He came to prominence as director and writer of Sundance Film Festival 2015 select I Am Michael, starring James Franco and Zachary Quinto.

[6] After a stream of directing short films[7] as well as directing and editing music videos for artists such as Gossip, Hunx and his Punx and Tiny Hearts, Kelly worked as an editor[8] before making the transition to feature film writer-director.

Starring actors James Franco, Emma Roberts, Zachary Quinto and Charlie Carver, the controversial[11][12][13] film's premiere was announced as a premiere select at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

[18] His third film Welcome the Stranger starring Abbey Lee, Riley Keough and Caleb Landry Jones, shot in the summer of 2016 and was released via Sony Pictures on March 13, 2018.

[19] Kelly's fourth feature-length film, JT LeRoy, based on the lives of Savannah Knoop and Laura Albert, a.k.a.