Tropfest
Encyclopedia
Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival
.
Tropfest began in 1993 as a screening for 200 people in a cafe in Sydney but has since become the largest platform for short films in the world. Tropfest Australia takes place in February each year in front of a live audience of approximately 150,000. The main event takes place in Sydney but live satellite events are also staged in Melbourne
, Canberra
, Brisbane
, Adelaide
, Hobart
, Perth
and others. The event is also broadcast on television and webcast live to viewers around Australia and the world.
Increasingly, Tropfest events take place in cities around the world including London, Berlin, Toronto, Bangkok, and New York. The inaugural Tropfest Arabia, encompassing approximately 33 countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa, will take place in Abu Dhabi in November 2011.
Tropfest distinguishes itself from other events by being a 'content generation' platform, rather than merely 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.
Tropfest's prize pool is one of the richest in the short film arena, and includes international trips to develop filmmaking careers and 'work experience' with top filmmakers. As a result, Tropfest has become known as the undisputed premiere launch pad for filmmaking careers, although to date this has been most notable in Australia, where many commercial and critical successes are directed by Tropfest alumni.
, an inner-eastern suburb of Sydney. Created by well-known Australian-born filmmaker John Polson
, the first festival was held in 1993 and was originally called the Tropicana Short Film Festival.
Since the beginning, Tropfest has managed to attract support from some of the most respected people in the local and international film world including Russell Crowe
, Nicole Kidman
, Tom Cruise
and others. Corporate supporters have included Intel, Sony
, Qantas
, Cointreau
and MadFish Wines
. Movie Extra
is currently the primary sponsor of Tropfest Australia.
The winners are selected by a panel of judges made up of well known Australian and international film directors, actors, screen writers and producers, in addition to the previous year's winner.
Other Tropfest programs includes
to watch the finalists on three large video screens. Over 150,000 people attend Australia-wide.
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 in 2008 was ‘8’(could be anything that incorporates an eight) to show that the film was made specifically for the festival.
For Tropfest 2007, Hoyts
had a La Premiere VIP Lounge which sat atop the Tropfest production marquee in Sydney.
In April 2007, Tropfest formed a partnership with PBL Media
which would see festival content archived and screened across various PBL properties and brands.
For Tropfest 2009, pay television channel Movie Extra
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 by far the largest Tropfest ever staged, and reached a national audience of approximately 1,000,000 people (not including the internet).
Tropfest is known for having one of the most successful Channels on YouTube, having attracted almost 10,000,000 video views for its films in a relatively short time period.
No TSI was required for the 1993 festival.
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
.
Tropfest began in 1993 as a screening for 200 people in a cafe in Sydney but has since become the largest platform for short films in the world. Tropfest Australia takes place in February each year in front of a live audience of approximately 150,000. The main event takes place in Sydney but live satellite events are also staged in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and others. The event is also broadcast on television and webcast live to viewers around Australia and the world.
Increasingly, Tropfest events take place in cities around the world including London, Berlin, Toronto, Bangkok, and New York. The inaugural Tropfest Arabia, encompassing approximately 33 countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa, will take place in Abu Dhabi in November 2011.
Tropfest distinguishes itself from other events by being a 'content generation' platform, rather than merely 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.
Tropfest's prize pool is one of the richest in the short film arena, and includes international trips to develop filmmaking careers and 'work experience' with top filmmakers. As a result, Tropfest has become known as the undisputed premiere launch pad for filmmaking careers, although to date this has been most notable in Australia, where many commercial and critical successes are directed by Tropfest alumni.
History
The festival's name is derived from the first year's location—the Tropicana Cafe in DarlinghurstDarlinghurst, New South Wales
Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney...
, an inner-eastern suburb of Sydney. Created by well-known Australian-born filmmaker John Polson
John Polson
John Polson is an Australian actor, director and founder of Tropfest. In February 2001, Polson attended the 12th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Hokkaidō, Japan where his film Siam Sunset won the Minami Toshiko Award...
, the first festival was held in 1993 and was originally called the Tropicana Short Film Festival.
Since the beginning, Tropfest has managed to attract support from some of the most respected people in the local and international film world including Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
, Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
, Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
and others. Corporate supporters have included Intel, Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, Qantas
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...
, Cointreau
Cointreau
Cointreau is a brand of triple sec produced in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou, France. It is drunk as an apéritif and digestif, and is a component of several well-known cocktails. It was originally called "Curaçao Blanco Triple Sec".-Production:...
and MadFish Wines
Howard Park Wines
Howard Park Wines is Western Australia's largest family-owned winery owned by the Burch family, which is responsible for such brands as Howard Park, MadFish, and Marchand & Burch. With two established Wineries based in both Margaret River, Western Australia and Denmark in the Great Southern...
. Movie Extra
Movie Network
Movie Network Channels is an Australian premium television movie service that consists of five original channels , two SD timeshifts and three HD simulcasts...
is currently the primary sponsor of Tropfest Australia.
The winners are selected by a panel of judges made up of well known Australian and international film directors, actors, screen writers and producers, in addition to the previous year's winner.
Other Tropfest programs includes
- Trop JrTrop JrTrop Jr is a short film festival featuring films produced by Australians aged 15 years and younger. Trop Jr has been part of the Tropfest film festival since 2008 and is held in Sydney, Australia each year...
, a short filmmaking competition and festival for kids under 15, - MAX TROPSCORE, a film scoring and synching competition, and
- Mobile Masterpieces, a competition specifically focused on short films created using mobile phones.
Festival
In 2006 there were over 700 entrants and every year 16 finalists are screened in public parks and cafes around Australia. Sydney's annual audience of around 100,000 people attend The DomainThe Domain, Sydney
The Domain is 34 hectares of open space in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Sydney central business district, near Woolloomooloo. The Domain adjoins the Royal Botanic Gardens and is managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens Trust, a division of the New South...
to watch the finalists on three large video screens. Over 150,000 people attend Australia-wide.
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 in 2008 was ‘8’(could be anything that incorporates an eight) to show that the film was made specifically for the festival.
For Tropfest 2007, Hoyts
Hoyts
The Hoyts Group is an Australian company consisting of Hoyts Exhibition, Hoyts Distribution and Val Morgan.Hoyts Exhibition manages 450 screens across 40 Australian and 10 New Zealand cinema complexes; making it Australia's second largest cinema chain. Val Morgan, the cinema advertising arm of the...
had a La Premiere VIP Lounge which sat atop the Tropfest production marquee in Sydney.
In April 2007, Tropfest formed a partnership with PBL Media
PBL Media
Nine Entertainment Co. is a media company owned by CVC Asia Pacific.Originally a 50/50 joint venture with Consolidated Media Holdings, in June 2007 PBL announced that it would sell a further 25% to CVC for A$ 515 million...
which would see festival content archived and screened across various PBL properties and brands.
Movie Network
Movie Network Channels is an Australian premium television movie service that consists of five original channels , two SD timeshifts and three HD simulcasts...
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 by far the largest Tropfest ever staged, and reached a national audience of approximately 1,000,000 people (not including the internet).
Tropfest is known for having one of the most successful Channels on YouTube, having attracted almost 10,000,000 video views for its films in a relatively short time period.
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.- 2012 - Lightbulb
- 2011 - Key
- 2010 - Dice
- 2009 - Spring
- 2008 - The Number 8
- 2007 - Sneeze
- 2006 - Bubble
- 2005 - Umbrella
- 2004 - Hook
- 2003 - Rock
- 2002 - Match
- 2001 - Horn
- 2000 - Bug
- 1999 - Chopsticks
- 1998 - Kiss
- 1997 - Gherkin
- 1996 - Teaspoon
- 1995 - Coffee Bean
- 1994 - Muffin
No TSI was required for the 1993 festival.
See also
- List of festivals in Australia
- 2004 Tropfest finalists
- 2005 Tropfest finalists
- 2006 Tropfest finalists2006 Tropfest finalistsThe Tropfest short film festival is held in Sydney, Australia each year. This is the List of 2006's Short Listed films and winners.Malice In WonderlandDairy Farmers Youth Award 2006Directed by Sarah Goddard and Emily-Kate Byrne...
- 2007 Tropfest finalists2007 Tropfest finalistsThe 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 television series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.-The...
- 2008 Tropfest finalists2008 Tropfest finalistsThe Tropfest short film festival is held in Sydney, Australia each year. The festival was won by Marry Me. Following is a list of the finalists....
- 2009 Tropfest finalists
- 2010 Tropfest finalists
- 2011 Tropfest finalists