Adrian McDowall

Adrian is a double BAFTA award-winning filmmaker and has been named on Screen International’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ list. He is a versatile director, working across - drama, documentary, comedy and television commercials. 

Recent credits include:   'For Her Sins' - 4 x 60mins Psychological Drama Series. CH5 | Paramount+ | Banijay | Gaumont. A struggling new mother strikes up a friendship with a woman who suddenly comes into her life. What starts as the perfect escape from her troubles soon turns into a nightmare, when she discovers this perfect stranger is anything but...   SAS ROGUE HEROES (season 2) - 6x60mins. BBC STUDIOS | Banijay The second season of Steven Knight's hit TV series chronicling the birth of the SAS during WWII. Starring Jack O'Connell, Connor Swindells, Sofia Boutella and Dominic West. Adrian served as the 2nd Unit (Heroes Unit) Director across all 6 episodes working alongside Series Director Stephen Woolfenden.

'Willow' - 8 x 50mins. Lucasfilm's new fantasy adventure series for Disney+ is a follow-up to Ron Howard's earlier movie.  Adrian served as the 2nd Unit Series Director across all 8 episodes and acted as the main unit director during COVID emergencies.

'Princess Mirror-belle' - 2 x 25mins. BBC STUDIOS. Adrian was the lead director of Julia Donaldson's new show and her first live-action adaptation.

'Vigil' - 2nd Unit Series director. Adrian was tasked to direct pick-ups and reshoots for directors James Strong and Isabelle Sieb. 

'Outlander' - 2nd Unit Series Director Season 5 & 7 - Adrian directed sequences in each of the episodes across the series including the epic battle scene in season 5 episode 7 for Stephen Woolfenden and the season finale for Jamie Payne. He also directed the additional DVDX Outlander Untold scenes.

‘The Last Czars’ - Adrian acted as the lead director of this six-part NETFLIX series following the demise of the Romanovs during the 1917 Russian Revolution. He directed across all six episodes.

‘Jesus - His Life’ - Adrian served as the lead director of this eight-part event series commissioned by A + E Networks for The History Channel, exploring the story of Jesus Christ through the people in his life who were closest to him. The show was produced by Nutopia.

In February 2018 Amazon Prime launched Adrian’s four-part documentary series ‘Grand Prix Driver’, with unprecedented access to the legendary Formula One team McLaren and their superstar drivers - including two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso - during their most turbulent pre-season in recent history. The show is narrated by Academy Award Winner Michael Douglas.

Prior to this, Adrian was lead director for all three seasons of the children’s sci-fi drama series ‘Eve’ for CBBC / Leopard Drama. The show won two Royal Television Society Awards and was nominated for both a Broadcast Award and a BAFTA. 

Adrian has directed close to fifty hours of television. These include prime-time crime drama ‘Taggart’ for ITV;  children’s spy drama ‘MI High‘ for CBBC (Kudos); returning drama series ‘River City’ for BBC Scotland; hidden camera show ‘The Real Hustle’ for BBC3 (Objective). 

His award-winning documentaries include; the BBC1 film ‘Insane Fight Club’ following the rise of the Insane Championship Wrestling scene; Cinema Eye Nominated ‘Cutting Loose’, following hopeful prisoners as they compete for the title of ‘Prison Hairdresser of The Year’; the BAFTA Scotland Award Winning short ‘Ma Bar’, featuring an octogenarian World Champion Powerlifter; ‘Standing Start’ follows the Olympic Sprint Cycling team - featuring Craig Maclean (MBE) and Sir Chris Hoy - as they strive to become World Champions.

Collectively, Adrian’s short films have screened worldwide at major international film festivals including; Sundance, Hot Docs, SXSW, Silverdocs, Flickerfest, Aspen, LA, New York, Toronto and Berlin, winning over sixty international awards and nominations. Shorts include; the comedy ‘Gutpunch’ starring Rufus Jones, Christian Lees and Justin Edwards, written by Andrew Yerlett; the BAFTA Nominated children’s fantasy ‘Found’, which explores the escapism of a young Sikh boy after he joins a new school; his debut comedy ‘Who’s My Favourite Girl’, which won the BAFTA for Best Short Film.

His TV commercials for clients such as the UK and Scottish Government have won both Gold Rose and Scottish Advertising Awards. 

Adrian’s passion is to tell unique human stories in a visceral, cinematic and intimate fashion. He is a member of Director’s UK and serves on the Scottish Working Group Committee. He has recently become a father for the first time. 

He is represented by Humphrey Elles-Hill at the Independent Talent Agency: [email protected]
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