Terry was born and raised in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, before moving to Phoenix, Arizona, where he graduated from Brophy College Preparatory.
In 1992, Terry relocated to Los Angeles, where he quickly landed a production assistant position on the film Last Action Hero (1993) and found his mentor in Executive Producer Robert E. Relyea.
Relyea was later named President of Production for MGM/UA, and Terry joined him as his Executive Assistant, overseeing the production of over forty MGM/UA films during the next five years, including GoldenEye (1995),Tomorrow Never Dies (1997),Get Shorty (1995),The Birdcage (1996),and Ronin (1998).
In 1997, Terry sold his first screenplay, No Tomorrow (1999),and subsequently left MGM/UA to pursue a career in writing and directing. Independent production company PM Entertainment produced No Tomorrow, as well as Terry's screenplays Y2K (1999) and The Stray (2000),which helped pave the way for him to direct his next screenplay, The Chaos Factor (2000).
Following the HBO World Premiere of The Chaos Factor, Terry went on to direct more films for PM Entertainment, Cinetel Films, and Reel One Entertainment, including The Elite (2001),Con Express (2002),Storm Watch (2002),Global Effect (2002),Descent (2005),and Earthstorm (2006) for Syfy.
In 2006, Terry ventured into television directing, overseeing over 100 hours of the prime-time dramas Desire (2006) and Wicked Wicked Games (2006) for Fox and MyNetworkTV.
From 2008 to 2010, Terry traveled throughout Turkey and Peru, directing the miniseries "The Jack Hunter Trilogy" (2009) and its follow-up, El Dorado (2010).
In 2013, Terry directed the critically acclaimed family drama Love Finds You in Sugarcreek (2014) for UpTv, which received the network's highest ratings ever with 2.2 million unique viewers for its 2014 premiere. The film then went on to win Movieguide's 2015 Epiphany Award for Best TV Movie.
Terry continued the series, directing Love Finds You in Charm (2015) and Love Finds You in Valentine (2016),from 2014 to 2015.
