All language subtitles for The Million Dollar Duck 2016 documentário dir Brian Davis

I've been painting windows
since I was 15.

So, 36 years.

I've painted as many
as 150 stores

in a single
month and a half.

I do signs.
I even do vinyl signs.

I paint murals.

And I'm paid a lot of money
painting Santa Claus.

So I'm actually
in the art field,

but I'm not doing
what I really wanna do.

The ideal goal--
just like the waiter
wants to be an actor--

is to actually just paint
what you wanna paint.

I had seen "Wildlife Art"
magazine

and it had
an article in there

about this contest
where you could win
a million dollars.

So I thought,
"Well, that's what
I wanna do.

I wanna enter that."

But I didn't know
a thing about ducks.

There's definitely
something funny about ducks.

They're just
funny animals.

So tell people
you paint ducks for a living,

you get a whole range
of reactions.

The maintenance guys
would walk by

and watch me and they say,
"What are you doing, man,

sitting in the mall
in the middle of the night

painting a duck?"

I said, "I'm entering
a duck stamp contest."

"A what?"

I would liken it to, like,
winning "American Idol."

Being center stage
on a national level.

This is, like,
the Super Bowl

or the World Cup
of wildlife art.

The Federal
is the big kahuna.

There's no other thing
in an artist's life

that brings
the prestige

like winning
the Duck Stamp.

This is the greatest prize

in wildlife art.

What we had heard
is that if you win

the Federal Duck Stamp,
you become a millionaire.

I tried to come up
with some taglines

that would make
people's ears perk up.

When I started
going around the country

and saying, "If you can
paint ducks, you can earn
a million bucks,"

people got
more interested.

There's not that many
Duck Stamp winners.

There's this handful
of entries.

All of them
could be the stamp.

They could all
be the stamp.

But there can only be
one stamp.

When European settlers
first arrived in America,

they told stories
of ducks so great in number

that they would
black out the sky.

But by the 20th century,

punt guns,
feathered hats,

and unregulated
market hunting

began to drastically reduce
their population.

This decline
reached a boiling point

when drought,
dredging,

and unsustainable
farming practices

created the man-made
environmental catastrophe

known as the Dust Bowl.

With the wetlands
drained,

the ducks had no place
to land or feed

during their migration

and the Great Plains
soon became a mass graveyard

for migratory birds,

raising the question--

how do we
protect birds from man?

From the dust

emerged an unlikely hero
for the ducks.

Ding Darling,
a political cartoonist

who drew scathing works

that highlighted the plight
of American waterfowl.

FDR, a target of many
of Ding's cartoons,

appointed him to the Bureau
of Biological Survey

with a challenge--
"Let's see if you
can do better."

Ding rose
to the challenge

by passing
the 1934 Duck Stamp Act,

a law that required
every waterfowl hunter

to purchase
a federal stamp

for their hunting license.

Armed with the stamps'
revenue,

Ding began to buy, lease,
and maintain wetland habitat

and gave birth
to what we now call

the National Wildlife
Refuge System.

Ding had saved the ducks
from extinction

while forging
an indelible bond

between art
and conservation.

The early years of the stamp

were designed
by commissioned artists.

But in the 1940s,

the selection processes
opened up to the public

in the form
of a nationwide art contest.

And this is where
things get inherently
more interesting.

In 2001, I joined
the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Six years later,
I joined the Federal
Duck Stamp office.

It's Migratory-Bird Hunting
and Conservation Stamp,

but it's commonly known
as the "Duck Stamp."

It's a 7x10 painting.

It has to be hand-drawn.

It has to be the work
of the artist.

It also has to be
one of five species.

selected for
that year's contest.

The million-dollar stamp

it's a rumor.

A lot of people thought

the government gave
a big bag of money

for winning the contest.
We don't.

There is no monetary prize
from the government.

What the artist can do

is license
the art image

and they can put that
on coffee mugs,

T-shirts,
limited edition art prints.

They can make a million
or more dollars

from selling their art.

The type of people
that enter

are very passionate
about wildlife.

They're very passionate
about art.

Some are more passionate
than others.

It's a duck stamp shirt.

This is
the duck stamp contest.

I've seen
temper tantrums.

It's this little
microcosm of people

and they wanna see this
as the big goal.

"This is it.
This is the one
I'm gonna win."

I go to great lengths
every year

to try
to get my work done

and get out
of New Jersey

and come out here
to South Dakota

and just spend time working
on my painting out here.

What comes out first,
the front?

I've been going to
the Duck Stamp competition

since 1995

and you get to be friendly
with all these people.

You see them
every year.

And I met Adam

and even though he's
17 years younger
than me,

we just hit it off
right away.

We hold the same views
on most things

and-- and
on artwork, too.

Adam
I wasn't happy
at art college.

I didn't like being
around people that thought
so differently

and I really felt like
it was a waste of money.

My parents
didn't want me to be

some starving artist
living in their basement.

They said, "The only way
we would support you leaving
the college early

is, like, if you won
the Federal Duck Stamp."

That was the year
that I won.

My new goal is to try
to win it again,
you know?

And I don't wanna be
a one-hit wonder.

We decided to try
to just go on a quest

in search
of canvasbacks.

We're gonna look
in every puddle,

every lake,

every pond

until we find them.

