COWTOWN PICTURES is a narrative and documentary film production company founded and run by producers Alan Maher and John Wallace.
COWTOWN PICTURES combines the skillsets built up by John and Alan over combined three decades of experience in the film and television industry. John began his career as an assistant director on film sets, working his way up through production before embarking on his career as a producer. Alan’s filmmaking career began as a development executive, most notably at Element Pictures, before joining Screen Ireland (formerly the Irish Film Board) as an Executive Producer/Production Executive for six years and, upon leaving, starting his own company in 2013.
These different but complementary paths to producing instil COWTOWN PICTURES with a remarkable overview of film production and ensure that every aspect of a film is covered fully at the very highest level.
Cowtown’s most recently completed film, LOLA (2022), directed by Andrew Legge, premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2022 and has been selected for Edinburgh International Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival, Rome Film Festival, Fright Fest London, Melbourne International Film Festival, among others. Indiewire described it as “an immensely clever and resourceful micro-budget movie about time-travel”, Eye for Film wrote that LOLA is “by turns enchanting and heartbreaking, it speaks to the troubled history of the 20th Century yet feels bang up to date.” Legendary film critic Kim Newman called it “an ingenious, exhilarating film.”
Other productions include: PHIL LYNOTT: SONGS FOR WHILE I’M AWAY (2020), directed by Emer Reynolds; THE 8TH (2020), directed by Aideen Kane, Lucy Kennedy and Maeve O’Boyle; and the double IFTA-winning RIALTO (2019), written by Mark O’Halloran (Best Screenplay), directed by Peter Mackie Burns, and starring Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Best Actor) and Tom Glynn-Carney.
Prior to founding Cowtown, Alan produced SONG OF GRANITE, which premiered at SXSW Film Festival to critical acclaim in March 2017 and went on to screen at Karlovy Vary and Galway, where it won the Best Cinematography Award. It was released theatrically in Winter 2017 by Thunderbird Releasing and Wildcard Distribution in the UK, Ireland and Canada, and by Oscilloscope in the US. SONG OF GRANITE was Ireland's Official Entry for the Foreign Language category of the 2018 Academy Awards and was nominated for three IFTA Awards. Other past projects include; Tom Burke’s LOSING ALASKA (2018); Maya Zinshtein’s Emmy Award-winning FOREVER PURE (2016), which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2016 and was sold internationally by Dogwoof; and Anthony Wonke’s BEING AP (2015), which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2015, was distributed theatrically by eOne in the UK and sold internationally by HanWay.
John’s credits include PHOTO CITY (2017) which premiered at the Audi Dublin International Film Festival; ERNESTINE & KIT (2016) directed by Simon Bird which premiered at SXSW 2016; STANDBY (2014) directed by Rob and Ronan Burke and sold internationally by Magnolia Pictures: Des Doyle’s SHOWRUNNERS (2014) directed by Des Doyle and sold by Submarine; Mark O’Connor’s KING OF THE TRAVELLERS (2012); Kirsten Sheridan’s DOLLHOUSE (2012)which premiered in Panorama at Berlinale 2012 and PJ Dillon’s IFTA award winning REWIND (2010).