John X. Carey grew up in the South, in a small Ozark town, the son of writers who left the city to live off the land. He started out making documentaries and short films on subjects like education, immigration, and the AIDS crisis in Zambia.

His narrative short Awayy premiered at SXSW, and he also wrote and directed the short film Zafar. His short Heat was developed by Amazon Studios as a television series, and he worked in the writers' room on the adaptation. He is in pre-production on his first feature, August 4, and is developing a second, Mirage, which has been supported by Sundance and selected for the Gotham Film Market.

In commercials, he directed Dove's "Real Beauty Sketches," which set the Guinness World Record for most-viewed online video ad with 125 million views and won the Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes. His work has earned more than 30 Cannes Lions and a DGA Award nomination for Best Commercial Director. Based in Los Angeles, he writes and directs full-time with his wife and partner, Aqsa Altaf.