Kevin Dowling (director)
Encyclopedia
Kevin Dowling is an American film
, television director
and producer
.
, Pennsylvania
, a suburb of Philadelphia, the son of Dr. John J. Dowling, who in the late 1980s was chief of orthopedic surgery
at the Lankenau Hospital
in Overbrook, Pennsylvania, and a professor of orthopedic surgery at Thomas Jefferson University
; and Lynn Dowling. He attended Oberlin College
, in Ohio
, and New York University
, in New York City
, New York
. On May 9, 1987, Dowling married Marley Klaus, at the time an associate producer of the CBS News
television program 60 Minutes
.
Dowling's first major New York theater work was as a producer, with his mother and four others, of Larry Shue
's who Broadway play The Nerd
, directed by Charles Nelson Reilly
, which ran 15 previews and 441 performances at the Helen Hayes Theatre
from March 10, 1987, to April 10, 1988. Dowling then served as general manager of the Forbidden Broadway
1988/1989 edition of the annual Off-Broadway
satirical
revue, which ran 534 performances, from September 15, 1988 to December 24, 1989, at Theater East in New York City.
Following these initial works, Dowling directed, and through his and Mark Johnson's Dowling Entertainment Corporation produced, David Stevens
' Off-Broadway play The Sum of Us
, which won the 1991 Outer Critics Circle Award
for Best Off-Broadway Play and took a 1991 Obie Award
for star Tony Goldwyn
. It ran 335 performances from October 16, 1990, to August 4, 1991, at the Cherry Lane Theatre
. Dowling then served as general manager of the Off-Broadway musical Pageant, (April 23, 1991 - June 7, 1992), which garnered Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Best Off-Broadway Musical and Best Off-Broadway Book, Music and Lyrics; and through Dowling Entertainment produced the Broadway musical Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (November 4, 1990 - May 19, 1991), and the Off-Broadway play Hauptman (May 19 - June 14, 1992).
, based on the Australia
-set Off-Broadway
play Dowling had directed. Despite his experience with the material, Dowling found it difficult to be assigned as director for the movie, which starred Jack Thompson
and Russell Crowe
. "In Hollywood they think directing a movie is nuclear physics
and it can never be mastered by a mere stage director," he said at the time. "They wanted someone else to direct, and they wanted to shoot it [in the United States]. They didn't think it would make any money if it was set in Australia," a locale he "fought to keep". Hoping to raise both American and Australian capital to make the film, Dowling went to Sydney, Australia; when his When his prospective American backer died, Australian sources pressed to have a native direct. To complete the financial arrangements, Dowling accepted a co-directing credit with Australian cinematographer
Geoff Burton, and agreed to use an Australian cast.
He went on to direct, and serve as executive producer
of, the 1996 film Mojave Moon
, starring Danny Aiello
, Anne Archer
and Angelina Jolie
. He then directed the 1998 cable-TV movie Last Rites, starring Randy Quaid and Embeth Davidtz, which premiered on Starz / Encore.
After the 1999 TV-movie Silk Hope came the first of a long string of episodic-TV directing credits, the first-season episode "Near Death Experience" of the drama series Judging Amy
. He would direct seven more episodes through season five, as well as episodes of series including Gilmore Girls
, The District
, Dead Like Me
, Ed
, Joan of Arcadia
, Law & Order: Criminal Intent
, CSI:NY, and The Mentalist
, as well as the pilot and all eight episodes of the 2008-2009 romantic comedy
-drama
series Valentine
, and all episodes except the pilot of the 2007 drama series K-Ville
.
He is an executive producer of the 2011 USA Network
drama series Necessary Roughness
, and directed its pilot episode.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, television director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
and producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
.
