John Carmel is a writer, director, and award-winning filmmaker with a deep love for storytelling that blends humor with stylized visuals. His goal is to craft cinematic environments that are as expressive as the characters who inhabit them.

​

He was adopted from Kazakhstan and raised in Virginia, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2024. After graduating, he moved to New York City to continue his education at the New York Film Academy’s Producing Conservatory, where he expanded his work for film and television.

​

Much of John’s creative work revolves around his fictional drag persona, Jessica Peru, a character through whom he explores themes of gender expression, identity, and self-discovery. Projects like Dinner at McDonald’s, Waking Up with Jessica Peru, and his senior thesis film, Jessica Goes to New York, have helped him find his voice as a filmmaker. That thesis film was an official selection screened at the Roosevelt Island Film Festival, and then received the Best Comedy Short award in 2025.

​

John is inspired by filmmakers like Jacques Demy, Mario Bava, Guillermo del Toro, and Tim Burton. Directors who use visual style as emotional language. Films like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Shape of Water, and Edward Scissorhands shaped his love for stories about outsiders, told through vivid color and theatrical design.

If you’re into campy, over-the-top characters, vibrant vintage visuals, and whimsical storytelling, you’re in the right place.