It's amazing.
A lot of people consider this
fly-over country.

To me, this is, like,

some of the best
our country has to offer.

It's just incredible.

It's almost desolate,

but yet
it's teeming with life.

I think
there's a good chance
we will find canvasbacks.

I don't know that there's
a very good chance

that we'll be able
to actually

get on them
to photograph them well.

I mean, it's one thing
to find them.

It's a whole other thing

to really
get everything to work right

to where
it all comes together.

When I'm getting ready
to paint the duck stamp,

I will choose
my species,

then I go out and take
as many photos as I can.

That's half of the fun
if not more of the fun.

Well, I have drawn
as long as I can remember.

It runs in the family
a little bit.

A friend of mine was working
in an animal shelter

and somebody
had dumped three puppies

about 10 months old,
and Hallie was one of 'em.

There was just
something between us
from the beginning.

Something I probably
can't even explain.

This is special.

I was teaching her
tricks

and she really
enjoyed it.

And it was February
and it was snowing out

and she was bored
and I thought,

"Well, I'm gonna teach you
something new and different."

- Yes.

Here you go.

Just a minute.
Just a minute.

I introduced
the brush to her.

Probably within a week or so,
she was picking it up

and she seemed
to really enjoy it

and she thought
it was a lot of fun.

So we just kept going.

Come on, baby.
Come on!

Good girl.

Two months later,
she suddenly went blind
overnight.

She was fine one day.
I didn't even see it coming.

The next day,
she was walking into walls

and couldn't find food
I threw on the floor.

Um, it was
very obvious she,
you know, couldn't see at all.

She actually
was very depressed

for about four
or five months.

She would sit and cry
and she'd shake if we'd
go anywhere.

And, um, about,

I don't know,
maybe six months later,

she started
coming out of it
and wanting to do things.

So one day,
I sat her down

next to her paintbrush

and I was
really shocked.

She reached over,
picked it up, and just
started painting.

- Atta girl. Atta girl.
- Didn't miss a beat.

Yeah, good job.
Good, Hallie.

Good job.
There you go.

Good girl.

There you go.

There.
Good girl!

That's pretty,
Hallie.

And she was doing
so many paintings,

I thought
it would be nice

to start trying
to sell them

and donate
to dog rescue.

And the local newspaper
picked the story up.

Then it went viral
on the Internet

and I don't know
how that happened.

Right after that,
there were, like,
a million orders

and I was like,
"What's going on
with this?"

I thought I had
a pretty good year
last year with my art,

but my blind dog
sold more art than I did.

I figure at this point,

I'm gonna have to win
the Federal Duck Stamp contest

to get my name back.

I love
the cinnamon teal

and it actually is the one
I chose this year.

What I try to portray
in my entry

is a duck
with attitude,

noble-looking.

2010,
that was the year

my entry actually got
into the last round.

I learned a lot from that,
you know?

Newspaper, it said it looked
like a kind of duck

you would like to see
in the crosshairs
of your rifle

and I thought,
"Oh, no!"

But-- but that's the kind
of look, you know,

one that looks
very robust

and good eatin',
I guess.

If I was to win
the Duck Stamp,

the biggest thing
would be the accomplishment

after so many years
of entering.

Just the excitement
of winning

and finally
getting there.

Marge
Oh, yeah, it looks pretty good.

- What do we got here, Arby's?
- Uh-huh.

How's the paintin'
goin'?

Pretty good.

I found out
the Hautmans

are entering
a painting this year.

Aw, hon', you're
better than them.

The Hautman brothers,
all three of them

are tremendous artists.

If there's more
than one in the contest,
it's a scary year.

Jim
I guess they called us
the "Duck Dynasty"

before the TV show
came out.

The "New York Yankees
of wildlife art."

I'm not
a big Yankees fan.

I'd rather be
the "Minnesota Twins
of wildlife art,"

although they don't win
very much.

My introduction to art,
I guess,

that's before
I even remember.

I just grew up
in an artistic family.

My mom was
a professional artist.

I go to my mom's
on Tuesdays every week

and we paint.

I 'member Dad
talkin' about

entering the Federal
Duck Stamp.

Did you ever think
about entering it
way back in the day?

Well, I was afraid
I might beat him out.

She was a great teacher.

We'd bring
our work to her

and show her
what we were doing

and she'd always
tell us what to do.

And still,
she's 90 and we bring
our paintings over

and have her
critique 'em.

Well, this is my dad's
duck stamp collection.

He started
collecting 'em

the first year
they were out.

I think it was 1935.

Maybe because
it was one of the few things
that he actually collected,

you know,
as a kid you go,

"Well, what's so important
about these things?"

Or, "What's so
interesting?"

This was the first stamp
that Jim won,

which was 1989.

I think the Hautmans
are just really
great artists, you know?

It's like they--
and they have each other
to rely on

for critique and input,
and that's huge.

So those guys are magical.
I mean, they're not only good,

but they seem to have
an innate sense

of what the judges
wanna see.

But the fact that it's only
a one-Hautman year,

it makes it easier.

Every year,
I think I have a chance
or I wouldn't enter,

but this year,
neither of my brothers
are eligible

'cause once you win,
you sit out for three years.

So that's two people
out of it

that had the best chance
of winning.

