Akela Cooper facts for kids

Akela Cooper is an American writer and producer. She is famous for writing scary movies. Some of her well-known horror films include Malignant (2021), M3GAN (2022), and The Nun II (2023). In 2021, Variety magazine named her one of the top 10 screenwriters to watch.

Akela Cooper's Early Life and School

Akela Cooper grew up in Hayti, Missouri. From a young age, she loved watching horror movies with her family. She remembers seeing the movie Pumpkinhead when she was eight years old. This movie was a special memory that helped inspire her writing.

She went to Truman State University and earned a degree in creative writing in 2003. Later, she got her master's degree from the USC School of Cinema-Television. There, she was the first person to receive the NAACP/CBS Writer's Fellowship.

Akela Cooper's Career in Film and TV

Akela Cooper started her career writing for TV shows. She was a staff writer for Grimm for two seasons. She also worked as a writer and co-producer for other popular shows. These include The 100, American Horror Story, and Luke Cage.

She wrote the horror film Malignant, which came out in September 2021. She became even more well-known for writing the 2022 horror film M3GAN. This movie made over $180 million around the world and was liked by many critics. After that, she wrote the screenplay for the horror film The Nun II, released in 2023.

In 2021, it was announced that she would be the main writer and producer for a new TV show. This show is based on the novel Monster by A. Lee Martinez for HBO Max. She is also writing a movie based on a short story called It's Over for Sony Pictures. Akela Cooper is also working on a movie script for a comic book called The Lot. This story is about a Black woman who leads a movie studio. She doesn't know that an old evil has woken up because of a movie. Cooper also helped write the next M3GAN movie, M3GAN 2.0, which is planned for 2025.

Awards and Nominations

Akela Cooper has been recognized for her amazing writing.

• 2017 – She was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series for her work on Luke Cage.
• 2017 – She was also nominated for a Black Reel Award for Outstanding Drama Series for Luke Cage.
• 2024 – She was nominated for a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Screenplay for M3GAN.

Akela Cooper's Filmography

Movies

Television Shows