can through a window.” As sad as Fruitvale is, Coogler still calls it his “love letter to the Bay Area.” .