I make my coffee,

fill a thermos,

come out here,

get all my e-mail
and Internet stuff done

while I'm waiting
for ducks,

and then I just
take duck photos.

- It's very relaxing.

Well, you definitely
see things

when you're out
photographing

or just watching ducks
that stick in your head.

I just want
to win the contest.
That's my goal--

to do the best
painting I can.

I got a ways to go
to catch up with my brothers

because I'm two behind.

He's won it two times

and, you know, most people
don't ever win it at all.

I'd say he would definitely
be a favorite.

You know, I don't think
there's anybody

who I would fear
competing against more
than him in the contest.

I'm Rob McBroom.

I've been entering
the Duck Stamp competition--

now this will be
the 13th year.

I work at Amphetamine
Reptile Records

and then I also work
at the Minneapolis
Institute of Arts

as security.

I like
cartoon-based art

and I enjoy
the surrealists

My artwork
has a lot of glitter

and rhinestones

and glow-in-the-dark
aspects to it.

Nothing at all
what they're looking for.

This was the 2000 entry
of ruddy ducks.

It was right at the cusp

of when logos were starting
to come into my work.

I wasn't sure
if they were gonna
accept it or not.

When I got in
the competition, I'm like,

"Well, this is pretty good.
Let's keep going
on this."

This was the year
I took a pornographic film

and then went to
a Morse code translator.

And every dot
and dash in there

spells out the monologue
that some lady was giving

as she was having
something done to her.

This one also has
my friend Tabitha,

who's... "Rr-ow!"

So I used--
I had just met her

and so I put her
in the mountain range.

She was kind of a muse
for a few years there.

2011, oh!

You know what this is?

2011 was the mallards.

Two mallards,
actually.

I thought, "Well, I bet
nobody's ever done that scene

of them copulating
before."

One of the
duck stamp guys

paints windows
for the holidays and stuff,

like, you know,
of businesses, laundromats
or restaurants.

So I went to it
and I took his Santa Claus

and I put that
in there.

This was the year
I started taking shots.

Rob McBroom
is a guy who enters
the Duck Stamp every year

and every year,
he violates the rules.

He breaks every rule
of the contest

and he's really
just an attention-seeker.

I don't know if we need
to talk about Tim Taylor.

He's, uh-- he and I
have never directly
confronted each other.

Uh, he has taken
to bad-mouthing me
on the Internet a bit.

He's found this contest

that people take
very seriously

and the contestants
worked really hard
on their entries

and he mocks it.

He does paintings
that mock it.

Here's the first one
that I found about me.

I never said a bad word
about his artwork.

It just doesn't belong
in this contest.

But he obviously
read that

and took
great offense to it.

What I decided to do
was him and one other guy--

I started recreating
their work,

their kind of
"greatest hits"
as it were,

using my own style.

This is about
as close as you can get

to Tim's original without
actually knowing the size.

And it's completely
built from scratch.

This is the piece of work
that Rob McBroom

took off
of the Internet
to "abstract."

The little bits
I've learned about him,

I'm like,
"Okay, he obviously
hates Barack Obama

and he hates Communism,

so I decided
to load it up
with imagery with that.

Here's Barack Obama's
birth certificate

that he released.

Here's the eye
of the duck,

which is
the Communist symbol.

There's other things
in here,

like, he's holding a baby
at a christening,

and then I put Lenin's head
on top of it.

And then there's
some of his other pieces

that didn't do so well
in the competitions

that he doesn't like.

So there's
an old surf scoter

that he had, uh--
that he was unhappy with.

So that went in there.

I was alternately--

I thought it was funny,

then I was
a little angry about it,

then I didn't care.

I'm his big villain

and I didn't even know
I was his villain.

And nobody cares.

I wonder if the guy's ever
actually seen a duck.

I've got about 15, 20 hours
in this already.

I've got about
another 20 to 30 to go.

The legs
are changed now.

They're kicking out
because I have to work

with the sabers
on the Oakland Raiders thing.

Tim Taylor
likes the Raiders.

I've been tweaking
certain things there

just to go, "Ha ha,
this was something
you used to enjoy

and I'm using it now."

Even the detractors

they, uh-- they haven't
faulted my technical skill.

So that's nice.
It's not like they're going,

"Oh, this thing's
a giant piece of crap."

It just doesn't belong

anywhere near
what they have goin' on.

I would prefer to be
a full-time artist,

but that's not something
I can just go do.

I drive around the roads
delivering mail

and, I mean, it takes
probably about five hours

to drive the route.

I don't mind
carrying mail at all

because now I know the route,
so I don't have to think
about anything.

It's just--
you just drive

and pretty much
just do whatever you want

as long as you
get the mail delivered.

For me, the Federal
Duck Stamp painting

is supposed to be
the best representation

of the breed.

I chose the mallard

because I have
really good reference photos
to work from.

The biggest disadvantage
of the mallard

is that it's so common
that everybody wants
to do one.

And so you--

your mallard painting
has to stand out

among all
of the other mallards.

They have sort of
a wild look

and-- which is really hard
to capture.

Bob
Ever since Rebekah
was really young--

four, five years old--
she's always just sat at
the table doin' art.

