 After winning the Fulbright TEB Clarke Fellowship in Screenwriting 1996/7, judged by William Goldman and paid for by John Cleese, Dowling moved to the United States, briefly attending the University of Southern California, and then sold a spec screenplay to Arnold Kopelson (Platoon, Se7en) and 20th Century Fox.His first produced movie was "Flightplan" starring Jodie Foster which was commercially successful in the U.S. and grossed over $223,000,000 worldwide.Starting in 2007 he began to direct, and his first film was "Stag Night".