[1] At age 17, he joined the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and began directing music videos shortly after.

[7] Proyas then wrote, directed and produced the 1998 science fiction thriller Dark City, which received positive critical reception and won several awards[8] but was a commercial disappointment.

[10] Proyas directed Gods of Egypt, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and co-written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.

In 2021, Proyas announced that he was developing a new video platform named VidiVerse for independent filmmakers as an alternative to YouTube.

[16][17] • The Masque of the Red Death film - On May 7, 1999, it was announced that Proyas would direct a medieval fantasy film adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s story The Masque of the Red Death, with Proyas and Stuart Hazeldine writing a Dirty Dozen-esqe screenplay[18] and producing with Julie Corman and Andrew Mason for Fox 2000.

[23] • Drive - On October 18, 2001, it was announced that Proyas would direct and produce a film based on Harlan Ellison's short story Along the Scenic Route entitled Drive with Cyrus Vorris and Ethan Reiff writing the script and Paramount Pictures producing the film.

[25] On February 10, 2012, it was reported that Gary Shore would be taking over the film, as Proyas and prospective star Sam Worthington had been let go from the project due to its high budget.

[30][31] • Paradise Lost film - On September 16, 2010, Proyas was set to direct a 3-D film adaptation of John Milton’s poem Paradise Lost for Legendary Entertainment,[32] with Bradley Cooper cast as Lucifer,[33] Benjamin Walker as Michael,[34] Djimon Hounsou as Abdiel,[35] Casey Affleck as Gabriel,[36] Dominic Purcell as Satan,[37] Diego Boneta as Adam,[38] Rufus Sewell as Sammael, Camilla Belle as Eve,[39] Sam Reid as Raphael,[40] and Callan McAuliffe as Uriel.

[50] • Foundation - On January 16, 2009, Proyas was offered to direct a film adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation book series in a rights auction for Warner Bros. Pictures, but Roland Emmerich and Columbia Pictures acquired the rights instead,[51] which lapsed and eventually became a television series on Apple TV+.

[53] Proyas has long been married to artist Catherine "Cathy" Linsley, who worked in the art department for his first feature film Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds.