Directing

Boots Riley

Born Apr 1, 1971 · 55 years18 titles 14 movies · 4 TV

Biography

Raymond Lawrence 'Boots' Riley (born April 1, 1971) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, rapper, and communist activist. He is the lead vocalist of The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club. He made his feature-film directorial debut with Sorry to Bother You (released July 2018), which he also wrote. In 2023, the streaming series I'm a Virgo premiered on Prime Video, which Riley wrote and directed.

Also known as

The Coup

Born

Apr 1, 1971

Chicago, Illinois, USA

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Photos

Profile images from TMDB · click to enlarge

8 images

Roles across career

Titles counted once; a person can act and direct on the same film (roles merged).

13

Acting credits

5

Directing

4

Writing

4

Other crew

Most critically rated

Highest TMDB score (min 100 votes)

Most commercially successful

Highest TMDB vote count (attention / reach proxy; not box office)

Career timeline

By release / first air year · movie & TV merged

1996 1 title(s)

The Daily Show
tv · as Self - Guest · ★ 6.4

2000 1 title(s)

Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme
movie · as Himself · ★ 6.9

2006 1 title(s)

The Coup: The Best Coup DVD Ever
movie · as Self, Director

2008 1 title(s)

In Prison My Whole Life
movie · as Self

2009 1 title(s)

First Earth: Uncompromising Ecological Architecture
movie · Acting · ★ 6.0

2013 1 title(s)

99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film
movie · as Self · ★ 6.4

2015 2 title(s)

2018 1 title(s)

Sorry to Bother You
movie · Director, Original Music Composer, Writer · ★ 6.8

2021 1 title(s)

When I See Them, I See Us
movie · Acting

2022 1 title(s)

I'm Charlie Walker
movie · as Bartender Ray · ★ 5.0

2023 2 title(s)

2024 1 title(s)

Hollywood Black
tv · as Self · ★ 3.0

2026 2 title(s)

Undated 2 title(s)