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Tropfest is the world's largest
short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...
. It has also become known as the world's first global film festival. Founded by actor/director
John Polson John Polson (born 6 September 1965) is an Australian actor, director and founder of Tropfest. As an actor, Polson's best known role is probably starring opposite Russell Crowe and Jack Thompson in '' The Sum of Us'' (1994). In February 2001, ...
, Tropfest began in 1993 as a screening for 200 people at the 'Tropicana Caffe' in
Darlinghurst, Sydney Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...
, Australia, but has since become the largest platform for short films in the world. Tropfest Australia usually takes place in February each year in Sydney and it has been broadcast live via free-to-air television as well as global streaming and catch up. Sydney Tropfest 2015 was cancelled less than a month before it was scheduled to run. After much support on social media, Tropfest founder Polson announced in early December 2015 that extra funding had been sourced, and the festival took place in Centennial Park on Sunday, 14 February 2016. In August 2016 it was announced that from February 2017 Sydney's Tropfest would be held in
Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
in western Sydney, in Parramatta Park.


Entry requirements

Tropfest differs from other cinema events by being a "content generation" platform, rather than an exhibition platform. Filmmakers are required to create new works for the festival which must include an item, known as the " Tropfest Signature Item" (TSI) and which changes each year. The films must be less than 7 minutes (including titles and credits) and be world premieres at the Tropfest event.


