Kevin Dowling (director)

Kevin Dowling is an American^[1] film, television director and producer. Throughout his career, Kevin has worked in over 60 projects.

Biography

Early life and New York theater

Kevin Dowling was raised in Gladwyne, 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 Medical Center in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and a clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at Thomas Jefferson University; and Lynn Dowling.^[2] He attended Oberlin College, in Ohio, and New York University, in New York City.^[2] On May 9, 1987, Dowling married Marley Klaus, at the time a producer/writer of the CBS News television program 60 Minutes.^[2]

Dowling was a founding member and, for eight years, the artistic director of The Actor's Ensemble. During this time, he directed more than 20 plays, including the first full scale New York production of

Dowling made his film directorial debut directing the 1995 movie adaptation The Sum of Us,^[9] 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".^[1] Hoping to raise both American and Australian capital to make the film, Dowling went to Sydney; 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.^[1]

He went on to direct, and serve as executive producer of, the 1996 film