How competitive table setting at the OC Fair inspired the film ‘Set!’

When filmmaker Scott Gawlik and a fewer friends walked into the OC Fair successful 2018, the program for the time was simple.

“We conscionable went to portion immoderate beers and bent out,” helium says. “You person a large brew successful your manus and you rotation done the fair.”

Hours later, Gawlik near the fairgrounds with the thought that would go his debut diagnostic documentary. He would marque a film, helium had decided, connected the antithetic and precise entertaining satellite of – this is not a joke! – competitory table-setting.

In hunt of alleviation from the triple-digit heat, Gawlik had ducked into the air-conditioned Culinary Arts Building and a country filled with elaborately decorated tables. He recovered himself successful a spot wherever “tablescaping” is an existent word.

“I was like, ‘Oh, it’s a spot to eat, we’re gonna devour now,’” helium says. “And they’re like, ‘No, no, no, you can’t spot your trash here! It’s the table-setting competition.’”

He realized that these were nary mean tables, and to his surprise, the over-the-top designs and themes spoke to him.

“I conscionable instantly had truly beardown opinions astir the tables,” Gawlik says. “Like this 1 was amended than that one. And judge me, I’ve ne'er had an sentiment astir table-setting ever. Ever.

“Other than, you know, we conscionable request a weapon oregon a fork and a napkin, and that’s it.’”

Now, 3 years later, his movie “Set!” has been screened astatine the Newport Beach Film Festival and volition marque its debut connected the Discovery+ streaming transmission connected Nov. 12.

Its accomplishment is proof, helium says, that his instincts that time astatine the just were correct.

“I was like, ‘If this could marque maine attraction astir table-setting, and the radical I was with attraction astir table-setting, possibly they tin beryllium done a movie,” Gawlik says. “So I instantly went location and benignant of Googled it.

“And astatine the time, erstwhile you Googled ‘competitive table-setting,’ a definite pistillate came up.”

The queen and court

Bonnie Overman of Hacienda Heights was the pistillate whose sanction filled Gawlik’s hunt results that night.

Not lone had Overman been entering tables astatine the Orange County and Los Angeles County fairs for decades, she won truthful often that Gawlik came to spot her arsenic the LeBron James of table-setting.

“I called her, talked to her, and that benignant of was a catalyst to everything,” helium says. “She was unfastened to america filming, and it benignant of took disconnected from there.”

Overman served arsenic his introduction into the satellite of competitory array setting, but soon he’d connected with galore more, yet focusing connected 9 contestants who offered a scope of antithetic personalities.

There was Hilarie Moore of Orange, who told him she liked to ascent into a sensory deprivation vessel to wide her caput and fto inspiration for each year’s array taxable surface. (She besides wrote astir the acquisition successful 2014 for the OC Register.) Tim Wyckoff of Garden Grove, the sole antheral rival featured successful the film, shared his conflict to find a occupation and talked astir the boost to his self-confidence a triumph astatine the just could provide.

Crystal Young of San Dimas was the caller kid connected the block, winning the Best of Show ribbon and a $150 cheque successful 2018, conscionable her 2nd twelvemonth successful competition. Cheryl Von der Hellen and  Virginia “Ginnie” Jacobson called themselves the Water Babes acknowledgment to the Seal Beach aqua-aerobics classmates they consulted connected their array designs.

Janet Lew of Laguna Niguel is cheerfully eccentric. While astir contestants dismantle their tables for bully astatine the extremity of each fair, she reassembles them successful her home, usually successful a country dedicated solely to the tables. However, with that country full, she’s enactment 1 successful the chamber she and her hubby Ron share.

The movie follows them and a fewer others implicit the six months starring up to the fair, jumping backmost and distant betwixt contestants to travel their progress.

Moore, whose tables thin to marque statements, specified arsenic the 2018 array mounting made wholly retired of trash that ends up successful the ocean, is the renegade, the 1 doing things specified arsenic including taxidermy successful her designs to the dismay of traditionalists specified arsenic Overman.

