Homepage Tropfest newsroom

Tropfest Roughcut Returns to Sydney

Announcement posted by Tropfest 25 Jun 2014

Tropfest Australia today announces the first line-up of speakers for Tropfest Roughcut, an engaging and interactive film industry event taking place on July 26, at Sydney’s Darling Quarter. The announcement comes as Tropfest and Trop Jr call for entries for the 2014 competition.  

Featuring conversations with industry heavyweights from Wolf Creek star John Jarratt to comedy great Dan Ilic, among others this full-day event will be an incredible forum of conversation about creativity in the film and TV industry.

Including a mix of networking sessions, panel discussions and conversations with industry greats, tickets are just $30 and are expected to sell out fast.

With a career spanning decades in the industry, Australian screen star John Jarratt (Wolf Creek) will share his experiences from making his screen breakthrough in 1975’s The Great Macarthy, through his successful television career including McLeod’s Daughters, to international acclaim through his stand-out roles in Wolf Creek, Australia and Django Unchained, and his directorial debut in the upcoming StalkHer.

Attendants will also hear from Australian motion picture stills photographer, Jasin Boland (Mad Max: Fury RoadSkyfallThe Matrix), one of only 45 members accepted into the exclusive LA based Society of Motion Picture Stills Photographers. With still photography being one of the first points of contact between film maker and audience, capturing strong key art is an important part of the film production process. Jasin will share his insights into the challenges in capturing strong stills from some of the most expensive film sets around the world. 

Dan Ilic will bring insight into how crowd-funding created the opportunity for his ABC Radio National show A Rational Fear to be transformed into a digital comedy hub. The project made headlines earlier this year reaching the $50,000 crowd-funding goal to cover production of a 10 week digital season.

Australian TV and radio personality Marc Fennell (The Feed, That Movie Guy, Hungry Beast) will MC Roughcut, bringing his trademark wit and knowledge to the event’s presentation. Fennell is most listened to film critic in Australia, reaching over 1.9 million people each week on triple j radio.

Roughcut attendees will also have an incredible opportunity to engage directly with representatives of Facebook AU, who will be running a session on social media marketing. Using case studies to show what (and what not) to do. This session will provide a fresh take on how the continually expanding social media platform can help filmmakers reach audiences on a larger scale.

Roughcut is proudly supported by Screen NSW and Nikon Australia.

This year is expected to be Tropfest’s biggest yet, with hundreds of filmmakers competing for a chance to be one of the 16 Finalists whose short films will premiere live to a national audience of around 150,000, as well as broadcast free-to-air on SBS 2.

A panel of industry and celebrity judges will select a winner live on the Festival Night, with the First Prize-winning filmmaker to take home an incredible prize pack including: a brand new Toyota, $10,000 cash, a trip to Los Angeles for a week of meetings with film executives thanks to Motion Picture Association and the Australian Screen Association plus a Nikon D800 + $2,000 RRP worth of lenses and accessories.

Entries officially open on August 14 and will close on October 2, 2014. Films must be no longer than seven minutes and must include this year’s Tropfest Signature Item (TSI): “MIRROR”. This year’s Trop Jr’s signature item is “FLY”. It is up to entrants to interpret how they will include the TSI in their film and filmmakers are encouraged to be as creative or as literal as they like.
 
Tropfest had humble beginnings at the Tropicana Café in Sydney’s Darlinghurst where an eager crowd of 200 showed up to watch a short film screening which John Polson had organised.

Twenty two years on, Tropfest attracts a live audience of around 150,000 in Australia and the Festival has grown internationally with standalone competitions in New Zealand, South East Asia, New York and the Middle East.

THE DETAILS
The fourth annual Tropfest Roughcut will take place at Lend Lease Theatre, Darling Quarter on Saturday July 26.
 
Tickets are just $30 for the full day event
 
Tickets are available at: http://tropfest.com/au/roughcut/
 
Visit www.tropfest.com/au for festival details, screening venues and regular updates on all things Trop!

About Tropfest
 
Tropfest is Australia’s most prestigious short film festival and one of its most iconic cultural events. It is also the largest short film festival in the world. Founded in 1993 by film director John Polson as a small screening for family and friends at Sydney’s Tropicana Café, the Festival now attracts a national event audience of around 150,000 people. The event is hosted in Sydney with a live national broadcast on SBS 2. The short film competition is unique in that every film must be made specifically for Tropfest, will premiere at Tropfest Australia and include the Tropfest Signature Item (TSI), which changes each year. 16 Finalists are selected from an average 650 entries. Tropfest has expanded internationally to include new competitions and festivals in North America, (New York), the Middle East, New Zealand and South East Asia.
 