It started occurring
to Janice and me,

you know,
you could tell

that she was
drawing stuff that,
you know, I'd go,

"You know, I wouldn't
draw that like that."

Just really
creative stuff.

Susan
I guess she was, like,
about 13 or so.

Her mom
brought her over here

and I kind of
got her involved in
the Junior Duck Stamp

and that's kind of
where it all started.

I didn't really know
that I could paint

until I entered
the Junior Duck Stamp
contest.

I worked on it
all spring.

Then I got first place
in my age group

and then best of show
for the state.

She calls me
on the phone

and she goes,
"I won the nationals!

I won the Duck Stamp!"

The Junior Duck Stamp contest
changed my life.

It was a lot bigger of a deal
than I thought it was

and it just made me wanna
keep entering

and then, you know,
once I learned about
the Federal

and how much
of a bigger deal that is,

it's like this thing
that you wanna spend
your life pursuing.

The only time I've ever
lived away from home

was during the summer
when it was only
an hour away.

So I'm kind of ready

to have my own place

and it doesn't
really matter to me
where it is.

Mr.
She's hoping that something
will happen, you know,

as far as direction
in her life.

It's like a lot of--
a lot of young people
are right now.

Entering the Duck Stamp
is like

entering the lottery
or something.

I mean, it's
a pretty big thing,
you know, if I win

and it's
my entire career.

You know,
my name will be

on the list of people
who have won the Duck Stamp

and that list isn't ever
gonna be forgotten.

Thank you
for calling Sam Houston.
This is Rita.

Let me check
on that for you.
Give me just one second.

Excuse me, Bob,

do you have an RW1
plate block of six
available?

- No.
- No? Not right now?

- Okay.
- Tell them it's
only in my dreams.

Okay.

We do not have one
in stock at this time.

I'm probably the biggest
duck stamp dealer

in the world.

It is a--
a disease of sorts

to start collecting
this stuff.

The other stamps,
they're nice.

There's so many
of them.

The duck stamps,

they're special.

When you can see
the duck's eyes

and you can see the--

the patches
on its wing of color

and identify
what that duck is

in one-inch size,
that's skill.

Since the duck stamps
are not used to mail a letter,

they aren't considered
a postage stamp

in the classic
philatelic sense.

But many of those classic
U.S. collectors,

they're secret
duck collectors

because everybody
likes a duck stamp.

They realize that
it's the longest-continuing
series of stamps

that's ever been issued
by the United States--

probably any country--

and just all
the good work it does.

Richard
When I was a kid,
I just tried

to collect
every stamp on earth

till I hit
about 16 years old

and I had to buy
my first duck stamp to hunt.

First stamp,
I looked at it

and I'm like,
"This is it."

And I never touched
another stamp

other than duck stamps
since that day.

This artwork--
some of the most

interesting content
you have out there.

And, you know,
over the years,

I became more interested
in the artists themselves.

It's a very interesting
little world.

It really is.

We saw a lot of birds
on this lake

and we're just trying
to get set up

and try to fool some
into good photo range.

We both wanna do
canvasbacks,

but since Adam is
the main photographer,

whatever he chooses,
after that

I'll-- I get
the second pick.

You're gonna get to choose
from all the crummy ones.

Should I throw any
off the left here, Adam?

Yeah, you could
throw some out here.

I really enjoy Tim.

He's like
the kind of friend
that, you know,

"Oh, oh,
you're moving?
Oh, I'll drive out

and help you guys
pack up your stuff,"
you know?

He's that kind
of a friend.

I didn't have
the camera equipment

to be set up and shoot
like Adam does,

so I figured I'd start
gettin' birds moving.

I've got it.

So I became a bird
rustler.

Yo!

Yo!

Get up!
Come on!

It's a lot of effort
to drive up here

and to set up all this stuff
and get up at00
in the morning.

If they're
just gonna sit there
complacent,

we can't deal with that,
so I gotta get them moving.

Yo!

Go, go, go!

- Here we go!
- I just get 'em
up in the air

and hopefully they come
into Adam's decoys over there.

- Don't go that way!

There's
a canvasback circling.

I know a lot of guys

go to, like, aviaries
and that kind of stuff,

and I actually
really prefer

- using wild birds only.

You really get to
experience the birds
in their natural habitat

and that's--
that goes a long way.

I think it translates
into your artwork.

These areas
are really critical

to waterfowl
population levels.

Without these,
you wouldn't have the ducks

like you're seeing here
right now.

I think there's
good government

and then there's
a lot of bad government.

And the Duck Stamp program
is one of the best ideas

the government
has ever really had.

The program generates
$25 million a year.

98 cents
on the dollar

that you spend
on that stamp

goes straight
on the ground for
purchasing wetlands.

It cannot be used
for anything else.

Waterfowl, they have this
marvelous

annual massive migration.

And so our job
is to make sure

they have the wetlands
and grasslands that they need

to be successful breeders.

You can imagine
where this conversation goes.

"Collecting money
for what?"

For wetlands
to preserve waterfowl.

And then some people say,
"Wait a minute, you're
a hunter.

Isn't that, you know--
isn't that a contradiction?"

And I say, "Of course
it's not a contradiction."

I mean, hunters
care about the land.

We care about the birds.
We gotta preserve them

so we have them to hunt.

The hunters
have been carrying

the weight of this stamp
for 80 years now.

