# John Ridley

John Ridley IV (born October 1, 1964) is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner, known for 12 Years a Slave, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also the creator and showrunner of the anthology series American Crime. In 2017 he directed the documentary film Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982–1992.

## Early life

Ridley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was raised from the age of seven in Mequon, Wisconsin, with an ophthalmologist father, John Ridley, III, and a mother, Terry Ridley, who was a special education teacher for Milwaukee Public Schools. He has two sisters and is the middle sibling.
Ridley graduated from Homestead High School in Mequon, Wisconsin in 1982. He enrolled in Indiana University but transferred to New York University. There, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in East Asian languages. The subject wasn't applicable to his career, but it sparked his intellectual interests. Ridley is Christian.

## Career

Following college, Ridley spent a year living and traveling in Japan. Then, he returned to New York and began performing standup comedy in New York City, and he made appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Moving to Los Angeles in 1990, he began writing for such television sitcoms as Martin, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and The John Larroquette Show. After both writing and directing his film debut, the 1997 crime thriller Cold Around the Heart, he and Oliver Stone co-adapted Ridley's first novel, Stray Dogs (still unpublished when Stone bought the rights) into the 1997 Stone-directed film U Turn, which was released slightly earlier than Cold Around the Heart. Ridley went on to write the novels Love Is a Racket and Everybody Smokes in Hell. His novel Spoils of War was adapted into the 1999 David O. Russell-directed Three Kings. Ridley's original script was rewritten by Russell and Ridley, with Ridley receiving a "story by" credit negotiated among himself, Russell, and the releasing studio, Warner Bros. Ridley then became a writer and a supervising producer on the NBC crime drama Third Watch. His other novels are The Drift, Those Who Walk in Darkness, and A Conversation with the Mann. He also wrote the graphic novel The American Way.
From 2000 to 2010, he was a commentator and blogger for NPR. His blog was Visible Man, a play on Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. In 2003, Ridley inked a one-year overall deal with Universal Network Television.
His work as screenwriter also includes 12 Years a Slave, Red Tails, and Undercover Brother. His script for 12 Years a Slave won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, making Ridley the second African American to win the award, after Geoffrey S. Fletcher (for Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire).
In April 2015, Ridley was developing an ABC television series involving an existing Marvel Comics character. However, by December 2019, the project was cancelled due to Marvel Television folding into Marvel Studios. Ridley later revealed that his cancelled project would have been a version of Eternals, which was instead developed as an unrelated movie directed by Chloé Zhao.
On April 16, 2018, it was announced that Ridley would direct and write an adaptation of his graphic novel The American Way produced by Blumhouse Productions.
On June 4, 2018, it was announced that Ridley would direct a feature film adaptation of the Robert Silverberg short story, Needle in a Timestack produced by Bron Studios. The film featured performances from Leslie Odom Jr., Freida Pinto, Cynthia Erivo, and Orlando Bloom.
In 2021, Ridley began writing a number of series for DC Comics. The series include a new Batman series 'The Next Batman' as part of the company's line-wide event 'Future State', and a 5-issue series 'The Other History of the DC Universe' a text-based story about the history of the non-white, non-American DC heroes such as Black Lightning and Katana.
In May 2021, Marvel Comics announced that Ridley will write Black Panther comics.

## Controversy

In December 2007, during the Writers Guild of America strike against the major production studios, Ridley opted for WGA membership as a dues-paying non-member, or "fi-core," making him eligible to submit scripts to the studios while the strike was ongoing. In an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times, Ridley explained: "After 15 years of being told shut up, sit down and be part of the groupthink, I decided I did not belong in the guild. The guild has a way to option out. I took the option." Ridley's screenplay for 12 Years a Slave was thus ineligible for a Writers Guild of America Award.

