Lawsuit over True/False doc moves to New York

A defamation lawsuit against the makers of a documentary that aired in Missouri will move to a different court.

Lawyers for both David D’Amato, the man at the center of the documentary film “Tickled,” and the film’s creators, including directors David Farrier and Dylan Reeve, agreed to move a federal lawsuit filed in Missouri to a similar court in New York. D’Amato sued the filmmakers for airing “Tickled” at Columbia’s True/False film festival in early March. D’Amato also sued the creators in Utah’s federal court for similar claims after it aired at Sundance Film Festival.

“Tickled” chronicles Farrier’s attempt to report on a “competitive tickling” competition while he worked for a New Zealand TV news station. Farrier’s initial inquiries to speak to the event host, Jane O’Brien Media, were met with hostility, the film shows, and leads him to D’Amato’s alleged connection to the company, and the harassment people who participate in the taped tickling sessions later faced. D’Amato sued Farrier, Reeve, and the film’s production company for defamation, and “medically diagnosable and significant emotional distress,” refuting many of the movie’s claims. The case moved from Boone County court to federal court a week after it was filed.

James Sanders, the lawyer for the New Zealand-based team of Farrier and Reeve, asked to move the legal action to the southern district of New York’s federal courts. D’Amato lives in New York, the motions say, and the defendants abroad would have easier access to New York City through its international airport. New York’s southern district has a courthouse in Manhattan, while hearing the case in Missouri would require the parties to gather in Jefferson City. The agreement, filed Friday, would mean both sides would drop the Missouri and Utah cases “without prejudice,” and let D’Amato refile the case in New York.

“Tickled” played at True/False three times during the festival. The first showing of it Friday was interrupted when volunteers at the festival noticed two men trying to film from audience. Columbia police eventually pulled them aside, stopping the film momentarily.

Farrier told the audience Saturday night that a woman approached him on the street that afternoon, asking if he was, in fact, David Farrier.

He thought he had a fan, he said. She instead served him with the original suit.