Diana began her working life as an actor. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School then became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her first work in New Zealand was as an actor, with roles including leads in Beyond Reasonable Doubt, (nominated for Best Actress, NZ Film awards) Battletruck and Mortimer’s Patch.

It is as a casting director that Diana Rowan’s name is best known. To her credit she has a long list of features, shorts and television productions, including The World’s Fastest Indian, No 2, Bread and Roses, Desperate Remedies, In My Father’s Den, Rain, The End of the Golden Weather, Crush, Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess. She has a particular knack for casting brilliant young female actors, as anyone who has seen Academy Award winning Anna Paquin in The Piano, Academy Award-nominated Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider or Emily Barclay in In My Father’s Den can attest.

Diana has now given up working as a casting director and is forging a new career as a film director.

Diana takes an active interest in the film and television industry, she was on the initial Screen Production Industry Taskforce, was a founding member of Film Auckland, was on the AFTA Film Awards committee for 4 years, has judged many industry events and helped to formulate industry guideline documents. SPADA gave her the 2004 Screen Industry Champion Award for her "immeasurable passion, commitment, integrity and success in helping NZ drama". She has been a committee member of WIFT for 7 years, is a member of the Honorary Board and has been the President of the Auckland chapter since 2004.