Art+Practice Recommendation: "Lucid Inc."

This week Art+Practice recommends a collection of award-winning short documentaries and an ongoing web series, from Lucid Inc., that showcase fascinating people and places in America.

Probably the group's most popular, “The Roper” is a six-minute portrait of Kendrick Domingue: an African-American calf-roper trying to qualify for the Las Vegas National Rodeo Finals. Artfully shot, edited, and scored “The Roper” is a must see for fans of short films that delve into the lives of interesting people.

Lucid’s films are even more impressive when one learns that they are self-financed by Anna Sandilands and Ewan McNicol, the films’ co-directors. To do this, the pair run a successful ad agency that works with high-profile clients like Nike, Nokia, Dentsu, and Blackberry. However, unlike most ad agencies, which put profit before passion, Lucid continues to make both interesting ads and beautiful films that are truly inspired. 

Another example is Lucid's portrait of "Harrold Little": owner of a model train museum in Tyler, Texas, with over 2,500 items that can be seen behind glass cases or inside miniature villages where the trains whistle their way through tunnels, over bridges, and around the miniature landscapes created by Little.

Or check out our personal favorite, "Bavarianism": a short film on Leavenworth, Washington, with a population of around 2,000 people. To save the once busy logging town from economic disaster, Leavenworth transformed itself into a unique tourist destination by modeling its town center on a Bavarian Village. The people, so it seems, then followed suit.