It's the same the way
that you do something

with people
who cut down trees.

They replant and within
another hundred years

you'll have
another forest there.

It is for the protection
of not only waterfowl,

but more than 700 species
across the nation.

Robert
Nobody would buy
a salamander stamp

or a speckled toad stamp.

But they'll buy
a duck stamp.

And when they take
that money

and they buy
all these thousands
of acres of wetlands

and protect them,

all those
little creatures

come under
that umbrella.

That's one thing--
I'm so proud I'm part
of this.

And it-- it almost
makes me emotional.

...kinda like
a mulberry tree.

- Oh, yeah?
- They turn kind of purple.

Having grown up
with my father

who loved nature
and wildlife and hunting
and that stuff,

he, you know,
as soon as I was
old enough,

he started
taking me with him.

I would walk through
the woods, you know,

and usually carry
my little BB gun
or something,

shooting at leaves
and that kind of stuff.

But, you know, I was always
really intrigued.

I was drawing
a lot of typical things

that boys like to draw--
the monsters,

dragons, cars--
I mean, you name it.

I was-- I loved
all that stuff, too.

But I kinda
kept getting bored
with each thing.

There was always
this element of nature.

When I drew that stuff,

it's like
I never tired of it.

Dee
I've always enjoyed
doing realistic art.

I've tried to do
a little bit more looser,

impressionistic art
when-- when forced.

And I tried
to enjoy it.

I appreciate it
when other people
do it well,

but I don't get
the satisfaction
out of it

as I do every hair,
every feather detail.

Abstract painting

is the realm
of the intellectuals.

Realistic painting,
realistic duck stamps

are people
who have invested

most of their lives
in observing the wildlife,

learning how to become
a painter.

There's no shortcut

to being good.

I can go back in fields
and in the woods

and I see
a lot of wildlife.

I'll see some things

that I just can't wait
to go back

and paint for, like,
three or four hours
at a time.

I don't know how else
to describe it.

I always like
seeing birds

and how they act
and how they fly.

I remember
seeing mallards

fly by really close

against this
yellow grass background
with the sun on 'em.

That's one
of the duck memories

that's really engraved
in my mind.

I just have
this vision in my head

that I'd like to try
and recreate.

After going through
all the photos, trying out
some sketches

and ideas and stuff,

I'm up in the air
personally

between these two.

I think both of them
could have a lot
of potential.

Hey, guys!
Do you wanna
come see these?

I wanna see what one
you like the best.

I like the cattails
in that one

and I also like
the geese in that one.

- I probably wouldn't
put the geese in.
- Yeah.

- Kinda weird there.
- I probably-- they were
actually, like,

in the background,
like, when I was kinda
piecing it together.

I just didn't
take 'em out.

The geese are actually
kind of cool in it.

- Hannah.
- But I like that the most.

I thought I could put,

like, a big dead tree
back here, too,

- or something like that.
- That would be
kind of weird.

- No.
- It'd be
almost too much.

- - Okay.
- Janet - I don't
like that idea.

Everybody's
a critic.

It's not like he picks up
his paintbrush

and says, "Oh, I think
I'll paint this"

and he whips it out
in a few weeks.

It's months
of planning.

I guess sometimes
I think,

"Why do you do this?
Why do you put yourself
through this?"

I won in '99,

so it's been
quite a while

and she never knew me
when I won.

Her whole experience
has been me working
really hard,

struggling,
spending months
on a painting

and then seeing it
shot down.

Last year, like,
I just crashed and burned.

A lot of people
really liked my entry
last year.

Um, not the judges.

It's our, you know--
our livelihood.

We depend on him.
He has all of us
depending on him.

It's not a hobby

and sometimes
it gets, you know,
a little disheartening,

but, you know,
I'm behind him whatever
he wants to do.

And as long
as he wants to enter,

he's gonna enter.

Janet and I
actually talked about,
you know,

is the art gonna be enough
to sustain us?

You know, like,
should I start
looking into

the possibility
of another line of work

or, you know,
something else to do?

I mean, things have
been really difficult
for us recently

and, you know,
it's like with three
little mouths to feed,

um, and they look
at you, you know,

and-- it's hard.

You know, with art, you're
investing basically
in yourself

and you don't know
if those investments
are gonna pay off.

It's gotta be the best
that you can make it

and then you just
have to hope

that the rest is gonna
fall into place.

I hate when I lose.

I feel like
I let my family down.

Go.

Right now,
I am trying to learn

to shoot guns.

The first few times,
I don't hit anything,

and then
as I keep shooting, I start,

- you know, getting better.

I just like the feeling
of success after practicing.

That goes
with everything I do.

Go.

- - ...looks like it's
going down into the grass.
- - Oh, okay.

Rebekah's kind of young

and she has
a whole future ahead of her
in art, I believe.

She has seemed
to have exploded so fast.

It needs to be,
like, really clean.

Like, just really crisp,
clean lines.

Yeah, I-- I was...

Well, this has been
the first year

that Rebekah has really ever
critiqued my work.

I've always
been the teacher
and she's the student.

But I think she's
a lot more confident

and I'm glad
she's doin' it

because she has got
a lot of good insight.

You know, at this age,

I can't believe
how she paints.

