Screenwriter Profile: Conor Dowling
CONOR DOWLING ANIMATES IRISH MYTHOLOGY
By Robert Delaney
Conor Dowling is a writer and director from Dublin, Ireland. We are pleased and fortunate to have had Conor join us at our 2021 Stowe Narrative Lab and will soon again work with him at our September Stowe Writers’ Retreat with Dara Mccool, an animated family feature film.
Conor is known for films including The Light of Day (2014), Noise (2015), and Carnivores (2018). While Conor is developing numerous writing projects, he is also currently adapting a sci-fi novel for an American streaming service and has just completed writing his first video game for a Dutch gaming company.
With Dara Mccool, Conor is bringing us a project that is “incredibly close” to his heart, an animated family feature about Irish mythology. As Conor says, “I have been developing this script myself for a number of years and I now feel that my work and dedication is finally being recognized. When I was awarded the bursary from Screen Skills Ireland to allow me to afford to take part in Stowe’s 2021 programs, that was one of the highlights of my screenwriting journey to date.”
Screen Skills Ireland is a development unit within Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland whose goal is “to provide continuing training and career development opportunities for professionals working in the screen sectors.” They are happy to help Conor come to the Labs: “We're delighted to support Conor given the level of his experience and the caliber of the course. The bursary award is competitive and Conor's application showed his commitment to his continued professional development and excellence in filmmaking. It's brilliant that the bursary allows Conor to bring the valuable knowledge he gains internationally back to Ireland and to the benefit of the industry.”
Stowe Story Labs exists to help writers such as Conor develop their craft and refine their creative projects. “We work hard to find emerging talents showing a collaborative nature and working hard to develop meaningful work,” said David Rocchio, director and founder of the Labs. “Conor’s application and story stood out from the first, and we are so pleased Screen Skills Ireland supported Conor’s desire to work with us,” he said.
Conor is excited to work with Stowe in 2021 and we are happy he is joining our community of creatives: “Being selected to bring my project to the Stowe Narrative Lab and Fall Writers’ Retreat means the absolute world to me. I know the caliber of projects and participants every year is really high, so I take it as a much-appreciated endorsement of my craft as a screenwriter to have been selected. To be supported at home in Ireland like this to travel to America to develop my project and further my screenwriting career is a genuine dream come true for me.”
Robert Delany is an Academic Intern with Stowe Story Labs. He graduated in 2020 with an MA in cinema studies from NYU and was a Program Associate for the 2020 Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, where he now conducts interviews for their “Filmmaker Spotlight Series”. Robert also writes for Split Tooth Media, an independent film and music publication based in Portland, Oregon. He is currently acting as a researcher on the film ASCO: WITHOUT PERMISSION, directed by Travis Gutierrez Senger and produced by North of Now. He was also an Office Assistant at Senger’s production company, Asa Nisi Masa Films, where he focused on the development of numerous projects. Robert graduated in 2018 with a BS in film and TV from Boston University’s School of Communication. Robert Delany was selected for this academic internship to focus on interviews and other writing for The Story Board, Stowe Story Labs’ bi-monthly newsletter. He will also assist in the establishment of a curated short film platform for Stowe Alumni.
