Before his Oscar, a neighbor gave John Ridley a powerful perspective on the gravity of his craft.

WINNER IN THE BUILD UP AND THE BUZZ. THIS IS THE SUPER BOWL, THE WORLD SERIES. EVERYTHING ROLLED INTO ONE. FEW KNOW THE FEELING THIS WEEK BRINGS BETTER THAN JOHN RIDLEY, THE HOMESTEAD GRAD WHO HEARD HIS NAME CALLED OSCAR SUNDAY, 2014 AND THE US CARGO STEWARD JOHN RIDLEY. THE AWARD BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY FOR 12 YEARS A SLAVE. FROM THE MEMOIR BY SOLOMON NORTHUP OF THE SAME NAME. RIDLEY’S WIN, IN A SENSE, NOT HIS ALONE. HE’S USED HIS SUCCESS TO BUILD OPPORTUNITIES AND SPACE FOR OTHER CREATIVES. MOST NOTABLE, NO STUDIOS IN MILWAUKEE. I HAVE TO GIVE SO MUCH CREDIT TO MY SISTER LISA. RIGHT? LISA WAS ON THE PHONE GOING, JOHN, THIS MEANS NOTHING. IT’S GOING AWAY TOMORROW. THEY GIVE AWAY THOSE PRIZES EVERY YEAR. YOU’VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING BETTER WITH IT. AND SHE WAS VERY INSISTENT ON DOING SOMETHING THAT WAS ABOUT COMMUNITY, ABOUT ART, BECAUSE COMMUNITY IS IN HIS ROOTS. YOU MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, MY FATHER, DR. JOHN RIDLEY, MY MOTHER, TERRY RIDLEY, WHO’S A TEACHER, AND ALL THEY’VE DONE FOR MILWAUKEE. AND I MENTIONED TO YOU AND I WAS JOKING BUT KIDDING ON THE SQUARE THAT IT’S HARD BEING YOU KNOW, MY KIDS THINK IT’S HARD BEING THE SON OF SOMEBODY WHO GOT SOME PRIZE, YOU KNOW, OUT IN CALIFORNIA TO BE THE SON OF PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY ARE IN COMMUNITIES EVERY DAY DOING WHAT THEY CAN TO BETTER EVERYONE’S LIVES. THAT’S HARD. THAT’S A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW. BUT WHEN I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO FILM, TAKE A PROJECT TO COMMUNITIES AND PEOPLE GO, THIS IMPACTED ME. WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT, WHAT YOU WERE DOING, THE REPRESENTATION ON THE PAGE, WHAT YOU MADE ME THINK ABOUT, THE OTHER SHOES THAT I HAD TO WALK IN. WHEN THAT HAPPENS, THAT’S WHEN I FEEL LIKE WHAT I AND WE IN HOLLYWOOD DO ACTUALLY HAS TRUE VALUE, A VALUE WORTH MORE THAN OSCAR GOLD. DERRICK ROSE MOM BAD. LISA. BETH. SEAN. JASON, ALL MY LOVE. THANK

Before his Oscar, a neighbor gave John Ridley a powerful perspective on the gravity of his craft

‘This gentleman, this incredible man, starts crying because he felt like he could have done more. And that really touched me,’ Ridley recalled.

Updated: 4:01 PM CDT Mar 12, 2023

Few know the feeling this week brings better than John Ridley, the Homestead graduated who heard his name called from the stage as a winner on Oscar Sunday in 2014.That night, Ridley won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ’12 Years a Slave,’ from the memoir by Solomon Northup of the same name.Ridley’s win, in a sense, is not his alone.In the 9 years since his Oscars win, Ridley has used his success to build opportunities and space for other creatives. Most notable: No Studios in Milwaukee.”I have to give so much credit to my sister, Lisa,” Ridley recalled.”Lisa was on the phone going, ‘John, this means nothing. It’s going away tomorrow. They give away those prizes every year. You’ve got to do something better with it.’ She was very insistent on doing something that was about community, about art.””My kids think it’s hard being the son of somebody who got some prize, you know, out in California. To be the son of people who actually are in communities every day doing what they can to better everyone’s lives. That’s hard,” Ridley said of his father Dr. John Ridley, an ophthalmologist, and his mother, Terry, a teacher.”That’s a tough act to follow. But when I have the opportunity, take a film, take a project to communities and people go, ‘This impacted me what you were talking about, what you were doing, the representation on the page, what you made me think about, the other shoes that I had to walk in,’ When that happens, that’s when I feel like what I and we in Hollywood do actually has true value.”WEB EXTRA: Before his Oscar win, John Ridley received a powerful perspective about his film

LOS ANGELES —

Few know the feeling this week brings better than John Ridley, the Homestead graduated who heard his name called from the stage as a winner on Oscar Sunday in 2014.

That night, Ridley won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ’12 Years a Slave,’ from the memoir by Solomon Northup of the same name.

Ridley’s win, in a sense, is not his alone.

In the 9 years since his Oscars win, Ridley has used his success to build opportunities and space for other creatives.

Most notable: No Studios in Milwaukee.

“I have to give so much credit to my sister, Lisa,” Ridley recalled.

“Lisa was on the phone going, ‘John, this means nothing. It’s going away tomorrow. They give away those prizes every year. You’ve got to do something better with it.’ She was very insistent on doing something that was about community, about art.”

“My kids think it’s hard being the son of somebody who got some prize, you know, out in California. To be the son of people who actually are in communities every day doing what they can to better everyone’s lives. That’s hard,” Ridley said of his father Dr. John Ridley, an ophthalmologist, and his mother, Terry, a teacher.

“That’s a tough act to follow. But when I have the opportunity, take a film, take a project to communities and people go, ‘This impacted me what you were talking about, what you were doing, the representation on the page, what you made me think about, the other shoes that I had to walk in,’ When that happens, that’s when I feel like what I and we in Hollywood do actually has true value.”

WEB EXTRA: Before his Oscar win, John Ridley received a powerful perspective about his film