Tumwater, Evergreen grad up for documentary Oscar

TACOMA NEWS TRIBUNE | • Published February 23, 2008

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Audrey Marrs had never worked on a full-length film before she signed on as one of four producers of the documentary "No End in Sight."

But the Olympia-area native hit the jackpot with her first foray into big-time filmmaking.

"No End in Sight" is vying for the Oscar in the feature documentary category at the Academy Awards, which will be broadcast at 5 p.m. Sunday on Channel 4.

"No End in Sight" is an investigation of the Bush administration's decision-making before and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

A 37-year-old graduate of Tumwater High School and The Evergreen State College, Marrs had made short films while studying art at Evergreen. But after graduation she thought she would have a career as an art curator. While waiting for a full-time position, she worked as a personal assistant to an Internet mogul named Charles Ferguson. Ferguson wrote and directed "No End in Sight."

Like Marrs, he had never made a feature before. But he had an interest in politics, and - after selling his successful software company to Microsoft in the mid-1990s - he had the means to fund a film out of his own pocket. The budget of "No End in Sight" was $2 million, Marrs said.

For more on the story, see The Olympian Saturday.