Word Wars

After screening to sold-out crowds at the Sundance Film Festival and over 30 other film festivals and theaters in over 25 cities around the world, WORD WARS is coming to Los Angeles. The documentary follows people also featured in the New York Times best-selling book, "Word Freak" by Stefan Fatsis (who appears in the film) and follows Scrabble's highest-ranked players as they advance from heated competition in neighborhood parks and clubs to the final showdown at the Scrabble Nationals.



As the recent ESPN coverage of the Scrabble Nationals proves, Scrabble competition has moved beyond its origins as a living room pastime and become a high-stakes thinking-person's sport where the winnings total $100,000 at the top levels. High-level competition requires the devoted players to not only memorize the dictionary, but know the most obscure 2-letter words as well as all the "Q without U" words, such as "qaid" and "qindar."



The films' subjects represent some of the most intensely dedicated sportsmen in any game. Defending champ Joe Edley, known as the Jack Nicklaus of Scrabble, has memorized the dictionary many times over; Matt Graham, a stand-up comic, aids his thinking-skills with "smart drugs" and loads of caffeine; Marlon Hill, self-described "pre-Mecca Malcolm X," has a love/hate relationship with the English language; and "G.I." (for gastrointestinal) Joel Sherman downs Maalox so often, he could be the company's poster boy.



Producer and co-director Eric Chaikin is not only a filmmaker but, once upon a time, left his software design job to pursue competitive Scrabble full time. Well-versed in the world of these logophiles (and also in Stefan Fatsis's book), Eric brought on veteran film and TV director, Julian Petrillo to help create their first documentary.