Co-directed by David Farrier and Dylan Reeves, the documentary Tickled formulated when Farrier stumbled upon a bizarre “competitive endurance tickling” video online. He saw young men paid to be tied up and tickled.

As a reporter, Farrier reached out and requested a story about the company. He receives a staggering replay where he is mocked about his sexual orientation and threatened extreme legal action if he digs any deeper into the company.

Unlike most journalists, he decides not to confront the issue, circumvents, and travels to the hidden tickling facilities in Los Angeles. There he uncovers a vast empire, known for harassing and harming the lives of those who protest their involvement in these films.

The more he investigates, the stranger it gets. He discovers secret identities and criminal activity. It becomes an obsession for him where he must discover the truth, despite increasingly malevolent threats and warnings.

Keeping with the humor of the situation and determination, Farrier and co-director Reeve gather all the resources available to get to the bottom of this tickling instances.

Recently, Farrier shared his story, “It started as most stories start: A friend emailed me a link to something interesting on the Internet. In this case: Competitive Endurance Tickling. It was strange from the outset, but as I began talking with the organizers, things rapidly spiraled out of control. A whole new world opened up in front of me – a world of tickling and laughter, but also lawsuits and danger.”

Farrier came under attack including private investigators and lawyers in New Zealand and the United States. “I soon came to realize this wasn’t just a story about tickling: It was about power and control.”

On his journey to uncover the truth, “I met characters I could hardly believe were real.”

Farrier refers to the cheerful professional who tickles others as a full-time job, the obsessed journalist who dedicated years of his life to uncovering the truth, and the young athlete who had his life derailed by a force he never saw coming. “Like me, these individuals all stumbled into the world of tickling with a slight naivety, but came to understand its complexity first-hand.”

Co-director Reeve tells his story of why he became involved in the documentary. He describes how he first saw David’s strange interaction with Jane O’Brien Media on Facebook. “My attention was grabbed. It was an unbelievable response to a very tame interview request, and clearly, something just wasn’t right.”

Reeve is referring to online bullying. “As we started to see evidence of the campaigns of harassment and abuse, I felt that we had no choice but to expose what was happening.”

They used the power of storytelling as the weapon to go against the bullying. “It was something I felt strongly that we had to do, whatever the consequences may be. Although at that stage I still had no idea what would come,” explains Reeve.

“The twists and turns we uncovered in chasing the story were at times exciting, alarming, surprising, scary and hilarious. We never quite knew what was real and what was fake. Were we being played? Was that car following us? Did Jane know where we were? Were we going to end up in court? We never quite knew what was around the corner.”

The end result is something both directors feel proud to have made. “I hope that is both informative and entertaining, but above all, I hope that it can actually make a difference – that the film might prevent further harassment in the future for guys who’ve done nothing wrong,” concludes Reeve.