John Polson's blog

From its inauguration in a small café in 1993, John nurtured and grew Sony Tropfest into a national event which is now also considered the world's largest short film festival. During its infant years, John combined organising the festival with his flourishing acting career and directing career.

John has received a myriad of acting accolades, including nominations for his work in "Blood Oath" and "Barlow and Chambers". He was the joint winner of the Film Critics' Circle award for best supporting actor in "The Sum of Us" and won the AFI Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in "The Boys". In 1997, the Australian Film Institute (AFI) awarded John the Byron Kennedy Award for his contribution to the Australian film industry.

View profile details

Blog

June 19

Watch "An Imaginary Life"

2:56 AM | Add a comment | Send a message | Permalink | View trackbacks (0)

March 12

And the winner is...

Well, our 15th festival has come and gone - and it was a great one. We had a packed house in the Domain and great crowds at all other other capital city and regional venues. The vibe on the night was just incredible and fortunately for the Sydneysiders - it didn't rain!

As always, it was an incredible experience to watch as the audience got settled and grew quiet in anticipation as the sun went down, and then as it came alive with laughter and cheers as the the big screens lit up with our 16 finalist films. The crowd's response was remarkable - and a real testament to the talent, creativity and hardwork of our filmmakers.

The winning film was a brilliant and sensitive story called 'An Imaginary Life' by Queensland filmmaker, Steve Baker. It was Steve's third Tropfest film (the other 2 also made the finals), and the first animation ever to win Tropfest! We are all very proud of Steve's work and look forward to seeing where the Tropfest ride will take him!

We've got some great photos of the event posted up here - so have a look at the gallery. The finalist films are also available for download from the ninemsn Tropfest video portal, so if you haven't had a chance to see the films yet, please do - you're in for a treat! Check them out now.

Lastly, if you're thinking about making a Tropfest film - then now's the time to get started. The Tropfest Signature Item for 2008 is ' 8 ' - so be sure to include it somewhere/ somehow in your film! (Check www.tropfest.com for other entry guidelines.)

All the best

John Polson

February 05

Tropfest 2007 finalists have been chosen

Hey Everyone!

Less than two weeks now until the big day! First of all, I'd like to thank ALL the filmmakers who entered the festival this year. We received just over 600 entries - representing Australian filmmakers from all walks of life and from every state in the country - as well as a few international entrants. The quality of the films was fantastic which means preselection was no easy task as there were so many great stories and ideas.

After a lot of consideration, and a lot of help from preselectors, I'm very pleased to announce the 16 Finalists for Sony Tropfest 2007! From animations to gripping drama-thrillers, comedies and pieces on current events - there is something in this year's program for everyone in the audience. If you want a sneak peak at the finalists go to http://tropfest.ninemsn.com.au/

Congratulations to each of the 16 - and to everyone who made a film this year. I look forward to seeing you all at the festival and hope you enjoy it!

John P

1:10 AM | Add a comment | Send a message | Permalink | View trackbacks (0)

January 17

Hi Everyone

When Tropfest began 15 years ago, it was just me and a few of my friends watching my first short film at the Tropicana Caffe in Sydney, Australia. Now, a national audience of more than 150,000 people comes together on one night, and 16 short films are selected from hundreds of entries each year.

Entries for the 2007 festival just closed, so we’ll all be very busy over the coming weeks watching the shortlisted films and choosing our next 16 Finalists. It’s one of my favourite parts of the job! I’m always so impressed by the quality of the ideas and am moved by the amount of passion and work that goes into making these films. I can assure you, choosing the finalists is never an easy decision! I hope you’ll all come down to Tropfest on February 18^th to check out the films. Please go to our website (www.tropfest.com) to see what venue is closest to you!

People often wonder what happens to filmmakers ‘after Tropfest’ and the answer is: lots. Many of our filmmakers go on to do great things in film and television. We recently began production on "September” - the first feature film to come through the Tropfest Feature Program. Peter Carstairs, who directed and co-wrote "September" was a 2006 Tropfest Finalist, and has done a wonderful job with his debut film. Check out the "photos" section for some shots taken during the filming of "September".

I am also in post-production on my next directing project called “Tenderness”. The cast includes Russell Crowe and Laura Dern and will be out later this year.

So, that’s it for now, thanks for visiting. I'm going to be updating this blog regularly so I hope you’ll touch base again soon. See you at Tropfest in February!

John Polson

JP's top 9 films



9. “Strangers On a Train” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951)

8. “The Pianist” (Roman Polanski, 2002)

7. “City of God” (Fernando Meirelles, 2002)

6. “Sexy Beast” (Jonathan Glazer, 2000)

5. “Duel” (Steven Spielberg, 1971)

4. “An Incident At Owl Creek Bridge” (short film, Robert Enrico, 1962)

3. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (Milos Forman, 1975)

2. “The King Of Comedy” (Martin Scorsese, 1983)

1. “Cool Hand Luke” (Stuart Rosenberg, 1967)

Profile

John Polson

Links

Archives

Friends (3)