Johnny Coffeen
Directing
Biography
Johnny Coffeen is a Student Academy Award-winning director who received the honor while attending the David Lynch Graduate School of Cinematic Arts. His work leans toward surreal, psychologically driven storytelling and is grounded in a highly collaborative process. Early in his career, he worked in the editing room on the SXSW Grand Jury Prize-winning film Short Term 12, an experience that shaped his approach to performance and rhythm. Following his Student Academy Award, Coffeen’s master’s thesis film, The Swan Girl, premiered at David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption, earning a personal endorsement from Lynch himself: ‘Pretty damn good.’ His short films, The Circle Game and The False Mirror, further refined his voice. The Sleeper’s Twin marked Coffeen’s third collaboration with renowned stop-motion artist John Frame, whose work has been exhibited in fine art museums around the country and remains a recurring creative touchstone. Coffeen recently completed his debut feature film The Avalanche.
Known For
Two exes wake up trapped in a house buried under an avalanche as their bittersweet past and nightmarish future collapse into each other.
The Avalanche
The lives of a psychedelic psychiatrist and an impotent husband blur together following a dose of a time-bending drug called Medium.
The False Mirror
When an artist is mysteriously held captive in an art studio, he sculpts complex figures to atone for his past mistakes.
The Swan Girl
A video game character experiences the ups and downs of the human condition.