Biography

Zinzi Coogler is an American producer. She produced Judas and the Black Messiah (2021), Creed III (2023), and Sinners (2025). She co-founded Proximity Media in 2021 with her husband, filmmaker Ryan Coogler, and producer Sev Ohanian. She met Coogler as a teenager, and the couple began dating during their undergraduate years, later marrying in May 2016. Their long-standing personal partnership grew into a professional collaboration, with Zinzi supporting early creative efforts and later assuming formal producing roles on projects. Early in Ryan Coogler's career, she supported his ambitions by helping him acquire industry tools such as screenwriting software while he was a student. Through Proximity Media, Zinzi Coogler has helped shepherd projects that blend cultural impact with mainstream appeal. The company's production slate includes the six Academy Award-nominated Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) and the hybrid genre film Sinners (2025). In addition to her producing work, she is also an American Sign Language interpreter. She was a nominee at the 2026 Independent Spirit Awards in the category Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series for Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time (2025), sharing the nomination with collaborators Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn, Ryan Coogler, Myles Estey, Ted Skillman, Sev Ohanian, Peter Nicks, Kalia King, Carolyn Payne, Sean David Johnson, and Kelli Buchanan.