Akela Cooper
American screenwriter and television producer
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Akela Cooper is an American screenwriter and television producer. She is best known for co-creating the M3GAN franchise with James Wan. She also wrote the horror films Hell Fest (2018), Malignant (2021) and The Nun II (2023). Cooper was named in Variety's 10 Screenwriters to Watch for 2021 list.[1]
Television producer
Akela Cooper | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hayti, Missouri, U.S. |
| Education | Truman State University |
| Occupations | Screenwriter Television producer |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Notable work | The Nun II Malignant M3GAN |
Early life and education
Cooper was raised in Hayti, Missouri.[2] She enjoyed watching horror films with her family from childhood, including A Nightmare on Elm Street.[3][4] She described seeing Pumpkinhead when she was eight as a "core memory" that influenced her writing.[5]
She graduated from Truman State University with a degree in creative writing in 2003[6] and received her MFA from the USC School of Cinema-Television, where she was the first recipient of the NAACP/CBS Writer's Fellowship.[7]
Career
Cooper was a staff writer for Grimm for two seasons and went on to be a writer and co-producer for The 100, American Horror Story, Luke Cage, Jupiter's Legacy, Witches of East End, and Chambers. She wrote the horror film Malignant, released in September 2021.[1] She gained wider prominence as the screenwriter of the 2022 horror film M3GAN, which grossed $180 million worldwide and received mainly positive critical reception.[3] She next wrote the screenplay for the horror film The Nun II, released in 2023.[8]
In 2021 she was announced as the showrunner for the upcoming HBO Max television adaptation of the novel Monster by A. Lee Martinez.[9] She will write the screenplay for the adaptation of a short story It's Over by Jack Follman produced by Vertigo Entertainment and Ground Control for Sony Pictures.[10]
In October 2024, it was announced that she will write and co-produce a screenplay of the comic The Lot by Marguerite Bennett for the publisher Bad Idea.[11] The strip tells the story of a Black woman chosen to head a movie studio without knowing that an occult ritual depicted in a filmmaker's latest project has awakened a dormant evil.[11] Cooper will also adapt a story about Medusa called Don't Look by Colin Bannon for Janelle Monae's Wondaland production company.[12] Cooper co-wrote the sequel to M3GAN, M3GAN 2.0 (2025).[8]
Awards and nominations
- 2017 – Nominee, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series (for Luke Cage)[13]
- 2017 – Nominee, Black Reel Award for Outstanding Drama Series (for Luke Cage)[14]
- 2024 – Nominee, Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Screenplay (for M3GAN)[15]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Hell Fest | [16] | |
| 2021 | Malignant | [16] | |
| 2022 | M3GAN | [8] | |
| 2023 | The Nun II | Co-written with Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing | [17] |
| 2025 | M3GAN 2.0 | Story only; Co-written with Gerard Johnstone | [18] |
Television
| Year | Title | Writer | Producer | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Tron: Uprising | Yes | No | 1 episode | [16] |
| 2012–2013 | Grimm | Yes | No | 3 episodes | [1] |
| 2014 | Witches of East End | Yes | Yes | 1 episode | [1] |
| 2014–2015 | The 100 | Yes | Yes | 3 episodes | [1] |
| 2016 | American Horror Story | Yes | Supervising | 1 episode | [1] |
| 2016–2018 | Luke Cage | Yes | Yes | 4 episodes | [13] |
| 2018–2019 | Avengers Assemble | Yes | No | 2 episodes | |
| 2019 | Chambers | Yes | Executive | 1 episode | [1] |
| 2021 | Jupiter's Legacy | Yes | Executive | 1 episode | [1] |
| 2022 | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Yes | Executive | 2 episodes | [19][20] |
| 2025 | The Last Frontier | Yes | No | 1 episode | [21] |
| TBA | Monster | TBA | TBA | Showrunner | [9] |