## Personal life

Ridley is married to wife Gayle, a former script supervisor. They have two children.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 1997 | U Turn | No | Yes | No | Co-written with Oliver Stone |
| 1997 | Cold Around the Heart | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1999 | Three Kings | No | Story | No | Story by, screenplay by David O. Russell |
| 2002 | Undercover Brother | No | Yes | No | Co-written by Michael McCullers |
| 2012 | Red Tails | No | Yes | No | Story by, co-written by Aaron McGruder |
| 2013 | Jimi: All Is by My Side | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2013 | 12 Years a Slave | No | Yes | Executive | Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay |
| 2016 | Ben-Hur | No | Yes | No | Co-written by Keith Clarke |
| 2017 | Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982–1992 | Yes | No | Yes | Documentary |
| 2021 | Needle in a Timestack | Yes | Yes | Executive | |
| 2024 | Shirley | Yes | Yes | Yes | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Creator | Notes |
| 1993 | Martin | No | Yes | No | No | 3 episodes |
| 1994 | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | No | Yes | No | No | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | The John Larroquette Show | No | Yes | Co-producer | No | 2 episodes |
| 1996 | The Show | No | Yes | Consulting | No | Episode: "Tom and Them" |
| 1998 | Team Knight Rider | No | Yes | No | No | Episode: "E.M.P." |
| 1999 | Trinity | No | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Having Trouble with the Language" |
| 1999–2004 | Third Watch | No | Yes | Consulting | No | 8 episodes |
| 2003 | Platinum | Yes | Yes | Executive | Yes | Directed episode: "Peace" |
| 2003 | Static Shock | No | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Toys in the Hood" |
| 2004 | Justice League | No | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Starcrossed: Part II" |
| 2005 | Barbershop: The Series | Yes | Yes | Executive | No | Also developer; Directed 3 episodes, wrote 7 episodes |
| 2009 | The Wanda Sykes Show | No | No | Executive | No | |
| 2015–2017 | American Crime | Yes | Yes | Executive | Yes | Directed 5 episodes, wrote 8 episodes |
| 2017 | Guerrilla | Yes | Yes | Executive | Yes | Directed 3 episodes, wrote 5 episodes |
| 2019 | Godfather of Harlem | Yes | No | No | No | Episode: "By Whatever Means Necessary" |
| 2022 | Five Days at Memorial | Yes | Yes | Executive | Yes | Directed 3 episodes, wrote 5 episodes |
Acting credits
| Year | Title | Role | Episode |
| 1993 | Martin | Man with car (uncredited) | "Hollywood Swinging: Part 2" |
| 1994 | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Himself | "Will's Up a Dirt Road" |
| 2016 | Lady Dynamite | Himself | "White Trash" |

### Awards and nominations

| Year | Title | Awards |
| 1997 | Cold Around the Heart | Urbanworld Film Festival Jury Prize for Best Director |
| 1999 | Three Kings | Nominated—Golden Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay (shared with David O. Russell) Nominated—Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay (shared with David O. Russell) |
| 2002 | Undercover Brother | Nominated—Black Reel Award for Best Screenplay |
| 2013 | 12 Years a Slave | Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Black Reel Award for Best Screenplay Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Screenplay Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Adapted Screenplay San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Adapted Screenplay St. Louis Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated—AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay Nominated—London Film Critics' Circle Award for Best Screenplay Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated—Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay |
| 2015–2017 | American Crime | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Director in a Drama Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special |

## Works and publications
### Novels

* Ridley, John. Stray Dogs. New York: Ballantine Books, 1997. ISBN 978-0-345-41345-1
* Ridley, John. Love Is a Racket: A Novel. New York: Knopf, 1998. ISBN 978-0-375-40142-8
* Ridley, John. Everybody Smokes in Hell. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999. ISBN 978-0-375-40143-5
* Ridley, John. A Conversation with the Mann: A Novel. New York: Warner Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0-446-52836-8
* Ridley, John. The Drift. New York: Knopf, 2002. ISBN 978-0-375-41182-3
* Ridley, John. Those Who Walk in Darkness New York: Warner Books, 2003. ISBN 978-0-446-53093-4
* Ridley, John, and Patricia R. Floyd. What Fire Cannot Burn. Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books, 2011, 2007. ISBN 978-1-456-10151-0

### Graphic novels

* Ridley, John, and Ben Oliver. The Authority: Human on the Inside. La Jolla, CA: WildStorm Productions, 2004. 978-1-401-20070-1
* Ridley, John. The Razor's Edge: Warblade #1-5. DC Comics. 2005.
* Ridley, John, Georges Jeanty, and Karl C. Story. The American Way. La Jolla, Calif: WildStorm/DC Comics, 2007. ISBN 978-1-401-21256-8
* Ridley, John, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Andrea Cucchi, and José Villarrubia. The Other History of the DC Universe. DC Comics, 2021. ISBN 978-1-779-51197-3

### Stage plays

* Ridley, John. Ten Thousand Years. 2005 (world premiere).

### Essays

* Ridley, John (December 2006). "The Manifesto of Ascendancy for the Modern American Nigger". Esquire. Vol. 146, no. 6. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2024.