“Fact is, awards shows were never really about recognizing achievement. They were a publicity ploy cooked up in the late 1920s by MGM topper Louie Mayer and his newly formed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which was itself, back in the day, nothing but a front organization to discourage unionizing.”

American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner

John Ridley is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner. He is known for writing 12 Years a Slave, which won him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and for creating and running the anthology series American Crime. Ridley has worked across film and television as both a writer and director. He directed the documentary Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982 to 1992 in 2017, and his work is closely associated with drama rooted in history, race, and American life.