Manny Coto, 'Star Trek: Enterprise' Showrunner, Has Died At 62
The writer and executive producer was a major player in the later phases of the '24' franchise
Manny Coto, a writer-producer and director whose work includes Star Trek: Enterprise, Dexter, the 24 and American Horror Story franchises, and even a couple Disney Channel Original Movies, has died at the age of 62. His death Monday comes after a 13-month battle with pancreatic cancer, a family spokesperson announced.
Manuel Hector Coto was born June 10, 1961 in Havana, Cuba. His father, also Manuel, was a doctor, and his mother, Norma, was a teacher. Having emigrated to the United States as an infant, his childhood passions for Star Trek and Super-8 moviemaking with his younger siblings while growing up in Orlando blossomed into a led to a 40-year career in the film and television industry. It started with a horror film called Flesh, about a disembodied hand that stalked characters played by his younger siblings. In 1983, he moved to Los Angeles where his career began with commercials and short films, before landing an episode Monsters to direct, and writing and directing a remake of the story Twist on the Alfred Hitchcock Presents revival. In 1990, he and writing partner Brian Helgeland sold The Ticking Man, a screenplay about a bomb squad officer in pursuit of a cyborg equipped with a nuclear weapon. While never produced, it was the first feature screenplay to sell for at least $1 million.
The films Coto would go on to direct include Dr. Giggles starring Holly Marie Combs, which he also wrote, horror thriller Playroom, starring Christopher McDonald; the political drama Cover-Up, starring Dolph Lundgren; Star Kid (another writing effort), and the Disney Channel Original Movies Zenon: The Zequel and The Other Me. After working on the The Outer Limits revival, he created Odyssey 5 for Showtime following its cancellation. It only lasted a single season, but he did meet his wife, visual effects supervisor Robin Trickett, there. He joined the Star Trek: Enterprise writing staff in season 3, which was before rising to executive producer and showrunner for the fourth season. Coto is highly regarded in the Star Trek fandom for his work, with Enterprise’s fourth season considered some of the best Trek in franchise history, a great turnaround for a previously derided series. He also wrote 14 episodes, starting with 2003’s “Similitude” and lastly “Terra Prime”. After Enterprise was canceled, he moved on to 24, becoming an executive producer starting with the fifth season, which won him an Emmy and for the rest of the series. He would also become executive produce Dexter’s final three seasons, writing ten episodes including the series finale. That was followed up with returning to 24 via its expansions: writing and executive producing miniseries Live Another Day, and creating fuller-fledged spinoff Legacy.
In the 2020s, Coto executive produced American Horror Story and American Horror Stories, writing nine episodes each, encompassing episodes found in Apocalypse, Double Feature, and NYC for the former. He also created Next for Fox, which delayed it for use during the COVID-affected 2020-2021 season, so still aired its one full season after being canceled quickly. He and Thickett had four children: 14-year-old Manny Austin, 12-year-old Riley and 9-year-old twins Charlotte and Finley. Coto’s mother is still alive, as are his siblings Normi and Juan Carlos, the latter having become a writer and producer on series including Nikita and 9-1-1. He is also survived be eight nieces and nephews. He was surrounded by family at his passing.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter