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It was when his teenage daughters started suggesting John Polson bring back Tropfest so Taylor Swift could attend that the idea really took hold.
“They want Tropfest back because they want me to call Olivia Rodrigo, they want me to call Gracie Abrams and they want me to call Taylor Swift,” the founder of what’s long been described as the world’s largest short film festival said. “That’s what it’s all about for them.”
A fixture on the summer events calendar before the pandemic, Tropfest is coming back in February.
Family lobbying aside, Polson had already been feeling it was time to revive the festival for the first time since 2019.
After months of discussions and negotiations, the New York-based actor-turned-producer-director has announced that Tropfest - one of the country’s leading platforms for emerging film and TV talent and a fixture on the summer events calendar - will return in Centennial Park on February 22.
The 16 finalists will screen in the park, at other sites around the country, and globally on a dedicated YouTube channel.
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The reinvented festival’s high-profile launch on Monday morning attracted praise from NSW Premier Chris Minns, NRL, Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys (the chair of the new Tropfest Foundation), Sarah Murdoch, and some of the directors whose careers were launched when their shorts screened at the festival.
“It’s not about trying to go back in a time machine,” a delighted Polson said. “It’s about trying to keep what was amazing about it, then reinventing it.”
His enthusiasm dovetailed with V’landys’ interest in creating a short film festival as a new crowd-pulling event for Sydney that would provide opportunities for young filmmakers. After their first meeting on Zoom, they decided to collaborate.
The not-for-profit Tropfest Foundation, which has V’landys, actor-producer Bryan Brown and Terrace Tower Group chief executive Richard Weinberg on the board, will run both the event and year-round activities to encourage emerging talent. It plans a digital skills and development program in October, several days of storytelling talks and workshops in February, and mentorships.
Polson described it as “a year-round runway for the filmmakers ... to give them 12 months of support that really gets them into the next stage of their career”.
He thought there had been a lack of opportunities for rising talents since Tropfest’s absence.
His teenage daughters want him to call Olivia Rodrigo, Gracie Abrams and Taylor Swift: John Polson in Parramatta Park in 2017.Credit: James Brickwood
“When we wrapped it up - I didn’t know for sure if we were wrapping it up forever - I thought something would fill its place,” he said. “But nothing did fill its place, and if anything, people are more embracing of Tropfest than they were before. If you lose something, you kind of realise how valuable it was.”
Directors whose careers Tropfest helped launch include Paul Fenech (Fat Pizza, Housos), Clayton Jacobson (Kenny), Nash Edgerton (Mr Inbetween), Robert Connolly (Paper Planes, The Dry), Gregor Jordan (Two Hands), Emma Freeman (Stateless, The Newsreader), Damon Gameau (Future Council), Abe Forsythe (Wolf Like Me) and Alethea Jones (Peacemaker).
For a night that always had a relaxed democratic charm, it featured some high-profile judges, including Susan Sarandon, Mel Gibson, Cate Blanchett, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicole Kidman, George Miller, Catherine Martin and Russell Crowe.
After approaching the owners of Darlinghurst’s Tropicana Caffe about screening a short film he had made, Tropfest grew from a 1993 festival in Victoria Street to Rushcutters Bay, The Domain, Centennial Park, and then, in a three-year deal, Parramatta Park.
It expanded internationally, with Tropfests held on stages in New York, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and New Zealand.
Jury head Susan Sarandon with John Poulson at Tropfest in 2018.
While Polson considered the move to Parramatta a success, he thought the return to Centennial Park would take the festival back to its roots. He hoped a partnership with YouTube would lead to simultaneous live events in Parramatta, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and other cities.
As well as backing from the NSW government, YouTube and Centennial Parklands, the corporate support for Tropfest includes the Commonwealth Bank, Qantas, and Nine Entertainment (publisher of this masthead).
Keanu Reeves and Carrie Ann Moss at Tropfest in 2005.Credit: Tropfest
Entries open on December 1, with the traditional “signature item”, which ensures films have been made specifically for Tropfest, an hourglass.
Instead of taking place before the main event, the Trop Jr competition for filmmakers under 15 will sync with the school year.
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Polson is confident that at least 60,000 people will watch the films in the park.
“Only Australians can be in competition, but any filmmaker globally can enter,” he said. “We’ll fly them in, and they’ll play out of competition in the same screening.”
Tropfest has proven remarkably resilient over the years.
In 2015, it collapsed when the company licensed to run it revealed what Polson called “a terrible and irresponsible mismanagement” of funds, then came back to life when an insurance company emerged as an angel sponsor.
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