---
name: "John Ridley"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-ridley"
fi1m_id: "john-ridley"
imdb_id: "nm0725983"
tmdb_id: 51679
wikidata_id: "Q362930"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "1 October 1964"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 86
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-17T17:59:49.358229+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# John Ridley

## Identity

John Ridley

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-ridley
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** john-ridley
- **IMDb ID:** nm0725983
- **TMDB ID:** 51679
- **Wikidata ID:** Q362930
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ridley, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q362930, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0725983/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/51679

Writer. Born 1 October 1964 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 1 October 1964, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
- **Active:** 1999–2013
- **Also known as:** جون ريدلي
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 86, as writer, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 80 (1), 2010s 91 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ridley, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q362930, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0725983/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/51679

## Biography

John Ridley is an American screenwriter, novelist and television writer. Born on 1 October 1964 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he studied at New York University and began his career as a stand-up comedian before writing for sitcoms including *The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air*.

Ridley wrote the screenplay for *12 Years a Slave* (2013), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He received a story credit on *Three Kings* (1999). His other screenwriting credits include *U Turn* (1997), *Undercover Brother* (2002), *Red Tails* (2012) and *Ben-Hur* (2016). He has also created and written for television series such as *American Crime*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, theguardian.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *12 Years a Slave* (2013), Fi1m 91, Screenplay, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/12-years-a-slave.md)
- *Three Kings* (1999), Fi1m 80, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/three-kings.md)

## Complete filmography (35)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Corner* (2026), Director, Producer
- *Shirley* (2024), Producer, Writer, Director
- *Five Days at Memorial* (2022), series, Director, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator
- *Needle in a Timestack* (2021), Executive Producer, Writer, Director
- *Waiting for Godot* (2021), Producer
- *Body Cam* (2020), Writer
- *Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992* (2017), Director, Writer
- *Guerrilla* (2017), series, Director, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Ben-Hur* (2016), Screenplay
- *The 25,000 Mile Love Story* (2015), as Narrator
- *American Crime* (2015), series, Writer, Director, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Celblok H* (2014), series, Original Story
- *Out of the Furnace* (2013), Co-Producer
- *12 Years a Slave* (2013), Screenplay, Executive Producer — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/12-years-a-slave.md)
- *Jimi: All Is by My Side* (2013), Director, Writer, Executive Producer
- *Red Tails* (2012), Story, Screenplay
- *Barbershop* (2005), series, Director
- *Musafir* (2004), Original Story
- *Justice League: Starcrossed - The Movie* (2004), Writer
- *Those Who Walk in Darkness* (2003), Writer
- *Platinum* (2003), series, Director, Writer, Creator
- *Undercover Brother* (2002), Screenplay, Executive Producer
- *Justice League* (2001), series, Writer
- *Static Shock* (2000), series, Writer
- *Three Kings* (1999), Story — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/three-kings.md)
- *Third Watch* (1999), series, Writer
- *Cold Around the Heart* (1997), Writer, Director
- *Team Knight Rider* (1997), series, Writer
- *U Turn* (1997), Screenplay, Executive Producer, Novel
- *The Show* (1996), series, Writer
- *The John Larroquette Show* (1993), series, Writer
- *Martin* (1992), series, Writer
- *The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air* (1990), series, as John Ridley · Writer, Story Editor
- *The American Way*, Writer, Director
- *Caves of Steel*, Screenplay, Director

## Gallery

- ![John Ridley](https://film.one/media/person/88614/gallery-13b87ceeecf1.jpg) John Ridley — Vontaub, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/John_Ridley_12_Years_A_Slave.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![John Ridley and Git Scheynius during the Stockholm Film Festival 2013.](https://film.one/media/person/88614/gallery-30c74349edbd.jpg) John Ridley and Git Scheynius during the Stockholm Film Festival 2013. — Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/John_Ridley_and_Git_Scheynius_in_Nov_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![John Ridley during the Stockholm Film Festival 2013.](https://film.one/media/person/88614/gallery-33528088f13d.jpg) John Ridley during the Stockholm Film Festival 2013. — Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/John_Ridley_in_Nov_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won

- 2014: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (won), for *12 Years a Slave*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-ridley