Cindy Cowan

Cindy Cowan is an Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated producer who co-founded Initial Entertainment Group (IEG) with Graham King in 1995. It became the leading film production and foreign sales company. From 1995 till its sale to Splendid Films in 2000, IEG had many successes including: an Emmy nomination for Rent-A-Kid, starring Leslie Nielson; Emmy, Golden Globe and People's Choice nominations for If These Walls Could Talk, starring Cher, Sissy Spacek, Anne Heche and Demi Moore; and won a United Nations Award for Savior, starring Dennis Quaid. IEG also saw success with its production of Traffic, starring Michael Douglas and Benicio Del Toro; the film won Oscars for directing, adapted screenplay, editing, and best supporting actor. Additional projects produced by Ms. Cowan while at IEG include Very Bad Things, starring Cameron Diaz and Christian Slater; and the Robert Altman-directed Dr. T & the Women, starring Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, Kate Hudson and Liv Tyler. Since forming her new production company, Cindy Cowan Entertainment, Cowan has produced Scorched, starring Woody Harrelson and Alicia Silverstone, executive produced Fifty Dead Men Walking, starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Jim Sturgess; she also produced Red Lights starring Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy, and Elizabeth Olsen. Directed by Rodrigo Cortes, Red Lights was the opening night premiere at Sundance, January 2012, and was the highest selling film at that festival. Cowan also finished her first low-budget horror film aimed at the digital marketplace, titled Smiley, which hit theaters on October 12, 2012. The trailer for the film was a viral sensation on release, earning over 34 million views (in comparison, box office smash "The Avengers" has 20 million). Recent credits include a southern crime thriller, Arkansas, starring Vince Vaughn and Liam Hemsworth as well as the Emmy-winning documentary called Miracle on 42nd Street featuring Alicia Keys, Terrence Howard and Sam Jackson, to name a few, which premiered at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Cowan is also a recipient of the Telly Award for producing a short called, La Ruta -- a story about the perilous immigration journey into the United States. Currently, Cowan is producing The Untitled 'NSync Project alongside TriStar and Lance Bass about super-fans who followed 'NSync in the 2001 Pop Odyssey tour. She has also set up Eye in the Sky with Millennium Films, written by Richard D'Ovidio (The Call). Richard D'Ovidio is also attached to write True Haunting, a true tale of paranormal horror set up at Sony Pictures. Additionally, she is working with Jeff Thomas (Wayward Pines, Blindspot) on an elevated thriller called Expiration Day, and a female-empowerment story about the girl who struck out Babe Ruth starring Abigail Breslin. Meanwhile, Line of Control, is in development with Gary Fleder (Runaway Jury, Homefront) attached to direct, as well as an inspirational true story entitled Iron Will, written by W. Peter Iliff (Point Break, Patriot Games, Varsity Blues). Cindy Cowan Entertainment will be undertaking more productions for television, including a historical drama called Ellis Island, a scripted series about immigration during the 1910's with interest from Spike Lee (Malcolm X, Inside Man, Old Boy) to direct and Executive Produce. Cowan is also venturing into unscripted television with MGM, a show documenting the rebranding of Maxim Magazine to promote women's empowerment, confidence and self acceptance; as well as a spiritual-travel show called Seekers, searching for all the modalities people around the world stay in the light in a world going dark. In 2019, Cowan co-founded the Omni-Cultural TV Fest alongside Kiki Melendez, which is the only TV festival backed by NATPE. When Cowan isn't hard at work, she sits on the boards of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that provides free instruments and lessons to under served public schools, and Children Mending Hearts, a dynamic arts-based enrichment education program that helps empower disadvantaged youth, building empathy and global citizenry. She also regularly contributes to Music for Relief, a non-profit organization comprised of musicians, music industry professionals, and fans, that are dedicated to providing aid to natural disaster survivors; We Care Solar, a revolutionary solar system that fits in a briefcase, designed to promote safe childbirth in developing regions by providing health workers with reliable lighting and power; and, Grassroots Soccer, a health organization that uses soccer to elevate at-risk youths in developing countries. Her contributions lead to her receiving the 2018 Woman of The Year Award presented by Women's Image Network, and in 2019, Cowan was the Humanitarian of the Year Award recipient from the Hollywood Women's Film Institute. Cindy Cowan is a graduate of Tulane University, with graduate courses towards a Master's Degree in Psychology at Harvard. Cowan is also a major equestrian, winning the "World Champion" title more than 5 times in American Saddlebred five-gaited, and equestrian horses.