Tropfest Live Television Broadcast
After successfully broadcasting the event on SBS ONE in February 2013 and SBS 2 in December 2013, Tropfest will be shown live on SBS 2 for the next four years. SBS will exclusively broadcast the festival night as well as 13 weeks of additional Tropfest content in the lead up to the live event.
 
Entering Tropfest Australia 2014
The Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) is: “MIRROR”.
All filmmakers must adhere to the following guidelines:
  • Your film must be made specifically for Tropfest Australia 2014
  • Your film’s first public screening must be Tropfest Australia 2014
  • Your film must be no longer than 7 minutes (including titles and credits)
  • Your film must contain the 2014 Tropfest Australia Signature Item (TSI) ‘MIRROR’
  • Your film must be in 16:9 ratio
  • Your film must be submitted to Tropfest Australia via our online entry system.
Entering Trop Jr 2014
 To be eligible, the filmmaker, and each participant in a group entry (except actors) must be 15 years or younger
  • Entries close 2 October, 2014 at 6pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Time). Entry to Trop Jr is free, kids can enter individually or as a group and multiple entries are permitted.
  • Films can be any style or genre.
  • In true Trop tradition, each film must also include a Trop Jr Signature Item (TSI), which for 2014 is “FLY”.
  • The TSI can be interpreted in any way the filmmaker chooses, as long as it is referenced somewhere in the film.
  • Trop Jr will take place during the afternoon before the main Tropfest festival at Sydney’s Centennial Park on Sunday 07 December 2014, from 11am- 2pm.
  • The films will also be screened at a number of other capital cities.
  • Parents, teachers and carers should carefully read all of the 2014 Trop Jr Entry Guidelines, Frequently Asked Questions and Terms & Conditions that are set out on the Trop Jr website.
  • Check www.tropjr.com for further event details and subscribe to Trop Jr News for regular updates.
 
Tropfest Managing Director – Michael Laverty
Michael Laverty is a highly experienced business leader and entrepreneur with over 26 years’ experience in the fields of accounting, financial management, marketing and major event production. He was born in South Africa and immigrated to Australia in 1999 with his wife Kathy and two daughters, Jessica and Jaimie. He is the managing director of Tropfest in Australia, the world’s largest short film festival where he has worked for over 10 years. He is a passionate supporter of short film and the industry. Michael is an excellent communicator, team builder and motivator. He speaks regularly at youth leadership forums. He has a particular passion for the development of young people, particularly in the field of next generational leadership. Michael played a major role in the development and management of Edutrain, a high-level leadership development program focused on the Youth of South Africa. He was also actively involved in the social justice movement in South Africa. He is a tremendous story teller and motivator for young leaders. He and his wife run a youth mentoring program, run relational training workshops and have a deep passion for social justice issues.
 
Tropfest Roughcut
 
ROUGHCUT BIOS
 
Dan Ilic
Dan Ilic can be considered a veteran of the Australian comedy scene. He has successfully tried his hand at presenting, filmmaking and stand-up comedy over the past two decades. His skill and natural talent across the board has resulted in his involvement in comedy hits such The Ronnie Johns Half Hour, Beaconsfield: The Musical and more recently successfully setting up his news based program A Rational Fear online.    
 
John Jarratt
Starting his film career way back in 1975, John Jarratt has earned himself a spot in Australia’s highest echelon of stars within the Australian Film and TV scene over the years. From the small screen to the big, John’s presence is always felt in every appearance he makes. He gained international fame for his role as the psychotic serial killer Mick Taylor in the Australian outback horror film, Wolf Creek.
 
Marc Fennell
The TV industry in Australia has become used to hearing the name Marc Fennell when talk of rising stars comes about. The young achiever first started receiving attention early in his career after winning the ‘AFI Young Film Critics Competition’ in 2002. However, Marc first started reaching television audiences in 2004 as one of the presenters of The Movie Show and built a loyal following as That Movie Guy, Triple J’s resident film critic and of course co-host of Tropfest 2014. Fennell is also currently an anchor on the SBS current affairs program The Feed and the ABC Radio National programme Download This Show showing his versatility in the media.
 
Jasin Boland
Jasin began his career as a press photographer at the Sunday Times newspaper in Perth. After some time with the South China Morning Post and The Sun in London, Jasin began moving towards the film industry. His first job was with Bruce Beresford’s Paradise road in 1997, but things really took off after his work on The Matrix series of films. From there Jasin worked on each of the Mission Impossible & The Bourne franchise films among many, many others. In short, he hasn’t stopped since. Last year’s projects saw Jasin in Ireland (Dracula Untold), Nepal (Everest) along with the various locations for Mad Max: Fury Road. Currently back at home on the Gold Coast Jasin is working on San Andreas before taking off again in September for another project.