At long last, the results of agr’s “Snowboard Crap Census” are in. As of October 2008, there are precisely 94,326 shred film crews in North America. Staggering. And this figure doesn’t even include the hordes of camera toting tots in Uzbekistan. After analyzing the 94,326 produced films, we were shocked to find that there were only three different films produced. It seems that shred cinema has homogenized; regardless of locale, ability, demographic etc., film crews are all producing the same choppy-HD-tailblock-tweepop rich dribble.

Thank god for Ian Clark and Inc Productions.

All photos courtesy of Ian Clark and Inc. Productions.

We have had our eyes on Inc for a while, and recently had the privileged to get to know the fella behind Inc Productions.

Take note kids, Ian is doing it right…

agoodreed: Well shoot, where to begin. You’re in Oregon right?

Ian Clark: yep. La Grande, OR.

agr: Did your adventures begin in OR? What’s Ian’s story?
IC: Well, I was born in Portland, OR, and lived there only when I was pretty little. Then my parents decided to move to the other side of the state- it’s a little more sleepy over here. Lot’s of access to the environment, which is something that my parents thought was pretty important.

agr: I second that. I loveees granola and all that hippie goodness.
IC: It’s been good. Sometimes people knock this area a bit, but there’s a pretty cool little arts community, a university, my friends started Satellite Art Gallery–which one of the few contemporary art spaces in the area–so things are starting to happen all the time.

agr: Nice!
IC:…Not really a shredding epicenter though. But, there is some really good hiking along the Tolgate Hwy, and a resort here-Anthony Lakes-has super dry snow.

agr: Yeeeaa, I have heard about the ‘Lakes. real “mom-n-pop” place right?
IC: It’s definitely a “mom-and-pop” spot. I usually prefer places like that over mega-resorts. It’s just so much more fun because you feel like the exploration that you do with your friends is genuine- as if it hasn’t been done a thousand times over by locals at a place like Mammoth, for instance.

agr: Agreed. Good transition by the way…Let’s talk some art. What’s your background in art (film, photo, paint etc)?
IC: I’ve always had an interest in art, something too that my parents definitely helped nurture. As a kid, even at age three, I always remember drawing. Making marks on paper was really special to me. Back then though it was animals and super hero kinds of characters that I made up, pretty different from what I’m doing now with painting and drawing. But, that’s the foundation I suppose…

Where it starts: the drawing board.

agr: Nice, any dinosaur pictures?
IC: As for film, video, and photography, those were interests that began to develop in the early high school era. Back then too, most of the things that I filmed had to do with snowboarding as it was something that I was (and still am) super passionate about.
…yeah, dinosaurs too. did you rock the dino drawings as well?

agr: Ohhhhh yea man. dinos for days. So snowboarding introduced you to new mediums?
IC: Yeah, I suppose you could look at it that way. At that time though, I didn’t really consider shooting video or film as another medium to make art; it absolutely is though. It’s all image-making you know? Drawing, photography, painting, video, etc. It’s all just about presenting an idea to a viewer, most often a viewer that you’re hoping to get some kind of reaction out of.

agr: Well put.
IC: The cool thing about the time-based medium is that you can almost assess each frame as a single canvas or photo. That’s just kind of an interesting thought…
agr: Indeed. So does that mean film can convey more meaning than say a photo?
IC: Yes and no. In film it is multiple frames that are built up to create a theme or an idea that’s visible to the viewer; whereas something like photography relies solely on the holding-power of a single image. That’s where having a unique aesthetic and a strong ability to create composition would help. Though they’re both similar, each medium is different and has to be viewed in a different light. Although, my photography is so similar to my video work- at least as far as the themes and subjects go, the things that interest me.

Ian, gettin’ what’s to be got.

agr: Another good transition! Your “snowboard” films aren’t like any other snowboard films. Were you aware of this when you started these projects?
IC: Oh yeah. Basically, we’d do what any other group of friends would do in snowboarding, film throughout the winter, and then I would handle everything that had to do with post-production. Most snowboard films are boring to me, just cookie cutter bullshit. Something I don’t like seeing either is films that mimic the ” yeah, we’re all such goofy friends” theme that the Robot Food crew introduced. With those guys though, it was genuine. But, you can’t knock people for being friends and capturing that on film. So fuck it, who cares anyways.Love/Hate is a great film, and the Think Thank films are pretty original. Robot Food definitely opened the doors for a new kind of film. KidsKnow, Think Thank, ir77, First Kiss, and the original Neoproto film- those are some of my favorites.

agr: Agreed
IC: Man, I got sidetracked… back to the films that I was making. I felt that they were definitely tapping into a creative vein, something new. But unfortunately, the snowboard film-viewing community can be such a niche audience, so small, and just seeing in tunnel vision. People want hammers I suppose… that’s just boring to watch 40 minutes of for me.

agr: I feel the same way, but that is just because I can do all that double-quad-under-1800-spinny flippy shit. so it’s all played out. But seriousl,y I remember seeing the teaser for “recordings” and just being “whoa, what the hell was that.” I was intrigued. It was a new take on a”shred flick.”
I loved it.
IC: Thanks man. That’s really cool. I loved reading the message boards on Transworld for those teasers.

agr: Oh yeaa. Those kids are a hoot. Was “recordings” the only snowboard release that you did? No there was Primary Colors. Damn. I blew it.
IC: Nope. I’ve actually made four, but, none of them ever had any kind of distribution so most people would never know. The two films people would likely recognize would be Primary Colors and Recordings. Before that though, there was Balance (2004) and The Union (2005). The good old days… haha. Those were fun times, lots of good friends back in Montana.

Screen-shot from “Pool Room.”

Man, we would spend so much time at this joint. Just look at it–solid gold. We would waltz in there, grab a cool Green River soda and shoot the shit for days.

agr: Hell yea! Those Montana kids are the real deal. I love em. They are wild.
IC: All of those films though were definitely pursuing a combination of artistic themes with the shred. Usually a 50/50 split.There’s some kids that shred and there’s some kooks…
agr: True, true.

Stay tuned for more with Ian…