Avoid withoutabox.com (WAB) - you must read this thread!

Somehow I ended up at a site similar I think to withoutabox, it's called filmfreeway. filmfreeway dot com.
Anyone have experience with it?

brianluce said:

Somehow I ended up at a site similar I think to withoutabox, it's called filmfreeway. filmfreeway dot com.
Anyone have experience with it?

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Very interesting - This website seems worth discussing/taking a peak at. It seems like it circumvents the main point of contention for WAB, the ownership of the content, which these guys seem to let you hold onto. They also claim to free, which is certainly appealing, considering WAB can get pretty pricey...

I'd guess that the main difference between the two, is likely the variety of festivals you can submit to. WAB will likely have a whole lot more. But, it's a catch-22, because if it's not expensive to submit, then why not submit to more?

My only fear with this would be some details in the fine print, which I think is what brought this entire WAB issue to light. Anyone else want to take a look at this site? Nice find Brianluce.

I registered and submitted to a few film festivals.

If it works? Yes, I already got a few answers back.

They don't charge filmmakers a dime and they charge film festivals a small percentage of their fees. If the film festival is free, then there's no money for the site either.

The process of submitting a film to the site is 10 times simpler and the screeners have much better quality.

They claim that they already stole more than half of WAB share.

Overall, it seems great news for us and amazing news for smaller film festivals who are not demanded to put up a few thousands of dollars ahead.

In Europe there are a few alternatives to WAB (moviebeta and clickforfestivals). Most of the times they charge you something like 1,5 euros per submission, but they have a strong focus on spanish language film festivals.

I guess that in a short time film festivals that are free to submit films will have to start charging something, because the amount of entries they will get will be more than what they can digest.

WAB

Pros:

1. Convenient for basic research and keeping track of festivals
2. Good search function by many parameters (established, cheap, etc)
3. Popular with many festivals
4. Fast and friendly customer service (but I rather would not have to have the need to contact them in the first place)

Cons:

1. CAD (Canadian dollar) VISA debit cards are accepted for festivals in Australia and USA, but NOT for Canadian festivals! Cambodian VISA *credit* card not accepted either. I speak form experience.
2. Website can be wonky. Options that Help Desk staff assures me are there, are not. Or they do not always work.. Or ever
3. Website not the easiest on the eyes. It is as if they are hyping festivals. I prefer the neutral simplicity of 'Submittable'. This is what Chicago IFF uses.

I have no experience with 'FilmFreeway'.

WAb sucks or 'WABSucks' sucks?

IndiePaul said:

Have a look at term 11 of the WAB Terms of Service:

https://www.withoutabox.com/index.php?cmd=register.index




How the hell can then get away with such a clause?

So you upload a screenplay or short/feature to WAB and it grants them "nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable license right to use, copy, reproduce, transmit, modify, adapt, publish, translate," etc over YOUR WORK...

I'm stunned...

I was alerted to this thanks to these folks:

http://withoutaboxsucks.com/

Thanks is due to our member Flicker Pictures, who posted the link on this IT thread.

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I just tried to post my opinion on the website mentioned above and I received the message 'Your post looks a bit spammy, go back and try again' That continued to fail, so here I go here...

"WAB indeed has many undesirable features (the Filmmaker and I agree customer service is poor), but it has some advantages also.

Where I do differ with the publisher of this website is this - WAB is not a monopoly in the strict sense. A monopoly is when there is no alternative due to a gun to the head of competitors. Department of Motor Vehicles and Federal Reserve are true monopolies. Without a Box just has huge market share. So it treats its customers with disrespect.

'Number two tries harder'. So go to FilmFreeway or Submittable. Or use all three for their strengths. I do. I like botiques and Walmart both. For different purposes and with different expectations.

Producer and Film Festival Submission Manager