History

The festival's name is derived from the first year's location—the Tropicana Caffe in
Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...
, an inner-eastern suburb of Sydney. Created by Australian-born filmmaker John Polson, the first festival was held in 1993 and was originally called the ''Tropicana Short Film Festival''. The support and involvement of film personalities from around the world has become one of the trademarks of the festival. Selection of the winning Tropfest film takes place live on the night of the festival by a panel of high-profile industry and celebrity judges, in addition to the previous year's winner. Past judges have included
Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...
,
Cate Blanchett Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received nu ...
,
Naomi Watts Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British actress. After her family moved to Australia, she made her film debut there in the drama '' For Love Alone'' (1986) and then appeared in three television series, '' Hey Dad..!'' (1990), '' ...
,
Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, includ ...
,
Rose Byrne Mary Rose Byrne (born 24 July 1979) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut in the film ''Dallas Doll'' (1994), and continued to act in Australian film and television throughout the 1990s. She obtained her first leading film role i ...
,
Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy ...
,
Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...
,
John Woo John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun fu ...
,
Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...
,
Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...
,
Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...
,
Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...
,
Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...
,
Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for which she has received a tot ...
,
Salma Hayek Salma Hayek Pinault ( , ; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well as the ...
, George Miller,
Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...
and
Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...
. Judges in 2018 included
Eric Bana Eric Banadinović, (born 9 August 1968), known professionally as Eric Bana (), is an Australian actor and comedian. He began his career in the sketch comedy series '' Full Frontal'' before gaining notice in the comedy drama '' The Castle'' (19 ...
,
Aaron Pedersen Aaron Pedersen is an Aboriginal Australian television and film actor. He is known for many film and television roles, in particular as Detective Jay Swan in the film '' Mystery Road'', its sequel '' Goldstone'', and spin-off television series. ...
,
Marta Dusseldorp Marta Dusseldorp (born 1 February 1973) is an Australian stage, film and theatre actress. Her television credits include ''BlackJack'', ''Crownies'' (and its spin-off '' Janet King''), ''Jack Irish'' and '' A Place to Call Home''. Early life an ...
,
David Michôd David Michôd ( ; born 30 November 1972) is an Australian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is best known for directing the critically acclaimed crime drama '' Animal Kingdom'' (2010) and dystopian drama '' The Rover'' (2014). ...
,
Jessica McNamee Jessica McNamee (born 16 June 1988) is an Australian actress. She rose to fame in Australia playing roles in the Seven Network television programs '' Home and Away'' and ''Packed to the Rafters''. From 2014 to 2015, she starred as patrol officer ...
and Michele Bennett. Corporate supporters have included
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
,
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
,
Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
,
Cointreau Cointreau (, , ) is a brand of orange-flavoured triple sec liqueur produced in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou, France. It is consumed as an apéritif and digestif, and is a component of several well-known cocktails. It was originally called Curaçao ...
and
MadFish Wines Howard Park Wines are Margaret River and Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern wine specialists and a family-owned winery owned by the Burch family, which is responsible for such brands as Howard Park, MadFish Wines, MadFish, and M ...
.
Movie Extra A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera, or ballet production who appears in a nonspeaking or nonsinging (silent) capacity, usually in the background (for example, in an audience or busy street ...
used to be the primary sponsor of Tropfest Australia, which is now supported by
Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...
,
Parramatta City Council The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a local government area located west of central Sydney in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between the City of Ryde and Cumberland, where the Cumberla ...
,
Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...
, WSU, Parramatta Park and Melrose Park. The festival attracts a wide degree of media coverage but it is the casual,
grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
nature of the event, rather than its high profile, which ensures the continued support of its patrons and guests. Notable alumni include filmmakers and actors such as
Alister Grierson Alister Grierson (born 1969) is an Australian film director and scriptwriter. Early life and education Born in Canberra, he completed his secondary schooling at Canberra Grammar, graduated in Economics and Arts from the Australian National U ...
,
Rowan Woods Rowan Woods (born 1959) is an Australian AACTA Award-winning film and television director, actor and screenwriter. Career Film Woods directed '' The Boys'' in 1998 and won an ACCTA Award for Best Direction. The film was also entered into the 48 ...
, Clayton Jacobson,
Alethea Jones Alethea Jones is an Australian film and television director. She is best known for her films ''Lemonade Stand'' (2012) and ''Fun Mom Dinner'' (2017), and the TV series '' Queen America''. Career Jones's first short film, ''When the Wind Chang ...
,
Joel Edgerton Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his appearance in the ''Star Wars'' films ''Attack of the Clones'' (2002) and ''Revenge of the Sith'' (2005) as a young Owen Lars, a role he reprised i ...
,
Daina Reid Daina Reid (born 1964) is an Australian director and actress who has been acting since the early 1990s. She began directing in 1999. Career She is known for '' Full Frontal'' from 1995 to 1997. Her directing credits include ''Sunshine'' for Aus ...
,
Nash Edgerton Nash Edgerton (born 19 January 1973) is an Australian film director, actor and stuntman, and a principal member of the movie-making collective Blue-Tongue Films. Early life Edgerton was born in Blacktown, New South Wales and grew up in Dural ...
, Peter Carstairs,
Rob Carlton Rob Carlton (born 4 May 1971) is a Logie Award winning Australian actor and writer. He is best known for writing and starring in the comedy series ''Chandon Pictures''. He also had starring roles in the comedy satire ''The Hollowmen'' and the chi ...
,
Rebel Wilson Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson (born Melanie Elizabeth Bownds; 2 March 1980) is an Australian actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. After graduating from the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2003, Wilson began appearing as Tou ...
,
Sam Worthington Samuel Henry John Worthington (born 2 August 1976) is an Australian actor. He is best known for playing Jake Sully in ''Avatar'' and its sequel, ''Avatar: The Way of Water''; Marcus Wright in ''Terminator Salvation'', and Perseus in '' Clash o ...
,
Robert Connolly Robert Connolly (born 1967) is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. He is best known as the director and writer of the feature films ''Balibo (film), Balibo'', ''Three Dollars' ...
,
Leon Ford Leon Ford is an Australian actor who has appeared in many television and theatre productions. He is best known for his roles in the television series ''The Cooks'', ''Changi'' and the telemovie ''Stepfather of the Bride''. Biography Ford portray ...
, Justin Drape, Tim Bullock and
Elissa Down Elissa Down is an Australian filmmaker, who in 1999 and 2000, was nominated for Young Film-maker of the year at the WA Screen Awards. Her major works are a number of award-winning short films, ''Summer Angst'', ''The Cherry Orchard'', ''Her Ou ...
. Tropfest now includes the popular Trop Jr, a short filmmaking competition and festival for youngsters under 16. Other Tropfest programs have included: * APRA TROPSCORE, a film scoring and synching competition * Nikon DSLR Film Category, a category in the competition awarding short films created using DSLR technology * Holden 7 second Challenge, a 7-second film competition


Locations

The main event from 1993 to 2016 took place in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
but live satellite events have also been staged in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
,
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
,
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
,
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
and other cities. The event has been broadcast live on television by
ABC Comedy ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment progra ...
,
Movie Network Crave (formerly The Movie Network or TMN) is a Canadian premium television network and streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. Launched in 1983 as the national service First Choice, early difficulties and a subsequen ...
, SBS and other networks and webcast to viewers around Australia and the world. In August 2016 it was announced that, beginning in February 2017, the venue would be moved to
Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
in western Sydney. Tropfest has expanded to locations around the world including Japan,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...
,
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
, and
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The inaugural Tropfest Arabia, encompassing approximately 33 countries throughout the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
and
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, took place in Abu Dhabi in November 2011. Tropfest launched into the United States in June 2012, with a weekend-long event in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
and a fully-fledged Tropfest New York competition in New York on 23 June 2012 at Manhattan's
Bryant Park Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The e ...
. Tropfest New Zealand launched in 2013 and Tropfest South East Asia at
Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
in 2014.


Festival

Each year there are hundreds and hundreds of entries featuring the TSI and every year 16 finalists are screened in public to a huge live audience in Sydney. Annual audiences of around 100,000 people in The Domain have been recorded, to watch the finalists on large video screens. With a television and on-line audience, this number swells to hundreds of thousands. The Sydney screening of Tropfest 2006 was abandoned after 13 films due to severe electrical storms. Screenings in other cities were not affected. With the judges located in Sydney it was necessary to announce the winners two days later at a press conference. Each film must be no longer than seven minutes, have never been shown publicly before and contain the "Tropfest Signature Item", which changes each year, to show that the film was made specifically for the festival. In April 2007, Tropfest formed a partnership with
PBL Media Nine Entertainment (registered as Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd) is an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting, newspaper publications and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate brandi ...
which would see festival content archived and screened across various PBL properties and brands. For Tropfest 2009, pay television channel
Movie Extra A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera, or ballet production who appears in a nonspeaking or nonsinging (silent) capacity, usually in the background (for example, in an audience or busy street ...
replaced Sony as the naming rights sponsor for the next seven years. A new feature in 2009 was the live national broadcast of Tropfest and screening of the finalist films on the Movie Extra channel. Tropfest Australia 2011 was the largest Tropfest ever staged, and reached a national audience of approximately 1,000,000 people (not including the internet). Prior to the first full Tropfest New York competition in June 2012, Tropfest held annual New York screenings between 2006 and 2008. Signature items were a manhole cover, a slice, and a sunflower respectively. In November 2011, ahead of the 2012 competition, filmmakers were invited to "grab a camera, start shooting and tell their story through film", using the Tropfest NY 2012 Signature Item of "Bagel". Over a weekend in June 2012, The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas celebrated Tropfest's 20th anniversary, culminating in a screening of the best 16 films from the past two decades in the Tropfest All Star Competition. With judges Toni Collette (President of the Jury),
Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent Maguire (born June 27, 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing Peter Parker (Sam Raimi film series), the title character from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in film#Sam Raimi films, ''Spider-Man'' tril ...
,
Rebel Wilson Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson (born Melanie Elizabeth Bownds; 2 March 1980) is an Australian actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. After graduating from the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2003, Wilson began appearing as Tou ...
,
James Woods James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in '' The Trial of the ...
,
Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Prim ...
, Trevor Groth and Charles Randolph presiding over the competition, ''The Story of Bubble Boy'', directed by Sean Ascroft, ultimately took out the top prize. A few weeks later, on 23 June 2012, Tropfest New York had its debut in
Bryant Park Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The e ...
. Hosted by Hugh Jackman and including musical performances by
Alexi Murdoch Alexi Murdoch (born 27 December 1973) is a British folk musician and songwriter.Elms, Robert (22 April 2011), "BBC London 94.9". Since his debut in 2002, Murdoch has released two LPs and one EP. His music has been featured in numerous televisio ...
and Milagres, the festival attracted a crowd of approximately 10,000. Judges
Rose Byrne Mary Rose Byrne (born 24 July 1979) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut in the film ''Dallas Doll'' (1994), and continued to act in Australian film and television throughout the 1990s. She obtained her first leading film role i ...
,
Judah Friedlander Judah Friedlander (born March 16, 1969) is an American actor and comedian, known for playing the role of writer Frank Rossitano on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock''. Friedlander is also known for his role as Toby Radloff in the film ''American Splendor' ...
,
Jennifer Westfeldt Jennifer Westfeldt (born February 2, 1970) is an American actress, screenwriter, director, and producer. She is best known for co-writing, co-producing, and starring in the 2002 indie film ''Kissing Jessica Stein'', for which she received an I ...
, Scott Foundas and
Ted Hope Ted Hope (born 1962) is an American independent film producer based in New York City. He is best known for co-founding the production/sales company Good Machine, where he produced the first films of such notable filmmakers as Ang Lee, Nicole Ho ...
awarded the $20,000 first prize to director Josh Leake for his film ''Emptys''. Tropfest NY 2013 festival was held on 22 June in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, with a bridge as the signature item. In 2014 Tropfest postponed its New York event. The festival planned a 2015 event, using a kiss as the signature item, which was originally announced for 2014. Tropfest has one of the most successful channels on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, having attracted more than 45,000,000 video views for its films in a relatively short time period. In February 2013 festival founder John Polson announced a change of date to 8 December and a change of venue from the Domain to Centennial Park. ''We feel like we are changing gears, we are growing every year and Centennial Park is in some ways the emotional heart of Sydney'' The winner of the December 2013 festival, ''Bamboozled'', was accused of
homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
and
transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...
. It is a comedy in which a man sleeps with a man he believes to be his transitioned ex-girlfriend.


