Andrew McGowan grew up in Basking Ridge, New Jersey and has been writing from an early age. At sixteen years old, he published his first poem in Teen Ink's print magazine. He then went to Bowdoin College, where he studied a wide range of disciplines, but ultimately majored in English and Education with a minor in Cinema Studies. While he continued writing poems in college, McGowan shifted much of his focus towards analyses and critiques of film, literature, media, and culture. On campus, he published work in The Foundationalist Literary Journal, The Quill Literary Magazine, Avant-Garb Fashion & Culture Magazine, and The Harpoon Satirical Newspaper. He was a member of the Bowdoin Film Society and the Maine Film Association, and he hosted a weekly radio show where he reviewed films and discussed current events in the entertainment industry.

During his senior year at Bowdoin, McGowan wrote a 130-page Honors Thesis on eco-critical commentaries in contemporary superhero cinema. Before graduation, Bowdoin awarded him the Sunrise Prize for Cinema Scholarship, The Brown Prize for Extemporaneous Essay Writing, and The Hawthorne Prize for Fiction Writing. 

After receiving his Bachelors Degree, McGowan continued to write about film and television, contributing articles, essays, reviews, and lists  to Lynxotic, ScreenRant, IMDb, The Response Journal of Popular Culture, and Collider. He primarily wrote about recent releases for these publications, but distinguished himself at Collider with a number of articles focused on film history and lost media. He's presented much of his research at academic conferences across the country, and appears as an interviewee on Vice's Icons Unearthed series about the making of The Lord of the Rings films.

Since Summer 2025, McGowan has been writing for Variety, covering breaking news stories across the publication's film, television, and breaking news verticals. In his first two months at the magazine, he authored the website's most-read pieces in July and August, bringing over 4 million pageviews to the publication. He also covers red carpets and premieres, interviewing above-the-line and below-the-line talent about recent releases and events. 

McGowan's writing on movies, media, and culture is  informed by hands-on experience in the film industry. He received his M.F.A. in the UCLA School of Theater, Film, & Television's Producers Program, and he has worked in creative development and production for PBS, Walden Media, Zero Gravity Management, Walt Disney Studios, and Paramount Pictures. In these roles, he has evaluated various screenplays, assisted high-level producers and executives, and gained an insider's perspective on Hollywood. 

He has also been engaged in various film festivals, serving as a Programming Associate for Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, a screenplay competition reader for the Austin Film Festival, and the Education Program Manager for the Pittsburgh Film Festivals. Lastly, he's had the privilege of teaching film studies and language arts courses at the secondary, undergraduate, and graduate levels. 

Creatively, McGowan produced a spoken-word poetry album in 2020, and has written several screenplays, one of which placed as the overall Runner-Up in the 2023 Screencraft Short Film Script Competition.  He has also produced several short films and directed short animations. 

McGowan believes that blending theoretical knowledge and practical experience strengthens his craft. lending him a wholistic perspective on his subject matter and a deeper appreciation for the cinematic arts.