Akela Cooper

Akela Cooper is an American screenwriter and television producer. She is the screenwriter of horror films including Hell Fest (2018), Malignant (2021), M3GAN (2022), The Nun II (2023), and M3GAN 2.0 (2025). Cooper was named in Variety's 10 Screenwriters to Watch for 2021 list.

Early life and education
Cooper was raised in Hayti, Missouri. She graduated from Truman State University with a degree in creative writing in 2003 and received her MFA from the USC School of Cinema-Television, where she was the first recipient of the NAACP/CBS Writer's Fellowship.

Career
Cooper was a staff writer for Grimm for two seasons and went on to be a writer and co-producer for The 100, American Horror Story, Luke Cage, Jupiter's Legacy, Witches of East End, and Chambers. She wrote the horror film Malignant, released in September 2021. She is the screenwriter of the sequel to the horror film The Nun, as well as the 2022 horror film M3GAN and its forthcoming sequel. Cooper was announced as the showrunner for the upcoming HBO Max television adaptation of the novel Monster by A. Lee Martinez.

Filmography
Film writer
 * Hell Fest (2018)
 * Malignant (2021)
 * M3GAN (2022)
 * The Nun II (2023)
 * M3GAN 2.0 (2025)

Television

Awards and nominations

 * 2017 – Nominee, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series (for Luke Cage)
 * 2017 – Nominee, Black Reel Award for Outstanding Drama Series (for Luke Cage)