'Sinners' Director Ryan Coogler Brought His College Professor to the National Board of Review Awards

Sinners director Ryan Coogler brought a special guest to the National Board of Review Awards in New York City on Jan. 13, 2026, and you may be surprised to learn who the guest was.

The awards gala was held at the posh venue Cipriani on 42nd Street, according to Deadline, and the Black Panther filmmaker walked the red carpet with his special guest, whom the director has known for some time. Ryan brought his former college professor to the event, and he told Entertainment Tonight how important his former mentor has been in his life.

Ryan went to college at Saint Mary's College of California in the San Francisco Bay Area, and he told the outlet how important his former college professor was in his life.

"She was the head of the creative writing at the — my undergraduate school, Saint Mary's College of California," Ryan said.

Ryan added that during his second semester, the professor called him into her office to tell him that he should write screenplays. "It changed my life," he added. "We've been friends since."

Ryan's friend and former professor is Rosemary Graham, and she told the outlet that she has never before or since told a student that they should go to Hollywood. When asked how she knew Ryan was special, she replied that it was his writing.

"It was all there in the writing," she revealed. "The assignment was to write about an emotional moment. It was all there. There was very high stakes. It was very cinematic. ... I remember ... my words were, 'I think you should go to Hollywood and write screenplays.'"

"And I had never said that to anyone," she continued. "I've never said to another student since. I wouldn't dare."

"Her advice changed my life," added Ryan.

Ryan's first film was Fruitvale Station, a film about Oscar Grant, a Black man murdered by the police in San Francisco. Rosemary told the San Francisco Chronicle back in 2022 that Ryan was just 17 when she gave him the career advice that changed his life.

“It was 2004; he was 17,” she recalled of her former student. "He was on our football team, and his writing really stood out in my class. He wrote one particular narrative that I found to be really remarkable. It had all the visuals of screenwriting, and it had strong dialogue, and all the emotions of all those elements. I told him, ‘I think you should go to Hollywood and write screenplays.’ I hadn’t said that to anyone before, and certainly not since.”

Ryan's next film is the third sequel to the very popular Black Panther franchise. Black Panther 3: Shadows of Wakanda is currently in development. It is scheduled to begin production later this year, and it is expected to be in theaters in 2028.