John Ridley
John Ridley
John Ridley IV is an American screenwriter, film director, novelist, and showrunner, known for 12 Years a Slave, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
CountryUnited States of America
black littles tire
I can tell you from personal experience it gets a little tiring having to make the rounds on cable shows to explain 'what's up with black folks.'
gratitude fighting should
When it comes to fighting for freedom, those who are willing to fight should not be limited by our bigotry. Only rewarded with our gratitude.
coping-mechanisms vegas hustle
As a coping mechanism, or as a way to make a little hard count by shilling demons in the shadows, I try not to belittle the thought process of the conspiracy theorists. As a cocktail waitress in Vegas once schooled me: never get down on anybody else's hustle.
knowing together special
There's something very special about knowing what you want to do and knowing the story you want to tell, but finding it together.
beautiful events happens
For every horrific event, something beautiful happens.
sexy sorry lying
I'm sorry, but chick fights are sexy. If you don't think so, you're either an uptight woman or a lying man.
violence sitting film
I've written films that are violent. I'm not big on sitting and watching violence.
college care vote
Much as banks don't care where your money's coming from, the Electoral College is all 'don't ask, don't care' when it comes to votes.
writing decision trying
I don't know when I made that active decision to be a writer or to try to write, but I know I always liked storytelling.
father gay rights
Gay marriage will be universally accepted in time. But if I may be so bold as to say to gays and lesbians, don't wait for that time to arrive. Just as my father and his generation did not 'wait' for their civil rights, nor should you. The toothpaste ain't going back in the tube. The tide has turned.
achievement individuality black
It is time to celebrate the New Black Americans - those who have sealed the Deal, who aren't beholden to liberal indulgence any more than they are to the disdain of the hard Right. It is time to praise blacks who are merely undeniable in their individuality and exemplary in their levels of achievement .
hipster thinking looks
When I was young and I look at the things that I wrote - I don't think that was the word they used back then, but they had a hipster sensibility. They were a little irreverent.
drama thinking space
I don't think it's good when entertainment tries to proselytize and I don't think people ultimately want someone showing up in their living room and just hectoring at them all day long. But if you can create a space where people are caught up in something - whether it's a drama, a comedy, a romantic comedy, or science fiction - that's when people give over their minds and allow their emotions to flow.
creating entertainment emotion
When entertainment works the best, you're creating an apparatus to convey emotions.