Taking Aim at the War of Films
Navigating Film Festivals in a World of Online Scams (Part 3)
How to Spot Potential Film Festival Scams
🚩 BEWARE OF IMAGES OF FAMOUS ACTORS IN FESTIVAL BANNERS AND NAME-DROPPING IN THEIR LETTERS 🚩
War of Films, a film festival competition, emailed me after my debatable win as Best Screenwriter with the Enjoy Films Festival. At first, I was flattered, excited, hopeful…
Unfortunately, scam festivals approach entrants and winners to capitalize on their desire to succeed in the industry. They try to sell you the bridge to fame and financial freedom. Mostly, it’s freedom from your money.
Both War of Films and Enjoy Film Festival use the Film Freeway portal to handle registrations, as does WFCN (next blog.)
“Catfishing: the process of luring someone into a relationship by means of a fictional online persona.”—Oxford Languages
Catfishing happens in film festivals as well. Look for the red flags.
Notice all the red flags in their letter below…
Dear Jes,
I hope this email finds you well. My name is Sergi and I am the director of the War of Films International Film Festival. Our Team recently discovered your script it has caught our attention. We would like to share information about our festival with you and see if it fits into your festival strategy.
( 🚩 How did they discover my script? Are they allied with Enjoy Films?)
War of Films is an IMDb film festival. Over the years, we have had the honor of awarding great companies and stars such Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, Ron Perlman, Epic Games, Lucy Liu, Danny Trejo, Michael K. Williams, John Turturro, Malcolm McDowell, Vinnie Jones, Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) and the Oscar-nominated actor James Cromwell. This positions War of Films as one of the most important festivals in the world, recognized for its support of independent filmmakers, with more than 4,700 filmmakers from 85 different countries already trusting us.
( 🚩 typos, grammar, name-dropping)
Our goal is to connect independent filmmakers and writers with the film industry and help them gain distribution for their projects. We collaborate with ten of the best movie sales companies in the world, who regularly work with streaming platforms such as Netflix, HBO, Amazon Video and more than 14,000 buyers.
( 🚩 more name-dropping)
As a token of our appreciation, we would like to offer you a special discount. You can use the code: WOFdirect24 during this week to take advantage of a 10% discount on your registration fee through Film Freeway at: https:filmfreeway.com/War_of_ Films
( 🚩 discounts)
We have many categories so you can adapt it to your festival strategy and budget.
( 🚩 each category is an additional cost to what you’ve already lost.)
For a limited time and thanks to our sponsors…
( 🚩 limited time offers and 🚩 sponsors that aren’t listed, or to be found in searches as they likely don’t exist)
…we have lowered the prices of "All categories" and VIP to 50%. So it is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of this offer before prices go up again.
This is what legit film festival sponsorship looks like:
This is a sampler of sponsors from wonderful festivals I’ve participated in, large and small.
Yes, logos can be misappropriated, but you can contact them by phone or email for verification.
Scam festivals don’t often list sponsors for that reason.
Back to the letter…
By submitting in "All Categories" or VIP, your work will be reviewed by 10 industry professionals, giving you more job opportunities.
( 🚩no mention or record of who the professionals are.)
Additionally, we offer additional services such as promoting your project on Instagram, showing your trailer in all distributor rounds…
( 🚩 grammar, additional services equal additional fees and, screenplays do not have trailers, which is what I’d submitted.)
…and showing your trailer en un canal especializado en promocionar nuevos proyectos cinematográficos.
(🚩 an AI oops, perhaps? Beware of errors in language use: spelling, grammar, odd phrasing, foreign language insertions. )
"We also connect the best scripts with film production companies, and if your work is not selected, we are still here to help you with any doubts or questions about distribution contracts.
( 🚩 beware of costly empty promises.)
At War of Films we only contact the most interesting and promising filmmakers and writers. Our festival margin is only 10%, which is the discount we offer you.
( 🚩 beware of flattery and discount offers.)
And get this line: “WE PRIDE OURSELVES ON BEING A TRANSPARENT FESTIVAL THAT DOESN’T SPAM JUST TO GET REGISTRATIONS.”
(🚩 The use of “honestly, to tell you the truth, in all sincerity, or trust me” which often follows with a lie.)
This ego-tickling letter was signed “Sincerely, Sergi, Director, War of Films International Film Festival.”
Instead of responding to them, I took action and wrote Film Freeway:
“Today War of Films, another IMDB-rated festival, approached me with a discount offer to enter - a warning sign of a scam…”
Film Freeway took my report seriously, almost as if their reputation depended on it.
If you notice any red flags in competition listings, please report them.
In my case, Film Freeway took War of Films and Enjoy Film Festival down.
Feel free to leave a comment and/or share this link.
Thank you,
Jes —Wayward with a pen.
