“Inside Michael Moore’s Smear Campaign Against the Man Who Helped Build His Film Festival”
![]()
IndieWire's Chris O'Falt published a story yesterday about the Traverse City Film Festival, focusing on what he termed its looming “financial instability” and Michael Moore's “attacks on the credibility of Boston Light & Sound’s Chapin Cutler and his former executive director Deb Lake”.
But O'Falt dropped a big steamer in the middle of his piece: the reason former executive director Joseph Beyer may have left his perch at the TCFF.
O'Falt peels back the layers covering the carefully-written statement Beyer released on May 9, 2018 and discovers the truth.
First, Beyer's see ya statement:
"In just a few short weeks of being in Traverse City I came to realize how much TCFF means to this incredible community, and how loved and revered their staff and volunteers truly are.
I also discovered challenges for the organization I felt my experiences and expertise couldn't address. In the spirit of wanting them to succeed and thrive, I came to the conclusion that they needed a different leader moving ahead.
I'm grateful for the short opportunity I had to serve, and it was a very difficult decision for me personally, but I wish them only the best, as I know everyone does who has supported their mission and future. It's a special group of people in a very special place and I'm proud to have given a small piece of my career to working with them. I firmly believe in full swings; those are the only ones that can hit home runs, so I have no regrets as I move on."
Now O'Falt's exclusive, with remarks from Boston Light & Sound's Chapin Cutler on a possible reason for Beyer's departure:
According to sources, by early 2018 it was clear that Moore was extremely angry with Cutler.
Meanwhile, Moore recruited Sundance Institute veteran Joseph Beyer as Lake’s replacement, saying he offered “a unique combination of experience, creativity, and passion” and TCFF was “lucky” to hire him.
In April, when Beyer officially took over, he was tasked with informing Cutler that not only would BL&S not be back in 2018, but the festival would only offer 50 cents on the dollar to settle its 2017 bill. Beyer would then quit TCFF three weeks after his start date, despite having moved to Michigan.
“I had known Joe for over 10 years because he was at Sundance, and he told me having to deal with our financial circumstances was the most difficult thing he had to do in his professional life,” said Cutler. “I would say that was a large part of why he didn’t last longer than 21 days, because they were expecting him to clean up things that were not of his doing.”
You can read Chris O'Falt's story exclusively on IndieWire.
![]()
IndieWire's Chris O'Falt published a story yesterday about the Traverse City Film Festival, focusing on what he termed its looming “financial instability” and Michael Moore's “attacks on the credibility of Boston Light & Sound’s Chapin Cutler and his former executive director Deb Lake”.
But O'Falt dropped a big steamer in the middle of his piece: the reason former executive director Joseph Beyer may have left his perch at the TCFF.
O'Falt peels back the layers covering the carefully-written statement Beyer released on May 9, 2018 and discovers the truth.
First, Beyer's see ya statement:
"In just a few short weeks of being in Traverse City I came to realize how much TCFF means to this incredible community, and how loved and revered their staff and volunteers truly are.
I also discovered challenges for the organization I felt my experiences and expertise couldn't address. In the spirit of wanting them to succeed and thrive, I came to the conclusion that they needed a different leader moving ahead.
I'm grateful for the short opportunity I had to serve, and it was a very difficult decision for me personally, but I wish them only the best, as I know everyone does who has supported their mission and future. It's a special group of people in a very special place and I'm proud to have given a small piece of my career to working with them. I firmly believe in full swings; those are the only ones that can hit home runs, so I have no regrets as I move on."
Now O'Falt's exclusive, with remarks from Boston Light & Sound's Chapin Cutler on a possible reason for Beyer's departure:
According to sources, by early 2018 it was clear that Moore was extremely angry with Cutler.
Meanwhile, Moore recruited Sundance Institute veteran Joseph Beyer as Lake’s replacement, saying he offered “a unique combination of experience, creativity, and passion” and TCFF was “lucky” to hire him.
In April, when Beyer officially took over, he was tasked with informing Cutler that not only would BL&S not be back in 2018, but the festival would only offer 50 cents on the dollar to settle its 2017 bill. Beyer would then quit TCFF three weeks after his start date, despite having moved to Michigan.
“I had known Joe for over 10 years because he was at Sundance, and he told me having to deal with our financial circumstances was the most difficult thing he had to do in his professional life,” said Cutler. “I would say that was a large part of why he didn’t last longer than 21 days, because they were expecting him to clean up things that were not of his doing.”
You can read Chris O'Falt's story exclusively on IndieWire.
