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TROPPERS TAKE A BREATH: ENTRY DEADLINE EXTENDED

Announcement posted by Tropfest 10 Sep 2014

Tropfest Reveals Deadline Extension
Filmmakers from all over the world have been hard at work on their short films to submit to Tropfest, the world’s largest short film festival.
 
Festival organisers have confirmed that filmmakers now have an additional week to submit their films, with a new deadline of Thursday October 9, 2014.
 
This means there’s a full four weeks left to wrap shooting and put the final finishing touches on those filmic masterpieces, so it’s time to get cracking! The Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) this year is ‘MIRROR’ and filmmakers are encouraged to be as creative in their interpretation of this as they like.
 
The Tropfest team have revealed that entries so far have dealt with some challenging themes and issues. 
 
“Love triangles, cheating in relationships, crime, homelessness, unemployment, planning for one’s own funeral, growing old, and death have been a recurrent pattern for this year’s entries,” said Festival Manager, Henry Kalaf. “Oh and zombies. There’s always a zombie flick or two in there somewhere!” he said.
 
With entries coming in from all over the globe, including Egypt Syria, Miami, New York, LA and London as well as from filmmakers closer to home in Manjimp in WA, Bega in New South Wales and Callington in South Australia, Festival organisers are expecting this years Festival to be bigger than ever.
 
Tropfest Managing Director, Michael Laverty says “It is so exciting to see these stories emerge from all over Australia, and further abroad – we know we’re going to be celebrating the work of some seriously creative and talented filmmakers this December”
 
From hundreds of entries, 16 finalists will be chosen and these short films will premiere live to a national audience of around 150,000 as well as broadcast free-to-air on SBS 2 to an even bigger home audience on December 7, 2014.
 
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.
 
Many filmmakers are going to quite extreme lengths to get the perfect shot. Peter Bowdidge was shooting his zombie short film in Greenbushes, WA when he had a run in with officers from the nearest police station. “We had body bags lined up all down the street. Police from the nearest station to Greenbushes were called to do a few drive-bys and have a good look,” Bowdidge said.
 
Shane Anderson’s short film cast battled extreme heat for his entry. “The most difficult part of making the film was shooting in Sorrento, Victoria on a 40 degree day. It was set in winter and all the cast had to be wrapped up in winter clothes during running scenes. The lead actress had to get so active in the film that she was sick due to the heat. But she was a trooper and kept on going,” Anderson said.
 
Entries to the popular Nikon DSLR Film Category will also stay open until October 9. Typically, 50% of Tropfest entries are made entirely on DSLR cameras, and Tropfest organisers expect this figure to rise as the popularity of DSLR technology increases within the filmmaking industry.
 
Jim Lounsbury, writer and director of Love is Now, a film by Eponine Films shot exclusively on Nikon DSLR cameras, is one of the first to attest to the incredible functionality of the technology.
 
Lounsbury explains “When we announced that we would be shooting Love is Now on a Nikon camera and Nikkon lenses last year at Tropfest, we had no idea that Nikon was developing the D810, which has a number of distinct advantages for filmmakers, such as shooting in slow motion at up to 60 frames per second, and new cine image profiles... these were things we had been asking Nikon about for over a year, and they listened. “
 
“Having recently wrapped shooting on Love is Now, the whole team has been continually impressed by the imagery, and are very proud to be bringing the film to cinema audiences in the coming months," Lounsbury explains.
The winner of the Nikon DSLR Film Category will receive a brand new Nikon D610 and $3,000 RRP worth of lenses and accessories. All films entered into this category are also eligible to be selected for the big prize as one of the Official Finalists in the main competition.
 
For the more musically-inclined, entries to APRA Tropscore will also remain open until October 9. The unique competition asks musicians and composers to score or synch an original track to a film provided by Tropfest.
 
The Tropscore winner will walk away with $5000 in cash and a once in a life opportunity to perform their score at Tropfest this December.
 
With a sunny December date in Sydney’s picturesque Centennial Park, Tropfest 2014 is planned to be bigger than ever.
 
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 that Tropfest founder 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.

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