A graduate of Northwestern University, he worked in the advertising industry as a writer, producer and creative director. Simultaneously, he performed in plays at Chicago theaters, including The Goodman, Pheasant Run, Shakespeare Repertory, and Victory Gardens, where he played Danny in the Chicago premiere of "Danny and The Deep Blue Sea." He also appeared on television and in commercials and did voiceovers on commercials and corporate films.
As a director/cameraman, he shot over a hundred commercials in Chicago and LA for such companies as McDonald's, Pizza Hut and the Chicago White Sox, winning One Show, Mobius, New York International TV & Radio Festival, Telly, and Addy Gold awards.
His genre-bending crime thriller, The Realm of Infinite Crime, was published recently by Solstice Publishing.
He wrote the novel and screenplay Jesus In Cowboy Boots and directed the film starring Alicia Silverstone, AJ Michalka and Billy Burke. His memoir, "How NOT To Make A Movie: An Independent Filmmaker In Hollywood Hell,” was published by McFarland Books. His play about the relationship between a parent and transgender child, DANIEL/DANIELLE, won the Scribe Playwriting Competition Award For Achievement in Playwriting and has been excerpted in 4 publications: Smith & Kraus's “WE/US Monologues for THE GENDER MINORITY,” Venus Theatre's "Frozen Women Flowing Thoughts," Choeofpleirn Press' literary magazine "Rushing Through the Dark,” and "Mini Plays Review." He is also the author of IDOL MINDS, a black comedy (produced by Stages/OC), FAIRY TALE, a 1-act comedy (Sundog Theatre, NY), and SHE CAME BACK, a 1-act drama (T. Schreiber Studio, NY; also published in "Short Plays Magazine").
He taught Radio and Film Production at Columbia College Chicago and acting at The Ted Liss Studio.
He is a member of the DGA, SAG, AFTRA, AEA & WGA, and a citizen of the U.S. and Ireland.
A Genre-Bending Thriller
A Genre-Bending Thriller
In the beginning, strange inexplicable crimes occur. Perps talk about feeling possessed. They don't flee. Witnesses say their skin glowed.
LAPD Detective Clint Darlow investigates the crimes and finds out a scientist has discovered a way to facilitate out-of-body experiences. He has taught twelve people how to enter the astral dimension, a space between the living and the dead, and thinks one of them has penetrated people, overpowered their will, and forced them to commit the crimes.
Fascinated by the spiritual implications of the scientist’s achievement, Darlow puts his life, career, and fiancé at risk in pursuit of a psychopath twisting transcendence into an instrument of terror. But how do you detect the undetectable? And how do you arrest someone perpetrating the perfect crime?
A mashup of crime, spirituality, horror, and two misfit cops, THE REALM OF INFINITE CRIME is a hard-boiled neo-noir roaming through the underbelly of LA into the upper crust of Hollywood. Dumpster-deep in urban grit and transcendent evil, it follows a morally conflicted cop into a realm where the spirit can soar into the divine or sink into dark corners of depravity.
Part Memoir, Part Primer, Part Cautionary Tale...
Part Memoir, Part Primer, Part Cautionary Tale...
Carey dishes stories about producers, agents, managers, hustlers, wannabes, and dozens of famous celebrities.
It’s the story of Carey's 12-year odyssey through the Hollywood film business, culminating in the making of "Jesus In Cowboy Boots" (aka "Angels In Stardust"-- barf) starring Alicia Silverstone, AJ Michulka and Billy Burke.
Humorous and confessional, it describes the deceit, blunders, and bluster that swirl around a multi-optioned script, illustrating why it takes a minor miracle to get a film made, plus a cabinet of liquor, ludes, and Pepto-Bismol.
There's nothing like it that describes the obstacles and opportunities encountered by a writer/director trying to make a film in LA.
A must-read for aspiring and new filmmakers.
AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE
An Eccentric Coming-of-Age Novel
about an imaginative teenage girl growing up in a dirty, dusty backwater community along the Texas/Oklahoma border.
Intense, yet charming and humorous, it’s the story of a teenage girl's self-realization and her struggle for deliverance from the world she was born into.
Inspired a motion picture starring Alicia Silverstone, AJ Michalka, and Billy Burke.
Three heads…one crime…not a thought between them.
Inspired by an incident with Charlie Chaplin's remains, IDOL MINDS is a two-act play about three Hollywood wannabes who steal a celebrity’s remains and try to ransom them back to his widow.
It's a screwball comedy with substance, sitting at the intersection of fame, faith, ambition and greed.
"The play affords Carey comedic commentary toward movies, the entertainment world and the troika of talent, fame and riches – the implication being that celebrity and wealth are now ends in themselves, pursued by those those with zero talent, yet delusional enough to believe they have something to offer.”
-- The Orange County Register
DANIEL/DANIELLE
An expressionistic 2-act play about the relationship between a parent and transgender child and a family grappling with their choices, expectations, and values.
The play won the Scribe Play Competition Martha A. Croyle Award for Playwriting Excellence.
It has been excerpted in Smith and Kraus' "WE/US Monologues for THE GENDER MINORITY," Venus Theatre's "Frozen Women/Flowing Thoughts," Choeofpleirn Press' literary magazine "Rushing Through the Dark,” and "Mini-Plays Review." Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and elsewhere.
FAIRY TALE
A 1-act comedy about a young man, an accountant, and a young woman, a costume performer, who meet on the Staten Island Ferry and try to help each other.
DANIEL LAID TO REST
A one-act play published by Choeofpleirn Press in the literary magazine "Rushing Through the Dark: Autumn 2023.”
Though humorous, the play illuminates the fluid nature of identity, as a transgender woman comes to terms with her turbulent relationship with her father at his wake.
SHE CAME BACK
A 1-act drama.
On a rainy night, a mother awakens to a knock at the door and discovers her missing teenage daughter has returned. But something isn't quite right about this homecoming.
Published in "Short Plays Magazine."
Get in touch with William Robert Carey
