HBO has acquired the U.S. TV rights to the documentary Tickled, and Magnolia picked up North American theatrical rights and world rights outside of North America excluding Australia and New Zealand.
The deals were announced after the film’s premiere in the world documentary section at the Sundance Film Fest. Magnolia will represent Tickled at the 2016 Berlin Film Fest, in early February.
Co-directed by David Farrier & Dylan Reeve, Tickled is produced by Carthew Neal, and financed by the New Zealand Film Commission and MPI.
Farrier is an Auckland-based TV and radio reporter who specializes in the weird and bizarre side of life.
An alarming cautionary tale about how the negative effects of the Internet age on people’s lives, Tickled unfolds as a conspiracy-thriller. The film focuses on his stumbling upon a “competitive endurance tickling” competition — and comes up against fierce opposition as he delves deeper.