By: Victoria Stevens
New York, NY (The Hollywood Times) 01/28/2026- Sundance Film Festival has been in full swing since January 22nd and will see its final day on February 1st. Being the last year in Utah, many celebrities have made it a priority to attend this memorable occasion. Among these celebrities were Prince Harry and Megan Markle, Natalie Portman, Jenna Ortega. Riz Ahmed, Elijah Wood, and Channing Tatum. With multiple panels to attend at the Impact Lounge, Audible, Adobe, UTA and Georgia Entertainment, there were always plenty to do throughout the day. Not to mention, Sundance featured 97 projects in its main feature film and episodic program, which were selected from over 16,200 submissions. This figure does not account for the shorts, of which 54 were chosen from 11,480 submissions. Many of the selected directors conveyed their appreciation for being chosen this year, expressing that it was an honor to participate in this significant and bittersweet conclusion in Utah.
Having made her directorial debut at Sundance with her short film, Prime, Director Meagan Coyle had this same appreciation for being chosen for the last Sundance in Utah.
“I’m a makeup artist, and I have been doing makeup on movies for the last ten years. Since I was behind the monitor for many of those projects, I was close to the director and producers. Being quiet about my opinions on how I might have done certain scenes, I decided to try it out myself and make a movie. I wanted to put my money where my mouth was. Getting it into Sundance was just unbelievable. I thought it was a joke in the beginning when I got the phone call, because it came so late at night. I submitted the film to 70 festivals, so I wasn’t prepared to hear from Sundance. It was amazing and just so wild,” explained Coyle.
Prime is a story about a trauma victim who joins a Utopian farming community only to find she’s bitten off more than she can chew. This film encouraged viewers to reconsider their perspectives on dietary selectivity from a more horrific viewpoint.
“Many people have certain opinions about food, and to enact those opinions you must have certain resources. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and consuming organic foods can be expensive. Many individuals may not have the opportunity to do so due to economic, social, or even geographic constraints. The kernel for this film formed when I was on a set where most of the cast and crew were vegetarians. When we sat down to eat, one of the cast members asked if the plate of meat was mine. I got weirdly defensive about it, but it sparked this idea that ultimately turned into the movie, Prime,” expressed Coyle.
In this industry to create a strong project, you need to have a strong core team to back your vision and jump on board. Meagan talked very highly of her team and how their expertise elevated the project.
“My DP Josh Echevarria is a beast,” said Coyle. “I worked with him a lot of times as a makeup artist and just seeing how he forms a script is such a joy. We talked a lot about how the look of the film should be, and the difference in light from the beginning to the end of the movie. I do love horror movies that take place in the daytime just like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Sometimes I believe horror doesn’t have to be so dark, and sometimes the horror is what is inside of us.”
Meagan’s biggest takeaway from her passion project was gratitude for her cast and crew who supported her efforts.
“Coming from so below the line, I was so appreciative of all the departments. The first couple of days, I felt bad asking for stuff. It was a passion project, and I knew they were getting paid peanuts, so I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries by asking for too much. What I came to realize is everyone who jumped on board wanted to do it and wanted to make the best film they could,” explained Coyle.
When producing a comedic horror film, it is essential to maintain a sense of realism. Meagan commended her cast for delivering performances that remained consistently authentic and grounded.
“When we shot the fire scene for the film, the actors nailed their performances,” conveyed Coyle. “I always wanted everything to be so grounded and based in reality. My actors: Jacob, Campbell, Katie, were so believable and I believed in the world that they were living. It never felt that they were going too big, and I felt that we had many of the scenes right after the first take.”
Meagan intends to expand this short film into a feature-length production while ensuring the narrative remains fresh and distinct. She aims to create a film with broad audience appeal and plans to reintegrate scenes that were previously omitted from the short into the feature version.
