Says McDowall, “Rick has a strong and entertaining inclination for fascinating conversation and his pleasant laid-back demeanour when storytelling is always so interesting and witty while going the extra mile. The intergenerational jazz family life ordinary to Rick became extraordinary as the stories and jokes within the film unfolded.

Tales about the late saxophonist Michael Brecker on the New York City loft scene emerged with highlights on the family jams with Wes Montgomery and Howard Roberts, and his early encounter with bassist Scott LaFaro.”

“I knew I had an in-depth film to be made going through the many photos and old film footage with Rick, and many interesting stories surfaced within the film editing. A very special and satisfying moment for me as a musician and director of the film was when Rick emphasized, ‘The pursuit of music is basically the pursuit of oneself…a very spiritual undertaking, ’  says the director.

“And I agreed with him, the mood of the short film In the Zone: Rick Kilburn is that of inspiration, yet it honours family, and jazz music tradition,” adds McDowall.

McDowall says, “Kilburn speaks as a master musician about using the self while performing as a vehicle for spirit, and that just makes sense. He’s also an impressive golfer, music producer, disciplined bassist, and composer/arranger.”

“I will be doing the research to venture into funding feature film-making. I am hoping to start with this by 2028, due to jazz album release projects currently in discussion and planning with Vancouver Island jazz producer Luigi Porretta of Quadwrangle Music. I hope to release my two upcoming new jazz album projects, Way, and Down the Mountain, from 2026-2027 leading a new jazz sextet, then release my first feature film. ” says the guitarist-film director.

“The response has been very enthusiastic. The film festival audiences really related to the film well, it brought an upbeat story to the world during the difficult time of the pandemic. They loved the film, especially in Asia,” says McDowall.

“I was completely overwhelmed and surprised when my phone would not stop dinging constantly for 3 years after I made the film. I had not expected that, nobody had warned me that could happen, and I had no office staff or VAs to handle it for me. It took a lot to settle that down, there was a lot of global interest, and the messages were happening 24 hours a day, I even had about 500 messages within 2 hours on Christmas one year after making a Facebook comment about how much I loved the late sitarist Ravi Shankar,” says McDowall. “I settled down the intensity of the messaging and email requests by withdrawing from social media for about a year and not posting about the film.”

“Yet, I am absolutely very grateful for the international and Nanaimo community’s support in recent years of my film and creative work. I was truly honoured with my late mother Stephanie McDowall to be nominated by the Nanaimo-Ladysmith community for the King Charles III Coronation Medal for community volunteerism. I was just thrilled by that. I was so inspired by the award recipients, many of whom had volunteered giving back to the community for over 50 to 60 years,” says McDowall.

Kerilie McDowall is seeking an investor to finish up her short film’s post-production. The guitarist-film director was offered a distribution deal by a major Hollywood aggregator last March but was advised by a film industry expert not to pursue that deal. As an educator herself, she would like to go forward with an educational distribution deal for youth instead and has already received excellent positive feedback from college instructors who have shown the short film to their students.

Film-making requires patience, and McDowall would like to finish up the post-production of In the Zone: Rick Kilburn to completion with distribution.