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Fortune
Fortune
Emma Burleigh

Ryan Coogler was $200K in student debt and 'making no money' while filming 'Creed'—now, his $330 million success 'Sinners' took home four Oscars

Ryan Coogler Oscars Brian Chesky Michael B Jordan Oprah Winfrey Los Angeles United States
"Sinners" director Ryan Coogler wins Oscar (Credit: Brianna Bryson / Staff / Getty Images)

At Sunday night’s Oscars, fan-favorite Sinners struck gold and walked away with four wins. The horror film’s star Michael B. Jordan triumphed as best actor, and its director, Ryan Coogler, took home the award for best original screenplay. But just one decade before the $365 million worldwide box-office success was sweeping the awards ceremony, its director was drowning in student loans.

“I was 200 grand in debt for film school. It was bad,” Ryan Coogler revealed on the WTF With Marc Maron podcast last April. “We don’t come from no money.”

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