John David Coles’ feature directorial debut, Signs of Life, starring Vincent D’Onofrio and Mary Louise Parker, won the International Critics Prize at Deauville. His next project, Rising Son with Matt Damon, won the Audience Award the following year at Deauville. Other films include Darrow with Kevin Spacey, The Good Fight with Christine Lahti, and Friends at Last with Kathleen Turner.
John was executive producer and director of the Emmy Award–winning Netflix series House of Cards. Other television directing credits include the Emmy Award–winning Homeland, The Right Stuff, Berlin Station, Mr. Mercedes, 11/22/63, Sex and the City, The West Wing, and Damages.
Executive producer credits include The Sinner; Thief, which received the Emmy Award for Andre Braugher; Elementary with Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu; 3 LBS with Stanley Tucci; Law & Order: Criminal Intent with Jeff Goldblum; New Amsterdam with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau; and Wonderland from creator Peter Berg.
Please List the Title of Your Film at BIFF 2026
THE CHOICE
What was your first experience with film and how did it influence your first project?
I grew up working with my dad, who was an amateur filmmaker, and we used to sit at the kitchen table running his 16mm films through the Moviscope, cutting and gluing. Those moments led me to my first film in high school—an adaptation of Casablanca set in a school. What I took from those early experiences was to always push forward, never thinking too much about “what was possible,” but rather to dream forward as if anything is possible and then find the way in for each project.
Who is (are) your favorite filmmakers?
I grew up as a filmmaker wanting to be Jonathan Demme. I loved his films—the combination of humanity, humor, and genre was unique. In my mind, Demme was a direct descendant of the French New Wave—you could feel the love of cinema in all his films, but they were also so personal, a reflection of his personality and his passions. He is also a filmmaker who moved fluently between dramatic and documentary work, something I have always wanted to pursue as well.
What are you working on that no one knows about?
My secret project is a film developed with the inimitable Doug Wright (Quills, I Am My Own Wife) about a young socialite in the 1950s, haunted by erotic nightmares, who is swindled by none other than Salvador Dalí.
Who would play you in a movie? What’s your go to movie snack? What’s the film title that best describes your life?
I wouldn’t be on that side of the camera—too self-conscious! More interestingly, I’d be curious to know who others think could play me.
My go-to movie snack is the usual—popcorn.
In terms of films that describe my life as a director, it would have to be Day for Night. Not only for the obvious reasons, but also because it connects to Truffaut, and by extension, Demme.
