# Manny Coto

Manuel (Manny) Hector Coto (June 10, 1961 – July 9, 2023) was a Cuban-born American screenwriter, television and film director, and producer on various films and television programs.
Coto was the executive producer and showrunner of Star Trek: Enterprise in its final season, and executive producer of four seasons of 24. He was an executive producer and writer for the fifth season of the Showtime television series Dexter.

## Career

Coto graduated from the American Film Institute and has experience in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. In 1990, Brian Helgeland and Coto sold a script, The Ticking Man, for $1 million, but the film was never made. He wrote and directed an episode of Tales from the Crypt and also wrote an episode for and produced The Outer Limits when it was revived on Showtime in 1995. He was given the chance to create and write a series for Showtime after The Outer Limits was cancelled. The resulting series was Odyssey 5 and starred Peter Weller (Coto would later cast Weller in roles on Enterprise, 24 and Dexter).
Coto joined the writing crew of Enterprise in 2003, when the show was in its third season; his episodes include "Similitude", "Chosen Realm" and "Azati Prime". He became a co-executive producer later that season. In the fourth season, he became executive producer of the show, alongside series creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. According to his bio on StarTrek.com, he was a fan of Star Trek all his life and once wrote a Star Trek comic book.
After that he became executive producer on the fifth, sixth, seventh and the eighth and final season of 24.
In 2010, Coto joined the crew of Showtime drama series Dexter as a writer and executive producer for the fifth season. He continued to work as a writer and executive producer for the show's sixth and seventh seasons, airing 2011 and 2012.
Films Coto has directed include Cover Up, Dr. Giggles and Star Kid.
Coto was the creator and executive producer of Next, which premiered on October 6, 2020, on Fox.
Coto was the executive producer of American Horror Story and American Horror Stories, having written numerous episodes of both series. He directed the well-received episode, "Feral", from season one of American Horror Stories, and wrote the season opener, "Dollhouse", for season two.

## Personal life and death

Coto was born in Havana on June 10, 1961, fleeing with his mother to Orlando, Florida, United States.
Coto married Robin Trickett on December 27, 2004, in Venice, Italy.
Coto died of pancreatic cancer on July 9, 2023, at the age of 62.

## Filmography (as director)
### Films

| Year | Film | Notes |
| 1989 | Jack in the Box | short |
| 1990 | Playroom | |
| 1991 | Cover-Up | |
| 1992 | Dr. Giggles | |
| 1997 | Star Kid | |
| 2000 | The Other Me | |
| 2001 | Zenon: The Zequel | |

### Television

| Year | Series | Episode |
| 1989 | Monsters | "Love Hurts" |
| 1991 | Tales from the Crypt | "Mournin' Mess" |
| 2021 | American Horror Stories | "Feral" |

## Writing credits

| Production | Notes | Broadcaster |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | "Twist" (1988) | NBC |
| Tales from the Crypt | "Mournin' Mess" (also director, 1991) | HBO |
| Dr. Giggles | Feature film (co-written with Graeme Whifler, 1992) | N/A |
| Tales from the Cryptkeeper | "While the Cat's Away" (1993) | ABC |
| Dead at 21 | "Gone Daddy Gone" (1994) "Use Your Illusion" (1994) "Cry Baby Cry" (1994) "Life During Wartime" (1994) | MTV |
| The Outer Limits | "If These Walls Could Talk" (co-written with Eric Estrin, 1995) | Showtime |
| Hostile Intent | Feature film (1997) | N/A |
| Star Kid | Feature film (also director, 1997) | N/A |
| Strange World | "Azrael's Breed" (1999) "Rage" (2000) | ABC |
| Odyssey 5 | 19 episodes (2002–2005) | Showtime |
| Star Trek: Enterprise | 14 episodes (2003-2005): "Similitude" (2003) "Chosen Realm" (2004) "Harbinger" (2004) "Azati Prime" (2004) "The Council" (2004) "Storm Front" (2004) "United" (2005) "The Aenar" (2005) "Affliction" (2005) "Bound" (2005) "In a Mirror, Darkly: Part 2" (2005) "Demons" (2005) "Terra Prime" (co-written with André Bormanis, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, 2005) | UPN |
| The 1/2 Hour News Hour | 17 episodes (2007) | Fox News Channel |
| 24 | 27 episodes (2006–2007, 2009–2010) | Fox |
| Dexter | 10 episodes (2010-2013): "Practically Perfect" (2010) "Take It!" (co-written with Wendy West, 2010) "The Big One" (co-written with Chip Johannessen, 2010) "Smokey and the Bandit" (2011) "Talk to the Hand" (co-written with Tim Schlattmann, 2011) "Sunshine and Frosty Swirl" (2012) "Chemistry" (co-written with Karen Campbell, 2012) "Do You See What I See?" (co-written with Wendy West, 2012) "Every Silver Lining..." (2013) "Remember the Monsters?" (co-written with Scott Buck, 2013) | Showtime |
| 24: Live Another Day | Television miniseries (2014) | Fox |
| 24: Legacy | 4 episodes (2017) | Fox |
| Hellfire | Television film (co-written with Evan Katz, TBA) | |
| neXt | "Pilot" (2020) | Fox |
| American Horror Stories | "Drive In" (2021) "The Naughty List" (2021) "BA'AL" (co-written with Ali Adler, 2021) "Feral" (2021) "Dollhouse" (2022) "Aura" (2022) "Drive" (2022) "Facelift" (2022) "Lake" (2022) "Daphne" (2023) (posthumous release) "Organ" (2023) (posthumous release) "X" (co-written with Brad Falchuk and Austin Elliott, 2024) (posthumous release) "The Thing Under the Bed" (2024) (posthumous release) | FX on Hulu |
| American Horror Story | "Forbidden Fruit" (2018) "Gaslight" (2021) "Winter Kills" (2021) "Take Me to Your Leader" (2021) "Inside" (2021) "Blue Moon" (2021) "The Future Perfect" (2021) "Thank You for Your Service" (2022) "Smoke Signals" (2022) | FX |