Rob Bowman

Rob Stanton Bowman (born May 15, 1960) is an American film director and producer, perhaps most notable for his work on science fiction series, such as The X-Files and Star Trek: The Next Generation. He is an executive producer and director for the comedy-drama Castle.

Early life and career

Bowman grew up around film and television production. His father, Chuck Bowman, is a filmmaker who became active in the industry when Rob was an adolescent. Bowman first became fascinated with the process of filmmaking when he saw The Wizard of Oz as a child. After writing, producing and directing a story for a film production class at the University of Utah, Bowman knew he wanted to be a filmmaker.^[1] Bowman started directing for television while doing second unit work for Stephen Cannell Productions in 1982. His first feature film was Airborne, a coming-of-age story involving teenage rollerbladers.^[2]

Work on The X-files

After seeing a commercial for The X-files pilot episode, Bowman called his agent and told him he wanted to direct for the series.^[1] He was asked to direct the episode Gender Bender for The X-files by executive producer R. W. Goodwin, who had previously worked with Bowman on the series Mancuso, FBI. X-files creator and executive producer Chris Carter invited Bowman to return and direct more episodes. Bowman was eventually made a producer on the series.^[3]

Style

Bowman's signature visual style involves lighting contrasts within a scene, including framing actors as silhouettes.^[2] X-files writer and producer Frank Spotnitz said that Bowman works very hard to make every "scene as beautiful and as complimentary to the story as possible". He said that Bowman camera movements were never gratuitous and were deliberately planned to aid viewers in understanding what happening in a scene. Spotnitz complimented Bowman's attention to lighting for mood, saying "You would think that on a television schedule you don't have time to compose and think thoroughly about all these issues, but Rob really does."^[3]

Filmography

Director

• Castle (2009 - 2012)
• Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (2006) (episode: "Umney's Last Case")
• Elektra (2005)
• Reign of Fire (2002)
• The Lone Gunmen (2001) (pilot)
• The X-Files (film) (1998)
• The X-Files: The Unopened File (1996) (episode "Paper Clip")
• VR.5 (1995)
• M.A.N.T.I.S. (1994)
• Traps (1994)
• Airborne (1993)
• The X-Files (1993) (episode 1.14 "Genderbender") (episode 2.04 "Sleepless") (episode 2.12 "Aubrey") (episode 2.15 "Fresh Bones") (episode 2.17 "End Game") (episode 2.19 "Død Kälm") (episode 2.22 "F. Emasculata") (episode 2.24 "Our Town") (episode 3.02 "Paper Clip") (episode 3.07 "Walk, The") (episode 3.10 "731") (episode 3.13 "Syzygy") (episode 3.15 "Piper Maru") (episode 3.17 "Pusher") (episode 3.20 "José Chung's 'From Outer Space'") (episode 3.23 "Wetwired") (episode 4.04 "Unruhe") (episode 4.05 "Field Where I Died, The") (episode 4.09 "Terma") (episode 4.10 "Paper Hearts") (episode 4.13 "Never Again") (episode 4.14 "Memento Mori") (episode 4.17 "Tempus Fugit") (episode 5.11 "Kill Switch") (episode 5.18 "Pine Bluff Variant, The") (episode 6.02 "Drive") (episode 6.07 "Terms of Endearment") (episode 6.12 "One Son") (episode 6.13 "Agua Mala") (episode 6.17 "Trevor") (episode 6.22 "Biogenesis") (episode 7.07 "Orison") (episode 7.15 "En Ami")
• The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993) (one episode)
• The Hat Squad (1992)
• Dark Shadows (1991)
• DEA (1990)
• Parker Lewis Can't Lose (1990) (episode 2.01 "Father Knows Less") (episode 2.03 "Full Mental Jacket") (episode 2.11 "Love Handles") (episode 2.12 "Boy Meets Girl") (episode 2.20 "Dance of Romance") (episode 2.21 "When Jerry Met Shelly") (episode 2.25 "Dinner '75") (episode 3.02 "Cape Flamingo") (episode 3.04 "Summer of '92") (episode 3.06 "Jerry's Journey") (episode 3.12 "An Unmarried Musso") (episode 3.18 "Night to Remember, A")
• Mancuso, FBI (1989)
• Booker (1989)
• Baywatch (1989) (episode "The Reunion")
• Hardball (1989)
• Alien Nation (1989)
• Quantum Leap (1989)
• Midnight Caller (1988) (episode "Sale Away (Part 2)")
• Probe (1988) (episode "Metamorphic Anthropoidic Prototype Over You")
• The Highwayman (1988)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
• Werewolf (1987)
• 21 Jump Street (1987)
• Stingray (1986) (episodes 1.06 "Orange Blossom" 4/29/1986, 2.6 "The First Time Is Forever" 2/20/1987 and 2.14 "Caper" 5/1/1987)
• MacGyver (1985) (episode "Ma Dalton")

Producer

• Castle (2009) TV Series (executive producer)
• The Lone Gunmen (2001) TV Series (co-executive producer) (pilot episode)
• The X-Files: The Unopened File (1996) (producer)
• The X Files (1993) (producer) (episode "2Shy") (episode "731") (episode "Agua Mala") (episode "All Souls") (episode "Alpha") (episode "Anasazi") (episode "Arcadia") (episode "Bad Blood") (episode "The Beginning") (episode "Biogenesis") (episode "The Blessing Way") (episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Response") (episode "Colony") (episode "D.P.O.") (episode "Die Hand Die Verletzt") (episode "Dod Kalm") (episode "Dreamland II") (episode "Dreamland") (episode "Drive") (episode "El Mundo Gira") (episode "En Ami") (episode "End Game") (episode "The End") (episode "F. Emasculata") (episode "Fearful Symmetry") (episode "Field Trip") (episode "The Field Where I Died") (episode "Fresh Bones") (episode "Grotesque") (episode "Hell Money") (episode "Herrenvolk") (episode "Home") (episode "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas") (episode "José Chung's 'From Outer Space") (episode "Kaddish") (episode "Kill Switch") (episode "Leonard Betts") (episode "The List") (episode "Memento Mori") (episode "Milagro") (episode "Monday") (episode "Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man") (episode "Never Again") (episode "Nisei") (episode "One Son") (episode "Orison") (episode "Oubliette") (episode "Our Town") (episode "Paper Clip") (episode "Paper Hearts") (episode "Patient X") (episode "Quagmire") (episode "The Rain King") (episode "The Red and the Black") (episode "Revelations") (episode "S.R. 819") (episode "Sanguinarium") (episode "Synchrony") (episode "Syzygy") (episode "Talitha Cumi") (episode "Tempus Fugit") (episode "Teso Dos Bichos") (episode "Three of a Kind") (episode "Tithonus") (episode "Trevor") (episode "Triangle") (episode "Tunguska") (episode "Two Fathers") (episode "The Walk") (episode "Wetwired")
• Stingray (1985) (associate producer)
• The A-Team (1983) (associate producer)

Other

• The Making of 'The X-Files: Fight the Future' (1998)

References

External links

• Rob Bowman at the Internet Movie Database
• Rob Bowman at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)