“Sinners” director Ryan Coogler still remembers what it was like to start from scratch. In 2018, when he and his co-founders launched Proximity Media, he recalled phoning a studio and the assistant saying, “Yeah, but can I get a name? Like, of a real person or a real company?” Coogler’s producing partners Sev Ohanian and wife Zinzi Coogler, burst out laughing — nobody knew who they were.
“It can be humbling, starting a company,” Coogler recalled.
Today, the Cooglers and Ohanian are celebrated for producing some of the most groundbreaking films in Hollywood. This summer, Proximity Media’s Southern Gothic film “Sinners” became the highest-grossing original horror release in U.S. history.
On Sunday, the two USC alumni took the stage in front of 1,000 people at Glendale’s Alex Theatre for a conversation as the marquee event of this year’s Armenian Film Festival.
In front of a crowd that cheered in response to every mention of USC, lined up an hour ahead of time to see them and a few of whom even cosplayed “Black Panther” characters, the pair reflected on Ohanian’s journey, tracing his path from self-professed non-nepo-baby to building some of Hollywood’s most successful movie ventures.
“In many ways, it was all leading to this,” Coogler said.
Ohanian, a Glendale native, was inducted into the newly established Armenian Film Hall of Fame at Sunday’s Gala following the conversation. Coogler, his longtime friend and collaborator, presented the honors. Before big production deals and blockbusters like “Sinners,” Coogler and Ohanian recalled finding their way.
Before receiving his MFA in film and television production at USC, Ohanian studied journalism at the University of California, San Diego. He wrote, produced, shot and directed his first feature-length film, “My Big Armenian Family.” He laughingly admitted to breaking several laws on set as an amateur, but described the film as an act of pure love. All of the actors were friends and family, and he took on the work of an entire production crew. When Ohanian looked into screening at the Alex Theatre, it was out of budget. Instead, his mother sewed a screen, and he bought a projector that he later returned.
To market his first film, Ohanian said he “broke into” high schools in Glendale, slipped flyers into lockers and crashed big Armenian events to spread the word. The overwhelmingly positive response from the audience is what pushed him to apply to USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, going from Triton to Trojan. “It empowered me, I gotta pursue filmmaking,” Ohanian said.
That decision put Ohanian in proximity with Coogler for the first time.
Coogler told the crowd that Ohanian stood out. It was 2009, and Ohanian wore his signature gelled hair and had an infectious energy that contrasted with classmates trying to play it cool, Coogler said. Although the success of “My Big Armenian Family” is what drove Ohanian to apply to USC, he admitted he was shy about sharing the film initially.
“I didn’t show it to anyone because I thought it was less than. I didn’t know what it was,” Ohanian said.
Coogler, on the other hand, was impressed. For most students at the School of Cinematic Arts, making a feature was the dream.
“I was like — why are you here?” Coogler recalled jokingly. Coogler reminisced about staying at Ohanian’s family home in Glendale, eating traditional Armenian food like Gomgush and watching “My Big Armenian Family” for the first time.
“You may have been the first non-Armenian to watch,” Ohanian said, laughing.
Coogler told him he saw his own family in the characters. His reaction inspired Ohanian to lean into what they referred to as “cultural specificity” and trust that others would relate.
“Ryan made the blueprint,” Ohanian said. “You can tell a story from your community. And if you do it right, the entire world leans in.”
The pair’s professional collaboration began three years later, when Coogler called Ohanian, asking if he would produce his first feature, a project then titled “Fruitvale,” a heart-wrenching true story set in Coogler’s hometown of Oakland. Later retitled “Fruitvale Station,” the film was shot in just four weeks and went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. It put both Ohanian and Coogler on the map, but it was not without struggle.
“You have a first-time producer and an experienced crew,” Ohanian said. “That’s the perfect recipe for imposter syndrome.”
He recalled one pivotal moment on set when the executives pushed back against filming at the actual BART station, calling it too expensive. Ohanian negotiated, advocated and ultimately “made the impossible possible.” He returns to that moment whenever a project feels daunting, crediting Coogler’s faith in him for carrying him through.
“It’s been a pleasure to have those battles with you,” Coogler said.
About six years after “Fruitvale Station,” Coogler called Ohanian again. After the success of “Black Panther,” Coogler, along with his wife and producing partner Zinzi, wanted to create a media company and immediately thought of Ohanian. Ohanian was on board. The company would be called Proximity Media, with a mission, as Coogler explained, to “bring audiences in proximity to often overlooked subjects.”
Though they don’t share the same heritage, both filmmakers root their work in ancestry and authenticity. Ohanian described “Sinners” as a love letter to Coogler’s Southern roots, while Coogler has encouraged him to lean more into Armenian stories.
“As the child of immigrants who can’t readily point to the schools they went to or homes they grew up in, it puts things into perspective and informs my worldview,” Ohanian reflected.
Ohanian said he was struck by a line in “Sinners:” “And just for a few hours, we was free.” To him, it captured a relatable celebration of culture not in spite of hardship, but because of it.
When asked about belonging in the industry, Ohanian credited the Armenian Film Society for helping emerging filmmakers see that Armenians are not only present in the room but actively shaping the field.
For many in the audience, the conversation offered both validation and inspiration. Julia Doctorian, a 19-year-old Armenian-American film student at Cal State Northridge, said the event made her eager to keep creating.
“Being here is making me excited to work on my next film — and possibly have one premiere at this festival,” Doctorian said.
The filmmakers’ commitment resonated with attendees like recent USC grad Isaiah Overton, who interned at Proximity this spring.
“When you have that vision, how do you hold onto the people next to you and uplift each other while making it real?” he said.
Isaiah’s brother, Aaron Overton Jr., a Visual Development student at Otis College, said hearing the origins of Proximity Media was motivating as they consider launching a company of their own.
“It’s inspiring to see how something that starts as just an idea in your head can actually take shape in real life,” he said.
Current USC film student Josh Lopez connected with the experience of long-term collaboration.
“Coming into undergrad, I was in the military before, so I’m a little bit older,” he explained. “I think it’s harder for a lot of younger people to grasp that you might be working with these people for the rest of your life.”
In the end, both Ohanian and Coogler emphasized that they still carry the spirit of joy and scrappiness that fueled their earliest projects.
“We’re still those kids making ‘Fruitvale Station,’” Ohanian told the audience.
Coogler added, “The people who you start out with are enough.”