I just really can't believe
how well she does.

Coming up
with that special entry,

it's-- it's almost
an obsession.

I know that I'm
capable of winning,

so I'm just
gonna keep trying

and eventually I will,
hopefully,

if I live long enough.

Both the times I won,

I thought I had
a pretty good chance.

When it comes down
to the very end

and you've been
looking at it for
a long time,

you're never
really sure,

but you have
a pretty good idea

if it's gonna be
in the top 20 or so.

I'm starting to get
a little bit nervous.

I've got quite a bit
to go.

I don't think
that any single element

in this painting
is done

except for maybe
this background water
up here.

I mean,
I'm getting there.

Nowhere near
as far as Adam is.

I'm happy with it

and I feel like
I'm a pretty tough critic

of my own artwork.

It always helps
when other people
seem to like it.

You know, I know my wife
likes this one a lot

and some friends of mine
seem to like it.

It's a classical kind

of duck stamp-feeling
design.

Dee
I always hate to predict
what my chances are

because
I'm usually wrong.

If I think, "Ooh,
I did pretty good
this year,"

it usually places lower
than when I think,

"Oh, I shouldn't even
have entered."

I think this year
I like the composition.

We'll see
how it goes from here.

It turned out
pretty well.

It's along the lines
of what I thought it would

in my mind's eye
when I first came up
with the concept.

I was a little concerned
that all the holographic
Mylar gift bag

would be
too distracting,

but I don't think so.

I would say my percentage
of winning this year,

well, you can't have
less than 0%,

but it's pretty close
to that.

All I can say
is I feel really good
about my entry.

I feel like I have
a better chance this year

than I have any
of the previous years
I've entered.

It does feel really good
to be done with it.

I like to send it out
on the last day

'cause I just feel like

it usually ends up
kind of in the middle
of the pack somewhere.

And that's more
where I like to be

'cause most people
seem to be like Tim

where they wait to, like,
the last possible second
to send it out, so...

Yeah, but we've--

we've sent ours out
on the same day.

You've just been
done before me.

Right, right.

Federal Duck Stamp office.
Vivian speaking.

How may I assist you?

That's really amazing.

- But it still smells strong.

So there are 136 pieces
that have arrived

and we expect
a larger shipment
this afternoon.

Rob McBroom has been entering
for many years now.

I have to say that
it is the most unique piece,

and as far as artwork
is concerned,

- it makes my brain work.
- Mm.

Vivian
It's really interesting
to see everyone's perception

of what they believe
should go on a stamp.

Some of them have blues
and greens and purples

and some have these darker,
very fall palette colors.

Well, it's super exciting
to think

about the fact
that one of these paintings
in these crates

will be the winner.

The Federal Duck Stamp
contest this year

will be at Maumee Bay
State Park,

which is
in Oregon, Ohio,

and it's a beautiful location
right up on Lake Erie.

Duck stamp people are real.

They like
the excitement of it.

They like
the beauty of it.

Once you get into
this incestuous little bunch

of painters
and stamp collectors

and get all caught up
into this bird's nest

of happiness.

Myself as a child...

down on the banks
of the Great Miami River

fishing with my granddad

and the ducks
were coming through.

We were sitting still
on the bank

and they floated
right in front of us

and Grandpa said,
"Wow, look at that."

You know,
at the end of the day,

those are some
of the only things you're
gonna take with you in life.

Mamie
Well, I worked for the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service

for almost 30 years.

They asked me
if I would be a judge

and at first I said no.

'Cause I knew that it would
be very difficult to do.

I had one judge
say to me last year,
he said,

"But I don't wanna
disappoint anybody."

And I said,
"When you come down to it,

they're all gonna be
disappointed except
for one."

Larry
And you're gonna have
the opportunity

to, in this first round
of judging,

look at each entry
individually

and in this first round
vote in or out.

The actual regulations say

you're looking
at the anatomical accuracy,

you're looking
at the artistic composition,

and you're looking
at the suitability

for being printed
on a stamp.

Hang in there
and stick to your guns,

somebody goes
storming out of
the auditorium.

Absolutely,
it has happened before
that they do get upset

and they, you know,
pfft-- out of the room.

It is truly an honor
to be here today

and thank you for coming
to be part of the 2013

Federal Duck Stamp
art contest.

We are pleased to be here today
in the Midwest region.

- Go Midwest!

Today,
a very difficult task.

The judges
will have to review
200 pieces of art.

And again, that is a very,
very hard job to do

because what they
decide at the end
will definitely become

the 2014-2015
Federal Duck Stamp.

It'll say
on the screen up there

that there are
202 entries.

Actually, I'll let you in
on a little secret,

there's only 201.

Number 17
was disqualified.

It was
the wrong species.

Today in round one,

each of the judges
will vote either in or out.

If at least three
of the five judges
vote in,

that piece will go
to the second round
of judging tomorrow.

We'll begin
the judging now
with entry number one.

The in and out round.

That usually takes
the whole first day.

They show the painting
to each judge

until the judge
waves them on.

And then at the end
of all five judges seeing
the painting,

they say, "Vote."

It takes three ins
to get past

the first round
of the judging.

- - Please vote.
- - And if you don't
get that, you're out.

It's out.

The first round
is really a test

on anybody's nerves

and their confidence
and their egos.

- Number 14.
- You're sitting there

and they're holding
their cards up

and you suddenly realize,

"I didn't win anything."

- I'm completely out."
- It's out.

It goes from 200
down to sometimes
only 20 pieces left

by the time we get
to the second round.

Number three.

Please vote.

Number three is out.

It's out.

Number 116.

Richard
Yeah, it's nerve-wracking

no matter
how you cut it.

You spend so much time
working on this painting

and you like to think
that what you came up with

was something pleasing
and done well.

But then you've got
these five people

that, at the end of the day,
they have the say.

And you sit there
and you watch that painting
paraded in front of them

and then you see
their scores.

It's a lot to take.
You gotta have a pretty
thick skin, I think,

to be in the duck stamp
contest business.

Please vote.

- - It's in.
- - I made it through.

Um, honestly,
with three in votes,

I personally feel
like if you're really
gonna really be in it,

you almost feel
like you should have
five in votes.

You can sometimes
come out of that and do
a little better.

We'll see.

Number 138.

I really don't, um, have

a big career
that I'm working on
other than painting.

That's kind of what--
that's it.

If I win the contest,

it'll change
my entire career.

I mean, it'll allow me
to have a career

painting
what I wanna paint

instead of painting
or working for somebody else.

Please vote.

- It's out.
- Whoops.

I don't know
what happened.

Sometimes people
are species specific.

- Like-- no, seriously,

- That's true.
- when Adam and I--
when Adam and I

went to Florida,

we went to
one of the judges...

- Yeah.
- Okay.

- It's disappointing.
- Oh, yeah.

- Huh?
- I think yours is, uh--

- deserves a five in.
- Well...

- You know? And then
it might be better.
- Yeah.

You might be right.

Yeah.

This is nice...

Number 83.

A lot of people think
that I'm doing this as a joke

to their expense.

It's a pretty small
group of people

that I would have to be
making fun of.

And it's a lot of effort
in order just to tweak them.

So I hope it helps
the duck stamp competition

because it's
a good program

that is getting less
and less revenue coming in.

And so this brings it
into a world

that most people
would not do otherwise.

I think some people
have kind of reached
an understanding

this is just
what I'm gonna do.

"Let baby have his bottle."
That kind of thing.

Please vote.

I'm not making fun
of ya.

It's good for me.
It's good for the contest.

It's not winning, it's
the degree in which I lose.

Thanks.

It's out.

Yeah, it was fun.

I, uh-- I've enjoyed
doing them over the years.

And thanks
for being cool with it

- and everything.
- Well, I-- no, I really
enjoy seeing 'em.

And, you know, anything
that attracts attention...

- That's what I think.
- to wildlife, in my opinion,
is great.

While it may not win
the federal contest,

it's just great
to raise...

The stamp is in trouble,
I think, the same way

that a lot of national

and state wildlife
refuges are.

People just don't go out
the way they used to.

Hunters are not doing it
as much anymore.

Hunters are
slowly declining.

And generally,
that's the people

that-- that buy
the stamp.

If we somehow lost
the duck stamp

and the revenue associated
with the duck stamp,

five million acres
of habitat

would disappear
overnight.

Jim
If the duck stamp
were to end,

that'd be a tragedy
going forward.

If they don't have the money,
I don't think they can
save the land.

You don't have to be
a waterfowl enthusiast

to buy the Federal
Duck Stamp.

It's a way that anyone
who enjoys nature

can make
a positive impact.

So how do you
get it into the public
consciousness even more?

What, 17 years later
and we're still
talking about it

that it was mentioned
briefly as a side plot

in "Fargo"?
You know.

The duck stamp program
is kind of screwed

unless they can get into
the cultural milieu,
as it were,

because there's
too many things competing
for its attention.

So the program,
I'm hoping, benefits

by at least me doing it

and bringing it
to an audience that
isn't there.

But more often
than not,

I have had
zero votes, so...

Obviously.

But your painting
is awesome!

Thanks.

Number 112.

Yeah, sure,
I'd like to win, you know?

As far as this year
is concerned,

I think I probably have
one of my best entries
going right now

that I've got probably
more work into it

than I've done
in probably any entry.

I'm not saying
that I'm gonna win.

I mean, it's all based
on human subjectivity.

Please vote.

It's in.

I would've liked to have
at least four ins,

but things sometimes change
when you get past
the first round

and judges have lost
one of their favorites.

They might change
their opinions on
what they like.

This year,
I'd like to be
in the finals

and, of course,
I'd like to either
see me or Adam win.

Number 122.

I mean, I'm sittin' there
and I'm tryin' to just relax

and, you know, just not
think about it too much.

But you just never know
with the contest

how things
are gonna go.

You're just kinda
sittin' there holdin'
your breath the whole time.

Please vote.

It's in.

Number 89.

Please vote.

It's in.

Number 201.

Please vote.

Dee
I don't really
expect to win

and when I don't,
I'm not disappointed.

- The whole duck stamp deal,

it's for a good cause.

5.5 million acres,
I think,

and that's
very important,

so if I were ever to win,
it would be awesome,

but if I ever don't,
I'd still keep entering.

I was second in 1983,

and I actually won
in 2009.

Took me 27 years.

You put so much
into it.

