Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler

In Proximity

Charles D. King is the founder and CEO of MACRO, a multi-platform media company representing the voice and perspectives of Black people, indigenous people, and people of color. Some of their projects include Dear Mama, Mudbound, Fences, and Judas and the Black Messiah, produced with Proximity Media and Warner Brothers. Formerly a partner/senior agent at William Morris Endeavor, Charles was the first Black partner in the company’s 100+ year history and the first ever Black partner at any major talent agency. In 2021, when Judas and the Black Messiah was nominated for Best Picture, Charles became part of the first ever all-Black team of producers nominated for an Academy Award alongside director Shaka King and Proximity founder Ryan Coogler. The team worked closely with an esteemed group of Black creatives, activists, and executives including Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. and Niija Kuykendall, then SVP of Production at Warner Brothers, now VP of Film at Netflix. Charles and Ryan talk about how they first met (2:40), the role of an agent (5:34), Charles’ transition to founding MACRO (10:27), Charles’ role in the launch of Proximity (23:30), the making of Judas the Black Messiah (26:00), and their Prox Recs for working in the entertainment business (40:03).

Learn more and read the transcript of this conversation at ProximityMedia.com.

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CREDITS:

In Proximity is a production of Proximity Media.

Producer: Paola Mardo

Executive Producers: Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Paola Mardo

Theme Song and Additional Music: Ludwig Göransson

Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Ken Nana

Episode Editor and Production Assistant: Polina Cherezova