In 2003, John received an MFA in Film Production from Chapman University. His graduate thesis film, An Assignment (2003), won numerous awards including an Imagen Award for “Best Short Film” and "Best of Chicago" at the Chicago International Film Festival. It went on to air on the Showtime and SiTV networks.

John’s first feature-length movie, South Loop (2011), was an Official Selection of the Seattle True Independent Film Festival. His second, The Girls on Liberty Street (2013), premiered in the New Directors Competition of the 2013 Chicago International Film Festival and was named one of the “Ten Best First Films of 2013” by acclaimed film writer and filmmaker Dan Sallitt (Senses of Cinema). Remember Our Days, John's third feature film, was an Official Selection of multiple festivals in 2020. He is now in pre-production on his next feature, I Want to Know When This is Going to End, scheduled to begin shooting in 2026.

John also teaches filmmaking at College of DuPage.