​Three-time documentary challenge finalists make “A Perfect Record”

For the third consecutive year, local filmmakers Greg Carlson and Tucker Lucas have made the top 12 of the International Documentary/Film Fusion Challenge (IDC), an annual contest for short format documentary films. This year, they placed for their seven-minute documentary, “A Perfect Record,” featuring Fargo Record Fair founder Dean Sime.

Carlson is an associate professor in the Communication Studies and Theatre Art department at Concordia College and is also the director of film studies.

Lucas is features producer at Rush Street Productions where he works on the show “Poker Night in America,” broadcast every Monday evening on the CBS Sports Network. In addition to television production and filmmaking, Lucas is also an ensemble member with Theatre B.

The subject of Carlson and Lucas’ seven-minute film, “A Perfect Record,” is Dean Sime, a local vinyl record collector, who founded and organizes the Fargo Record Fair. The film also features Sime’s partner, librarian Lori West. "Dean and Lori are longtime friends and I had secretly wanted to make a short movie about them for years,” Carlson says. “Dean's musical knowledge and his devotion to the Fargo Record Fair made our team look good. Honestly, I could have listened to Dean talk about his favorite records for hours and hours."

Carlson sees the IDC as “a place to see some really terrific nonfiction storytelling in the short format. Before I competed, I regularly watched IDC movies that made the finals. Some of them are as good as any features you would see in a theater."

This is Carlson and Lucas’s third collaboration for the IDC. In 2014, "The Hammer and the Axe" got third in the Audience Awards in the International Documentary Challenge. In this short documentary, a master blacksmith and his apprentice learn from one another at a "red-hot forge on the ice-cold prairie." In 2015, Lucas and Carlson's "Libero, Middle, Right," about college volleyball players, again made the top 12 in the challenge.

Making the top 12 is an accomplishment. “I feel really honored to be a three-time top-12 finalist,” Carlson says. “The reality is that rejection happens far more than acceptance.”

Both Carlson and Lucas have been making films since they were kids. “I started when I was a little kid when I played with my parents’ VHS camcorder,” Lucas says. “It wasn't until I took Greg Carlson's video production class in 1999 at Trollwood that I discovered I wanted to do this forever.”

Carlson has made movies since his teens: “My first attempts were mostly edit-in-the-camera abstractions with my friends but the first ‘real’ Super 8mm motion picture I made was an homage to John Waters called ‘Seafoam Green.’ An innocent jogger is flashed in the park by a young woman wearing a trench coat and Stormtrooper helmet."

Lucas and Carlson agree that making documentaries requires more work on the editing and post production side of the process. As Carlson explains, “A lot of heavy lifting for documentaries happens in the edit since you can't script everything that might be collected during the shoot. Even if you have a really strong sense of the story, when you make a documentary some of that story is going to reveal itself in post production in ways that don't happen with fictional narrative."

As with any film project, it takes a dedicated team. “I love working with really talented people like Tucker and all the members of our group. I learn something new every time we collaborate,” Carlson says.

The team for “A Perfect Record” includes the subjects: Dean Sime, Lori West, Oliver Sime and Quincy Sime as the “Family of Record.” Greg Carlson directed and produced the film, while Tucker Lucas edited and produced. Matt McGregor is director of photography. Justin Kavlie and Preston Johnson did the cinematography. Aaron Baker did the sound and Kensie Wallner did the still photography. Colin Holter provided the music, and Amber Morgan and Reilly Myklebust were production assistants.

If you get a chance to view “A Perfect Record,” I highly recommend it. It showcases a true passion for music, and you might get some listening recommendations — including Modern Lovers, Built to Spill and even Conway Twitty. I agree with Lucas in his assertion: “You'll want to put on some of your favorite records after you see it.”