“Hilarie plays a small spot of the antagonist passim the film; she’s benignant of the firestarter,” Gawlik says.

“Tim told maine aboriginal (about his struggles),” helium says. “I was like, ‘Hey, are you definite you’re comfy talking astir this?’ I deliberation conscionable being truly honest, radical respond to that. It’s conscionable the benignant of idiosyncratic I am.”

Knives out?

“Set!” celebrates the antithetic personalities of the competitors successful a warm, friendly, and often humorous way. Even so, Gawlik says helium wasn’t definite what the featured competitors would deliberation aft seeing the finished film.

“I was truthful tense astir Hilarie due to the fact that she could beryllium seen arsenic the atrocious guy,” helium says. “I similar Hilarie, we’d go friendly, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, she’s gonna hatred me.’”

The greeting aft she saw the movie she called. Gawlik says his manus was shaking arsenic helium held the phone.

“She goes, ‘Do you privation to perceive what I thought of the movie?’” helium says. “I was like, ‘Oh god, yeah, of course.’

“And aft a melodramatic intermission she goes, ‘I loved it,” helium says, adding that she did accidental she came disconnected a small harsh.

By the clip of the Newport Beach Film Festival screening connected Oct.23, astir of the featured competitors had seen the movie, though Gawlik says this was the archetypal clip they would spot it together.

“There was a 2021 contention and Tim and Hilarie were adjacent to each different and made amends and they’re champion friends now,” helium says. “But during the 2021 competition, Bonnie and Hilarie didn’t adjacent look astatine each other.

“I was a small tense astir what the play would beryllium like,” helium says. “It’s similar having divorced parents but they’re going to a communal wedding of somebody. You cognize they’re going to person to speech to each other.

“I looked implicit astatine the extremity of the screening and determination they were talking to each other,” Gawlik says. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’

“I deliberation the movie whitethorn person pushed them isolated a small bit, but the screening and that situation pushed them together, and they whitethorn beryllium affable now.”

Art of the table

At immoderate point, during the filming oregon the editing, Gawlik had an epiphany connected the passionateness the table-setters person for their work.

“Take distant the words ‘table setting’ from the scenario, and conscionable telephone it creation — due to the fact that it’s creation they’re making, right?” helium says. “Then you’re like, ‘It’s a movie astir radical that are passionate astir art.’ People astir apt wouldn’t bat an oculus astatine the film, they’d beryllium ‘OK, it’s a movie astir passion, we get it.’

“That’s what it is like,” Gawlik says. “Table-setting is benignant of what draws you into it, but it’s truly hardly astir mounting the table. The movie is astir people’s passionateness for art.”

Art means antithetic things to antithetic people, of course, and that applies to the table-setters arsenic overmuch arsenic it does to the audience.

“For Crystal, she’s coping with the nonaccomplishment of her father,” Gawlik says. “She puts each of her vigor into her creation and is capable to header with it. The mother-daughter squad (Marie and Christel Schoenfelder of Rancho Cucamonga) had entered individually for years earlier deciding to squad up successful 2019.

“Bonnie, each clip you spell to her house, like, each the furniture’s rearranged for a antithetic play oregon antithetic color. She conscionable loves creating, that’s her passion.

Tim, helium doesn’t person the fiscal means that immoderate of these ladies have,” helium says. “But who says you request wealth to make art? Tim definite arsenic hellhole doesn’t consciousness that way.”

Gawlik says helium came to consciousness that helium wasn’t immoderate antithetic than his subjects successful presumption of the passions they pursue.

“My creation is filmmaking,” helium says. “I did it due to the fact that this was my passion, and I deliberation I’m conscionable the aforesaid arsenic those ladies.

“The lone quality is it’s not a array setting, it was this film. And I deliberation that’s truly however I was capable to seizure them successful the mode that I did.”