He is a director, writer, editor, and producer of independent feature films which are most often about the lives of marginalized people, especially immigrants and sex workers.

Baker has since directed seven feature films: Take Out (2004), Prince of Broadway (2008), Starlet (2012), Tangerine (2015), The Florida Project (2017), Red Rocket (2021), and Anora (2024).

For his work on Anora, Baker received several accolades, including the Palme d'Or and the BAFTA Award for Best Casting, alongside his wife Samantha Quan.

[6][7][8] Baker became obsessed with homemade movies at a young age after his mother took him to see Universal Monster films being shown at the local library.

[9] While attending Gill St. Bernard's High School ('89)[10] in Somerset and Morris counties, Baker worked as a projectionist at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair.

The series aired on the Independent Film Channel and was in turn derived from a public-access television show called Junktape.

[15] In 2010, Baker, Spencer Chinoy, and Dan Milano created a spinoff called Warren the Ape; the series aired on MTV and was canceled after one season.

[17] The film revolves around an undocumented Chinese immigrant falling behind on payments on a smuggling debt, leaving him only one day to come up with the money.

Starlet explores the unlikely friendship between 21-year-old Jane (Hemingway) and 85-year-old Sadie (Johnson), two women whose lives intersect in California's San Fernando Valley.

The plot follows a 6-year-old girl living in a motel with her rebellious mother in Greater Orlando as they try to stay out of trouble and make ends meet.

[33][34][35] In June 2018, Baker was invited to be a member of the directors and writers branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

[38][39][40] Baker directed the feature film, Red Rocket which stars Simon Rex as Mikey, a pornographic actor returning to his hometown in Texas.

[47] In October 2023, his next feature film Anora, starring Mikey Madison, was officially announced after distribution rights were acquired by FilmNation.

Encouraged by advice from Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier, Baker left a television series that had been greenlit and began working on his next film instead, which was then cancelled as result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was inspired to do a TV show version of Tangerine as a way to help propel the career of trans actress Mya Taylor, who would play the lead in the project.

In terms of franchise films, Baker has expressed interest in Fast & Furious, stating that he would jump at the chance to direct one because he'd "be able to play with cars and crashes.

[64] Baker has established a reputation for portraying outcasts and characters from underrepresented and marginalized subcultures, frequently undocumented immigrants and sex workers, in decidedly humane and compassionate scenarios.

[69] Baker's influences include Ken Loach,[70] Spike Lee, Federico Fellini, Jim Jarmusch, Mike Leigh, Steven Spielberg,[71] Éric Rohmer, John Cassavetes, and Hal Ashby among others.