The Producers Telling the Iowa State Fair's Story

[Emily Kestel, Producer ] Jeremy says in the documentary that, you know, a long time ago the fair stopped being an event and just started being part of Iowans lives. I think that every Iowan has a state fair story. And so we all just come to the fair every year for 11 days and just experience this one event.

This is a big source of pride. And, you know, people are showing off their very best and they're eating food that they might not eat the rest of the year. It's a very special place and event for Iowans.

[Kelsey Kremer, Producer ] I think the idea of doing an Iowa State Fair documentary that was not a history documentary was something that Emily and I were both excited about and getting to really show a human side of also getting ready for the fair. You know, it is a more challenging way to make a documentary, to spend time with people and tell their story as it unfolds and to and to find that.

And so I'm really thankful to the people that we feature because they were very open with us and gave us a lot of time and let us spend a lot of time with them during a very busy time for them. And you know, that is what makes this documentary good and that is what makes a good story because those people were so open and willing to spend time with us.

[Emily] Behind the Blue Ribbon kind of was born out of this idea to showcase the fair in a way that our viewers haven't necessarily seen before and really get into the more of the day to day experiences of people at the fair.

[Kelsey] Emily and I, as well as producing, shot like 99% of this documentary. And so we really like understood each other in terms of how we film. And I felt like we were really able to work together well, you know, like in the butter cooler while they're working on the butter cow. We were able to sort of shoot that I think in a pretty seamless way because we both have a similar background.

[Emily] So one of the coolest parts about filming this is that Kelsey and I were able to get access to parts of the fairgrounds that most people probably don't even think about or ever get to go into or see. So we got to go inside the Campbell's warehouse, we got to go inside the corn dog stand, we got to go inside the boardroom at the admin building.

You know, we got to go in the butter cooler, obviously we got to be at Jeremy's house when he was leaving in the morning. So we got to go to the farm of Big Joe, who is a big boar, and just to kind of show people a side of the fair. That they had never seen before.

[Kelsey] I think a lot of people are familiar with things like the big boar contest or, you know, food is really important. A lot of people come to the fair and eat a corn dog, but they maybe don't know how much it takes to make those things happen. And so I hope when people watch the documentary, they can come away having a greater appreciation for what it takes to put all of this on and to put the state fair on.

[Emily] As a journalist, I always try to show people a side of the world that they've never seen before. And I hope that when people watch this documentary, they see parts of the fair that maybe they hadn't thought about or experienced or even seen. So that when they come to the fair this year or next year, any year following, they can be, "oh yeah, I know what it's like being in the inside of a corn dog stand."

Or, "I know what it's like being on the fairgrounds in the morning at 4am," seeing all the hogs getting loaded to the barns, where they just have a greater appreciation of how this is really a 24/7 operation.

[Kelsey] The state fair is, I mean, it's the biggest, one of the biggest celebrations that we have in our state. And it really is a celebration of, of many different aspects of our state. I think the fair is something that every single person could find something to do or participate in if they wanted.

And so I think that is sort of the magic of the fair is that it really can be for all Iowans.