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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.”
