Boo is an ethnic Hokkien. He graduated from the School of Film & Media Studies at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in 2003, and from the Puttnam School of Film, LASALLE College of the Arts, in 2009, where he was accorded the McNally Award for Excellence in the Arts – the valedictorian honour of the college.

In 2013, Boo won the President’s Young Talents Credit Suisse Artist Commissioning Award for a video art piece, Mirror. Later that year, he participated at the Singapore Biennale with Happy and Free, a video installation that depicted a Singapore that remained a part of Malaysia in 2013 and was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the territories’ merger. Boo’s short film, “Parting” was released as part of the omnibus titled 7 Letters (2015) to commemorate Singapore’s 50th year of independence.

In 2014, Boo announced that he will begin shooting his second film within the year. Executive produced by filmmaker Eric Khoo, Apprentice is a psychological drama about a young Malay correctional officer who is transferred to Singapore’s top prison where he befriends its soon-to-retire chief executioner. The film is released in 2016, where it was selected to screen at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2016, Boo received the relatively new and coveted Rising Director award at the 21st Busan International Film Festival’s Asia Star Awards 2016.

In 2018, Boo was selected as the creative director of the Singapore National Day Parade.