Channeling Wildfires Into a Eco-Terror Horror Feature With ‘COYOTES’ Director Colin Minihan

NFS: What got you into filmmaking, and in particular horror filmmaking?

Colin Minihan: I grew up in a small town where going to the movies was a rare and special event. The nearest theater was a two-hour drive away, so on the few occasions I did get to go, it felt inspiring and world-opening. When I was a little kid, I discovered my family’s old VHS-C camera and started making shorts with it pretty much every week with friends. I have a pretty vivid memory of being maybe 12 years old: I finished a short, edited it on a computer, transferred it back to MiniDV tape, and then quietly watched it play on the TV in the middle of the night.

That was a magical moment – the moment I knew I wanted to direct films. I’ve been chasing that high ever since. I love all genres of cinema. My first feature happened to be a horror film because it’s a genre where creativity is king, and it’s not as star-driven of an arena to play in, which gave me room to take the risk of self-financing a significant portion of a film I co-wrote back in 2010 called Grave Encounters. I think this genre is a brilliant playground to encapsulate all genres. If you can successfully jump from having an audience laugh one moment, then be afraid, and then emotionally captivated – you’re taking them on a journey – and that’s what I want to do.

NFS: What was the initial inspiration for COYOTES?

CM: I first read the original draft of the script after it was sent to me through my managers, and I couldn’t stop laughing at the somewhat absurd blend of horror comedy in the DNA of it. The next day, I was in the car with my partner, Brittany Allen, re-reading a section aloud, and she was laughing even harder than I was — especially during a 20-page stretch with Jules and Trip. In that moment, I knew she had to play Jules, the over-the-top escort who becomes entangled with this nuclear family. Honestly, I don’t think I would have made the film without her — this is our fourth project together, and I knew she would absolutely slay in that role.

Beyond that, the premise itself had that rare spark where you think, "Why has no one done this before?" – I’d also lived in Hollywood under the Hollywood sign in the Beachwood Canyon area, and I’ve had my fair share of uncomfortably close encounters with coyotes while walking my dog at night. I’d thought many times over the years, someone should make a coyote horror movie — and then this script landed in my inbox. From there, the rest was history. I also feel lucky that I had producers who supported me in making the film the way I wanted to make it.

NFS: With the film dealing with recent real events like the wildfires in LA, how do you feel that the horror genre can be helpful for artists dealing with some of the more traumatic parts of real life?

CM: We wrapped the shoot in Bogotá, Colombia – which doubled for Hollywood – and about two weeks later, the Eaton Canyon and Palisades fires broke out in Los Angeles. I remember that night vividly. I was up late editing at my home in Pasadena, which overlooks Eaton Canyon. At first, I could see the fire creeping across the mountains, but soon the smoke was so thick it completely blotted out the view. Because I couldn’t see the flames anymore, I actually thought the fire might have been put out.

Little did I know it was still raging and spreading fast. In the middle of the night, Justin texted to say he and Kate had just evacuated and might need to crash with us. They ended up finding somewhere safer, which was lucky, because by 5 a.m. I was waking Brittany and our two-year-old son after police announcements came over loudspeakers, telling our neighborhood to evacuate. Stepping outside into ash raining down was a surreal, unsettling moment — one that echoed the atmosphere of the film in ways that were too close for comfort. Thankfully, after a couple of nights with friends, we were able to return to find our house still standing.

That experience left me with tremendous empathy for anyone who lost their home, their loved ones, or even just their sense of safety, as well as for the countless animals displaced by the fires. For me, the movie became a kind of marker of that time. In the aftermath, I walked the burnt streets of Altadena with an old 16mm camera, capturing some of the devastation. Those textures — a reminder that no one is safe from the power of nature — became part of the film’s title sequence, which plays as both an homage to Los Angeles and to the coyotes who call it home.

NFS: What cameras did you shoot on and why?

CM: Bradley Stuckel, my DOP, shot on two Sony Venice cameras with spherical Cooke glass. I generally prefer to shoot with a single camera because I hate cross-shooting, but when time made it impossible, we’d run two. Often, I’d leave the B cam living on Steadicam so we weren’t wasting time constantly rebalancing.

I’m very comfortable with Sony’s cameras and color science — I own an FX3 and FX6 and love them — and we actually used my FX3 quite a bit for shots where we couldn’t fit the Venice, or for sequences like the car crash where I wanted a third angle. We went spherical because it felt like a cleaner image to lean into the comedy. Anamorphic just felt too heavy, too “serious” for this film — and honestly, it’s a pain with VFX.

NFS: Justin Long is becoming a bit of a horror icon as of late. What was it like working with him and creating another unique horror character for him to bring to life?

CM: He’s the definitive scream king in my books. He was the very first person we sent the script to, and thank god his equally brilliant and talented wife, Kate Bosworth, read it and told him he had to do it. Working with Justin was a blast. Between “action” and “cut,” he’s fearless, but in between takes, he’s the most generous collaborator you could ask for. I’d often roll the Venice for ten minutes on what should have been a one-minute scene, just to explore every different way it could be played.

My job was to create an environment where everyone felt safe to play, improvise, and discover new angles — and Justin thrives in that space. He’s an incredible improviser who lives in the moment, but he’s also deeply respectful of the technical requirements of how I want to stage and shoot. That balance is rare, and it made the process an absolute joy. I hope we get to make a lot more films together.

NFS: What advice would you give to aspiring horror filmmakers hoping to create their own Fantastic Fest–worthy shorts or features?

CM: Don’t listen to advice — just go make something that’s yours. Don’t wait for it to be perfect, just shoot it and move on to the next one. That’s how you find your voice. Don’t worry about what an audience might want, because if you’re trying to please everyone, you’ll never make anything honest. Make it for yourself — it’s your art, after all. Fuck what anyone else thinks.

COYOTES will have its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on Sept 20 and will be in theaters nationwide on October 3.