John Erick Dowdle is a U.S. director

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:...

, producer

Film producer

A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

, screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

, and editor.

Early life

Dowdle grew up in the Twin Cities of Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. After graduating from the St. Thomas Academy, an all-boys, military, Catholic high school, Dowdle moved to Iowa City, Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...

 to attend the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

. There he would make the move from writing to film. Two years later, Dowdle moved to Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, 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...

 to attend 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...

's film program.

Career

After graduating from NYU, Dowdle moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in filmmaking. Dowdle wrote and directed his first feature, the 1996 film Full Moon Rising, when he was just out of college. For his sophomore effort, The Dry Spell, Dowdle was joined by his younger brother Drew, who produced the film as John wrote, directed and edited. They now live in Los Angeles, working together as The Brothers Dowdle.

Dowdle directed alongside his brother the horror-disaster film

Disaster film

A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...

s Quarantine and Devil

Devil (film)

Devil is a 2010 American supernatural horror film directed by John Erick Dowdle and written by Brian Nelson based on a story by M. Night Shyamalan. The film stars Chris Messina, Bojana Novakovic, Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green, Jenny O'Hara and Geoffrey Arend...

, based on a storybook from M. Night Shyamalan

M. Night Shyamalan

Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan,known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, is an Indian-born American screenwriter, film director, and producer known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies in and around...

. Dowdle will direct with his brother the movie adaption of Jack Kilburn's novel Afraid.

Selected filmography

As director

• Devil
  Devil (film)
  Devil is a 2010 American supernatural horror film directed by John Erick Dowdle and written by Brian Nelson based on a story by M. Night Shyamalan. The film stars Chris Messina, Bojana Novakovic, Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green, Jenny O'Hara and Geoffrey Arend...
  
  (2010)
• Quarantine (2008)
• The Poughkeepsie Tapes
  The Poughkeepsie Tapes
  The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a mockumentary directed by John Erick Dowdle and stars Bobbi Sue Luther, Samantha Robson and Ivar Brogger.-Plot:...
  
  (2007)
• The Dry Spell (2005)
• Full Moon Rising (1997)

As producer

• Full Moon Rising (1997)

As writer

• Quarantine (2008)
• The Poughkeepsie Tapes
  The Poughkeepsie Tapes
  The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a mockumentary directed by John Erick Dowdle and stars Bobbi Sue Luther, Samantha Robson and Ivar Brogger.-Plot:...
  
  (2007)
• The Dry Spell (2005)
• Full Moon Rising (1997)

As editor

• The Dry Spell (2005)

Awards

2005

• Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival
  Slamdance Film Festival
  As a year-round organization, Slamdance serves as a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging talent in the film industry; it is also the only major film festival fully programmed by filmmakers. Slamdance counts among its alumni many notable writers and directors who first gained notice at the...
  
   for The Dry Spell - Nominated

External links