Claim: Chris Carter rose to fame as a screenwriter in the early 1990s.

Chris Carter -LRB- born October 13 , 1956 -RRB- is an American television and film producer , director and writer . Born in Bellflower , California , Carter graduated with a degree in journalism from California State University , Long Beach before spending thirteen years working for Surfing Magazine . After beginning his television career working on television films for Walt Disney Studios , Carter rose to fame in the early 1990s after creating the science fiction-supernatural television series The X-Files for the Fox network . The X-Files earned high viewership ratings , and led to Carter 's being able to negotiate the creation of future series .   Carter went on to create three more series for the network -- Millennium , a doomsday-themed series which met with critical approval and low viewer numbers ; Harsh Realm , which was canceled after three episodes had aired ; and The Lone Gunmen , a spin-off of The X-Files which lasted for a single season . Carter 's film roles include writing both of The X-Files cinematic spin-offs -- 1998 's successful The X-Files and the poorly received 2008 follow-up The X-Files : I Want to Believe , the latter of which he also directed -- while his television credits have earned him several accolades including eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations . The Amazon Studios television series The After was his most recent series .