Ryan Coogler revealed in a recent interview he rejected an invite in 2016 to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which puts on the Academy Awards.
“I don’t buy into this versus that, or ‘this movie wasn’t good enough to make this list,'” Coogler told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Wednesday.
The filmmaker was part of the 2016 class of invitees, which included Michael B. Jordan, Regina King, Chadwick Boseman, and John Boyega, among others.
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Coogler also discussed in the interview why the Academy doesn’t fit into the type of organization he would like to join.
“If I’m going to be a part of organizations, they’re going to be labor unions, where we’re figuring out how to take care of each other’s families and health insurance. But I know that these things bring exposure,” he said.
Along with Coogler, THR also interviewed his Judas and the Black Messiah production partners Charles King and Shaka King. The trio brought the film about Black Panther leader Fred Hampton to the screen. Shaka King directed and co-wrote the script for the film.
Although Coogler is still not a member of the Academy, that didn’t stop him from receiving an Oscar nomination as a producer for Judas and the Black Messiah.
Coogler, along with his Judas and the Black Messiah production partners, is part of the Oscars’ first all Black-producing team nominated for the Academy’s best picture Oscar.
This year’s Academy Awards will air Sunday, April 25, on ABC.
