Drea Cooper is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker and commercial director. In 2009, he co-produced, directed, and edited the short film series CALIFORNIA IS A PLACE which screened at festivals around the world including Sundance and IDFA.

The success of the California series landed him on Filmmaker Magazine’s "Top 25 New Filmmakers to Watch List." His debut feature documentary “T-REX” which tells the story of olympic gold medalist boxer Claressa Shields premiered at SXSW and went on to win audience and jury awards around the country, including San Francisco International and Hot Docs before premiering on Independent Lens and PBS.  

Drea was co-creator, producer and director on the Netflix Original Documentary series, FLINT TOWN which opened to critical acclaim, earning nominations from Critics Choice Awards and IDA. The series takes an unflinching look at the city through the eyes of the police and community. He followed up that series with another Netflix Original, FIRE IN PARADISE which tells the story of the deadliest fire in California history, the Camp Fire. The film premiered at the Telluride film festival and was awarded both an Emmy and an Edward R. Murrow award and was shortlisted for an Academy Award.

He’s directed commercial campaigns for the likes of Apple, Chevrolet, Toyota, Cisco, Campari and others. His work for Asics, “The Eternal Run” was awarded the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions.