New Zealand David Farrier journalist stumbles upon a mysterious tickling competition online. As he delves deeper he comes up against fierce resistance, but that doesn’t stop him getting to the bottom of a story stranger than fiction.
David Farrier has spoken out about the behind-the-scenes drama of Tickled, saying while being sued was less than ideal, he remains a man on a mission.
Tickled shocked viewers around the world, exposing a seedy, mysterious phenomenon: "competitive endurance tickling".
This month, Farrier and his co-director Dylan Reeve return withThe Tickle King - an extension of the acclaimed documentary, featuring new footage of the ongoing strangeness that followed in the wake of Tickled's premiere.
For instance, investigating David D'Amato - the wealthy, exploitative figure at the head of the industry - resulted in ongoing, multi-million dollar lawsuits against Farrier and Reeve.
One interviewee featured in the film still faces a lawsuit of $40 million, and despite two suits against Farrier and Reeve being dropped, D'Amato has informed the film-makers that he intends to file more.
As well as ongoing legal battles, there were confrontations at premieres, which Farrier says were often from subjects of the film who had initially refused to be interviewed.
On top of all this, The Tickle King also dives deeper into the film's big question; how has the exploitative, abusive behaviour exposed in the film gone unchecked for so long?
"It looks at why someone like [D'Amato] gets away with it. We just try and look at why this has been allowed to happen for so long with nothing changing."
As for his next project, Farrier says he'll be hard pressed to beat Tickled.
"I'll never top the craziness of this film, but for sure, I'd like to look at something else."
The Tickle King airs on Rialto Channel on March 29.