2015 cancellation

On 11 November Polson announced that the 2015 Sydney Tropfest had been cancelled. He said "... I have been made aware that the company contracted to raise the funding and administer the Tropfest event is unable to move forward for financial reasons.". CEO of Tropfest Festival Productions, Michael Laverty, has been unavailable for comment.


Financial difficulties

Polsons said he had discovered to his “surprise” Tropfest was facing a financial crisis and could not proceed due to a lack of funds. It emerged the management company Polson had fallen out with over the alleged “mismanagement” of Tropfest funds was managed by Laverty, his long-time Tropfest partner and its managing director. Over the following days it emerged suppliers and contracted partners of Tropfest have been experiencing payment delays for several months. As of 14 November Laverty was un-contactable for any comments. Commercial entertainment services agency The Intersection, who was retained in 2014 by Tropfest issued a statement on Facebook stating its relationship with Tropfest ended in 2014 over a pay dispute.The Daily Telegraph
/ref> An outpouring of support for Tropfest quickly appeared over social media, including Twitter and Facebook, with calls for generous benefactors, state or federal government support, or crowd-funding. On 6 December Polson announced that the Sydney festival would be held in its intended venue, Centennial Park on Sunday, 14 February 2016.
CGU Insurance CGU Insurance Limited is an Australian intermediary-based insurance company and forms part of Insurance Australia Group (IAG). CGU Insurance was formed through the global merger of Commercial Union Commercial Union plc was a large insurance ...
is the source of the necessary extra funding.


Signature item

Each year, Tropfest requires that entries include a particular "signature item" or action to ensure that they are unique and are made specifically for the festival. No TSI was required for the 1993 festival. The following are TSIs by year: * 2019Candle * 2018Rose * 2017Pineapple * 2015Card * 2014Mirror * 2013, DecemberChange * 2013, FebruaryBalloon * 2012Lightbulb * 2011Key * 2010Dice * 2009Spring * 2008The Number 8 * 2007Sneeze * 2006Bubble * 2005Umbrella * 2004Hook * 2003Rock * 2002Match * 2001Horn * 2000Bug * 1999Chopsticks * 1998Kiss * 1997Pickle * 1996Teaspoon * 1995Coffee Bean * 1994Muffin * 1993Not Applicable


See also

*
List of festivals in Australia List of festivals in Australia, including any established festival or carnival in Australia. Australian Capital Territory (including Canberra Region NSW) New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Tasmania Vi ...
*
2006 Tropfest finalists The Tropfest short film festival is held in Sydney, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the isl ...
*
2007 Tropfest finalists The Tropfest short film festival is held in Sydney, Australia each year. This is the list of 2007's short-listed films and winners. There was controversy regarding the winning film ''An Imaginary Life'' due to similarities to the American televisio ...
*
2008 Tropfest finalists 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...


References


External links

*
Tropfest YouTube Channel
{{Sydney events Film festivals established in 1993 Short film festivals in Australia