Early life and New York theater
Kevin Dowling was raised in GladwyneGladwyne, Pennsylvania
Gladwyne is a suburban community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States along the Main Line. The population was 4,050 at the 2000 census...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, a suburb of Philadelphia, the son of Dr. John J. Dowling, who in the late 1980s was chief of orthopedic surgery
Orthopedic surgery
Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system...
at the Lankenau Hospital
Lankenau Hospital
Lankenau Hospital is a 351-bed tertiary care, community based teaching hospital located in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. It is a founding member of Main Line Health, a community-based not-for-profit health system, comprising Bryn Mawr Hospital, Paoli Hospital, and Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital...
in Overbrook, Pennsylvania, and a professor of orthopedic surgery at Thomas Jefferson University
Thomas Jefferson University
Thomas Jefferson University is a private health sciences university in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. The university consists of six constituent colleges and schools, Jefferson Medical College, Jefferson College of Graduate Studies, Jefferson School of Health...
; and Lynn Dowling. He attended Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. On May 9, 1987, Dowling married Marley Klaus, at the time an associate producer of the CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
television program 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
.
Dowling's first major New York theater work was as a producer, with his mother and four others, of Larry Shue
Larry Shue
Larry Shue was an American playwright and actor, best known for writing two often-performed farces, The Nerd and The Foreigner.-Early life:...
's who Broadway play The Nerd
The Nerd
The Nerd is a two-act comedy written by American actor/playwright Larry Shue.-Plot:Set in Terre Haute, Indiana in late 1979, The Nerd presents the story of Willum Cubbert, an unassuming young architect, friends Tansy and Axel and unexpected houseguest Rick, who had saved Willum's life in Vietnam...
, directed by Charles Nelson Reilly
Charles Nelson Reilly
Charles Nelson Reilly was an American actor, comedian, director and drama teacher known for his comedic roles in theater, movies, children's television, animated cartoons, and as a panelist on the game show Match Game....
, which ran 15 previews and 441 performances at the Helen Hayes Theatre
Helen Hayes Theatre
Helen Hayes Theatre with 597 seats is the smallest Broadway theatre and is located at 240 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan....
from March 10, 1987, to April 10, 1988. Dowling then served as general manager of the Forbidden Broadway
Forbidden Broadway
Forbidden Broadway is an Off-Broadway satirical revue conceived, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini. The original version of the revue opened on January 15, 1982 at Palsson's Supper Club in New York City and ran for 2,332 performances. Alessandrini has rewritten the show over a dozen...
1988/1989 edition of the annual Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
revue, which ran 534 performances, from September 15, 1988 to December 24, 1989, at Theater East in New York City.
Following these initial works, Dowling directed, and through his and Mark Johnson's Dowling Entertainment Corporation produced, David Stevens
David Stevens
David Stevens or Dave Stevens may refer to:* David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate , Conservative Independent peer in the House of Lords* David Stevens * David Stevens, vocalist for the band We Came as Romans...
' Off-Broadway play The Sum of Us
The Sum of Us
The Sum of Us is a play by David Stevens.The plot revolves around the comfortable relationship between widower Harry and his gay son Jeff and their individual searches for the right mate. Harry unconditionally loves his Rugby-playing son, and even takes an active part in Jeff's search for Mr. Right...
, which won the 1991 Outer Critics Circle Award
Outer Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
for Best Off-Broadway Play and took a 1991 Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for star Tony Goldwyn
Tony Goldwyn
Anthony Howard "Tony" Goldwyn is an American actor and director. He portrayed the villain Carl Bruner in Ghost, Colonel Bagley in The Last Samurai, and the voice of the title character of the Disney animated Tarzan.-Early life:...
. It ran 335 performances from October 16, 1990, to August 4, 1991, at the Cherry Lane Theatre
Cherry Lane Theatre
The Cherry Lane Theatre , located at 38 Commerce Street in the borough of Manhattan, was New York City's oldest, continuously running off-Broadway theater...
. Dowling then served as general manager of the Off-Broadway musical Pageant, (April 23, 1991 - June 7, 1992), which garnered Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Best Off-Broadway Musical and Best Off-Broadway Book, Music and Lyrics; and through Dowling Entertainment produced the Broadway musical Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (November 4, 1990 - May 19, 1991), and the Off-Broadway play Hauptman (May 19 - June 14, 1992).
Film and TV
Dowling made his film directorial debut co-directing the 1995 movie adaptation The Sum of UsThe Sum of Us (film)
The Sum of Us is a 1994 Australian film version of the play The Sum of Us. Directed by Kevin Dowling and Geoff Burton, the film starred Russell Crowe and Jack Thompson...