And it's more than a painting,
just a painting.

I mean, it's not like
a regular painting

you go in your studio and do
to sell it or something.

You put
everything you have in.

It was just a culmination
of a lot of years of work.

I had a friend of mine
who came in second.

He told me, he said,
"Well, I just thought

next year would be
a shoo-in."

Well, eventually,
he doesn't even
enter it anymore.

He just gave up.

Only a fool
would go there

expecting to win
the contest.

You know, you just--
you can't do that.

There are too many
good paintings.

You may have
a perfect stamp entry,

a beautiful entry,

but, you know,
it's one stamp

and that's it.

Thank you
and good morning.

And now we're getting ready
to get to the, uh,

exciting part
of this contest.

In round two,

instead of in and out,

each judge
will be shown

the 63 entries still
remaining in the contest.

They will vote
between one and five,

five being
the best score

and one being the, uh,
well, not so much.

At the end
of the round

after each of the 63 pieces
has been voted on,

the five highest scores

will advance
to the third round.

So without
any further ado,

we will begin
with the first entry

in round two.

The second round,

the lowest possible score
you could get

from five judges
is a five

and the highest
you get is 25.

I don't know that anyone
has ever gotten 25 in
the second round.

At least
I haven't seen it

since I've been there.

Number 69.

Please vote.

Thank you.

Number 105.

Marc
I had four ins
in the first round.

So I have a shot.

You know, gettin' five ins
would be a lot better,

but Steiner won
last year

with four ins
in the first round,

so it's
still possible.

At this point,
that's what it's about.

It's about winning,
you know?

Coming in second,
it's okay,

but you don't get anything
for second.

Please vote.

Thank you.

Number 116.

Please vote.

Number 89.

The Hautman brothers,

every year that any of them
are in the contest,

I always think
in the back of my mind,

like, that's
my biggest competition.

Please vote.

Thank you.

Number 122.

Please vote.

Thank you.

- - Number 112.
- - My goal is
to make the final.

And, of course,

I'd like to see
either me or Adam win.

And if I were to win,

I wouldn't want Adam
to come in second.

I'd want him to come in,
like, fifth or something

'cause I would be--

I wouldn't want Janet
and Adam and everybody

to, "Well, Uncle Tim
kept us from--

from winning the contest
that year."

Please vote.

Thank you.

That concludes
the judging in round two.

We're gonna allow the judges
to stretch their legs

and get ready
for the final round,

which we will begin
at about30.

Once you're
into something,

it's--
you wanna compete

and you wanna be
the best.

I'm just gonna
keep trying to win.

Maybe I'll be
like an old guy

painting really
inferior duck stamps

because I can't see
and do what I could do
when I was younger.

But I'm still trying,
I guess.

One year, one day,

it's gonna be
your painting

that the five judges
like the best.

Okay, folks,
we're gonna get started

into our final round
of judging.

Here in round three

with the 16
final entries,

each judge will vote
by number again.

At this point,
it will either be

a three, four,
or five.

So each entry will have
a composite score

of between 15 and 25.

We're looking
for a clear winner

and that winner
will be the, uh--

on the 2014-15

Federal Duck Stamp.

Please vote.

Thank you.

Number 13.

Please vote.

Thank you.

Please vote.
Thank you.

Please vote.

Thank you.

Number 69.

Please vote.

Thank you.

Number 122.

Please vote.

Thank you.

The year I won,
I was at the contest

and, um, just nerve-wracking.

- - Number 89.
- - Like, the showdown

filtered through
hundreds of entries

until finally, it gets down
to the final score.

I just had to wait
to see

if anybody got
a higher score.

Please vote.

Thank you.

Did he win?

Ahem.

Just...

Thank you.

Artist 122...

is our winner.

Adam Grimm.

Whoo-hoo!

Daddy, you
beat them all.

I feel like a huge weight's
been lifted off my shoulders.

I'm kind of almost
in a state of disbelief

that that happened.

For what I do,

it's, like, the biggest thing
I could probably about do.

- Yeah.

Well,
we have no idea where
life's gonna take us next,

but it-- it's just--
it's been like a fairy tale.

It's one thing after another.

It feels surreal.
I mean, almost like--

almost like
I stepped out of one world
into a new world.

I don't know how
to explain it.

Welcome to the 2014-2015

Federal Duck Stamp
and Junior Duck Stamp

first day of sale!

Hey, do you realize
that we get to be

the first folks
in America

to buy the duck stamp today?
Do you know that?

I'm from the Gulf Coast
of Florida.

I came up
a couple of days ago
just to get up here.

$635--

full sheet of Federal,
full sheet or Junior.

I support conservation.

I remember
back when I was young

and just getting into
buying the Federal Duck Stamp

and looking
at that artwork on there

and thinking
how amazing it was

that some artist out there
painted that.

Following in that path,

being a part
of that history,

that was
a goal of my life,

but something that I guess
I never really imagined

would one day happen.

Everyone wants
to be remembered...

in some way, you know,
to make some mark.

It's kind of neat
to have something like this

that you know
will never be forgotten.

It's a beautiful idea
to combine art with
conservation.

- It saves so many waterfowl

and other animals in habitats
from extinction.

It's an American tradition,
the duck stamp.

I just hope
it doesn't go away.