John McMinn grew up in a podunk town in Oklahoma and began making films to escape the boredom of small-town life. Taking inspiration from movies like Star Wars and Jurassic Park, he grabbed his grandpa's VHS camcorder and a roll of aluminum foil to make UFOs, and made stop motion films about monsters, aliens, and dinosaurs.

A few years later, he discovered the weird, wild world of exploitation filmmaking - including directors such as Roger Corman, Andy Milligan, Herschell Gordon Lewis, and Doris Wishman - and began focusing on making horror films. He now tries to find a delicate balance between the arthouse and the grindhouse with his film and writing work.

After graduating from high school, he moved to New York City where he earned a BFA in Film & Television Production from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. In 2008, he wrote and directed his thesis film, APOCRYPHON - a short film inspired by the work of Mario Bava, Kenneth Anger, H.P. Lovecraft, and the ancient texts of the Gnostic heretics.

He currently works in post-production in New York City and lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.