Rick Cowan Award for Best Cinematic Heartland Film Locations Winners
CHICKEN & ROSES, directed by Joni Mitchell (2022)
THE SNOOP, directed by Tom Hipp, Scott Hipp (2021)
FLOOR 22, directed by Connor Simpson (2020)
STREET RUNNERS, directed by Kent Bernhard (2019)
The Rick Cowan Award for Best Cinematic Heartland Film Locations is sponsored by the Kansas City Film Office
Rick Cowan Award for Best
Cinematic Heartland Film Locations
Production is like a big puzzle, some times you can find all the right pieces, other times you need help because one piece has fallen on the floor and is under the table. Rick and I helped each other find the missing pieces no matter who’s job it was. – K. Krieger
Rick Cowan championed our film industry – he brought people up and started them in the business, when he learned someone was down on their luck – they’d wind up on Rick’s next job, and he was always willing to do anything he could to help out a person or project. Rick rallied the KC industry to support state film incentives and consulted on the new local incentive. He knew the business, called it like he saw it, shared his knowledge, led by example and always reminded people life is meant to be enjoyed. His humor is unmatched in wit and satire. He became a Facebook legend with his hilarious daily posts. He was the birthday video king – always finding just the right one to make you laugh. His legacy lives on in all of us and will always remind us to be good to each other, to keep the big picture in mind, laugh often and “blow shit up” once in a while. – KC Film Office
“Rick was so unique, because not only was he a director and producer, he was an actor and a location manager,” says Kansas City Film Commissioner Stephane Scupham. “He was a champion for our industry, always advocating for it to be strong and to grow, for all the people in it to be working, and for all of these projects that we can have come to Kansas City.”
“When I first came back to start making films here, Rick was the key person I met to really help me in my travels,” according to Kevin Willmott, University of Kansas Film Professor and Oscar winning screen writer, “He was just a really great producer and more than anything a great friend. We talked every day about politics and race and religion and all the things that really mattered in life. It’s rare you get to find those people and it was a real honor to get to make films with him.”