, based on the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
-set Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
play Dowling had directed. Despite his experience with the material, Dowling found it difficult to be assigned as director for the movie, which starred Jack Thompson
Jack Thompson (actor)
Jack Thompson, AM is an Australian actor and one of the major figures of Australian cinema. He was educated at University of Queensland, before embarking on his acting career. In 2002, he was made an honorary member of the Australian Cinematographers Society...
and Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
. "In Hollywood they think directing a movie is nuclear physics
Nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those...
and it can never be mastered by a mere stage director," he said at the time. "They wanted someone else to direct, and they wanted to shoot it [in the United States]. They didn't think it would make any money if it was set in Australia," a locale he "fought to keep". Hoping to raise both American and Australian capital to make the film, Dowling went to Sydney, Australia; when his When his prospective American backer died, Australian sources pressed to have a native direct. To complete the financial arrangements, Dowling accepted a co-directing credit with Australian cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Geoff Burton, and agreed to use an Australian cast.
He went on to direct, and serve as executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
of, the 1996 film Mojave Moon
Mojave Moon
Mojave Moon is a 1996 American road movie. It stars Danny Aiello, Anne Archer, Michael Biehn, Angelina Jolie and Jack Noseworthy. The film was written by Leonard Glasser and directed by Kevin Dowling.-Plot:...
, starring Danny Aiello
Danny Aiello
Daniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
, Anne Archer
Anne Archer
Anne Archer is an American actress who has performed in feature films, television, and stage and was named Miss Golden Globe in 1971. Among her best known roles is that of Beth Gallagher in the 1987 movie Fatal Attraction, for which she received a nomination for an Academy Award.-Career:Archer's...
and Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
. He then directed the 1998 cable-TV movie Last Rites, starring Randy Quaid and Embeth Davidtz, which premiered on Starz / Encore.
After the 1999 TV-movie Silk Hope came the first of a long string of episodic-TV directing credits, the first-season episode "Near Death Experience" of the drama series Judging Amy
Judging Amy
Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...
. He would direct seven more episodes through season five, as well as episodes of series including Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
, The District
The District
The District is a television police drama which aired on CBS from October 7, 2000 to May 1, 2004. The show followed the work and personal life of the chief of Washington, D.C.'s Police Department .-Premise:...
, Dead Like Me
Dead Like Me
Dead Like Me was an American-Canadian comedy-drama television series starring Ellen Muth and Mandy Patinkin as grim reapers who reside and work in Seattle, Washington. Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, the show was created by Bryan Fuller for the Showtime network, where it ran for two seasons...
, Ed
Ed (TV series)
Ed is an NBC television program co-produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated, NBC Productions, and Viacom Productions that aired from 2000 to 2004....
, Joan of Arcadia
Joan of Arcadia
Joan of Arcadia is an American television fantasy/family drama telling the story of teenager Joan Girardi , who sees and speaks with God and performs tasks she is given. The series originally aired on Fridays, 8-9 p.m...
, Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
, CSI:NY, and The Mentalist
The Mentalist
The Mentalist is an American police procedural television series which debuted on September 23, 2008, on CBS. The show was created by Bruno Heller, who is also the show's executive producer...
, as well as the pilot and all eight episodes of the 2008-2009 romantic comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
-drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
series Valentine
Valentine (TV series)
Valentine is a romantic comedy/drama television series created by Kevin Murphy, who also serves as executive producer alongside Courtney Conte. The show is produced by Media Rights Capital. It premiered on October 5, 2008 at 8:00pm on The CW Television Network and Citytv in Canada and after four...
, and all episodes except the pilot of the 2007 drama series K-Ville
K-Ville (TV series)
K-Ville is an American television drama created and executive produced by Jonathan Lisco, centering on policing New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina...
.
He is an executive producer of the 2011 USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
drama series Necessary Roughness
Necessary Roughness (TV series)
Necessary Roughness is a USA Network television series starring Callie Thorne and Marc Blucas. The one-hour drama series was picked up for 12 episodes on January 19, 2011...
, and directed its pilot episode.