Title: Tropfest and the Short-film genre

Author: Steve Baker: St Ursula’s College, KIngsgrove

Area of Study: Popular Culture (Genre: Short-films)

Focus study Students are to examine ONE popular culture that conforms to the distinguishing characteristics and has a global acceptance by examining: • the creation and development of the popular culture: − the origins of the popular culture − the development of the popular culture from a local to a global level − the process of commodification for the popular culture − the role of mythology in the creation and perpetuation of the popular culture • the consumption of the popular culture: − the consumers of the popular culture and the nature of its consumption − the relationship of heroes and mythology to media and consumption − how globalisation and technologies have influenced consumption − the relationship of access and consumption to age, class, ethnicity, gender, location, sexuality − how consumption and ownership of paraphernalia influence a sense of identity • the control of the popular culture: − the ownership of the popular culture and the tensions between consumers and producers − the stakeholders and how they influence the popular culture – family, peer groups, media, marketers, governments, global groups − the role and impact of official and unofficial censorship − the influence of power and authority at the micro, meso and macro levels • the contribution of the popular culture to social change: − how the popular culture expresses contemporary social values − the positive and negative impact of the popular culture on wider society − The ways in which the popular culture has contributed to social change. Contemporary context • Uses examples drawn from contemporary society

Syllabus Outcomes

H2 explains the development of personal, social and cultural identity H3 analyses relationships and interactions within and between social and cultural groups

Additional reading:

• http://www.chaser.com.au/general-news/tropfest-to-support-female-directors-as-long-as-they-dont-know-they-are- female-directors/ • http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/simone-ball/the-tropfest-redemption-why-it-matters-that-half-this-years-fi/ • https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/09/tropfest-saved-itself-financially-but-can-the-film-festival-save-its-soul

The genre of short films is of historical importance in Australia. So-called “Newsreel Cinemas” such as ’s State Theatrette and Roma Cinemas showed short films primarily during workers’ lunch breaks up the 1980’s. Viewers expected to see short film - often news items - before main feature films during the standard session times of 11am, 2pm, 5pm and 8pm daily. Such short films are now featured in replicas of theatrettes at the Powerhouse Museum and the National Film and Sound Archives in .

Internationally, short films have been historically recognised at film festivals and honoured at the annual Academy Awards. The attraction of short films is that they can be low budget, opening them up to first- time and amateur filmmakers in particular.

In 1993, a fledgling filmmaker called John Polson put together a series of short films at the Tropicana Cafe in Darlinghurst, Sydney. This was so successful that street viewings of the competition ensued and after several years the competition reached audiences numbering into the thousands. “Tropfest”, named after the cafe, became a hit. Thus “Tropfest” was born: the idea that of a competition of short films (16 finalists) became free to the general public to watch and one in which entrants were asked to put together films based around a signature item, such as a mirror, a sneeze, a balloon or a card. The signature item had to appear in each of the films considered, this made sure that films weren’t shown anywhere else prior to submission, and it restricted entries.

“Tropfest” is now a global phenomenon, with “Tropfest New York” being the most prestigious outside of Sydney. (Filmmakers Nick Baker and Tristan Klein are Australian film producers from “Seek and Hide” who won Tropfest NY in 2013 with “The Unlikely Maestro”) Tropfest films from Australia are routinely shown on international flights. Tropfest Dubai” is also considered a great success.

Tropfest has become a brand, commodified to the point where its very name remains the intellectual property of John Polson - despite international attempts to franchise the product Polson remains at the helm of Tropfest operations.

The allure and mythology of Tropfest is that “everyone with a movie camera can make a film”. This was evidence in 2008 when the film “No Man is an Island” won Tropfest NY - shot entirely on the producer’s mobile phone. Nonetheless, whilst this image of amateurism may be true in theory (as it is for Seek and Hide productions) this “mythology” of something “larger than life”, the reality is that production companies with cutting-edge technology invariably find their way into the final 16. A case in point is the 2016 Tropfest winner “Shiny”.

From humble beginnings the basic recipe for Tropfest has remained to this day: an innovative short film competition which has seen a number of “copycat” versions such as “Flickerfest” try to emulate its success.

Consumers are typically threefold. Those who witness the short films for the first time at a Sydney venue such as the Domain; those who see the films live for the first time at home on Foxtel’s channel (Movie Extra) and on SBS2, and those who can access YouTube see the films immediately after the films are screened.

The heroes of the festival are the filmmakers who are literally given red-carpet treatment and get to meet other “heroes” such as and Mel Gibson (judges of the finalists). This fuels a keen interest in the festival thereby maximising consumption.

Needless to say, Tropfest is a strong tourist event; not just at the point of the ceremony (Sydney) but throughout other capitals, regions and suburbs (Hazlehurst, Gymea). Consumption of Tropfest is free, both at the event, and by implication, online. It has particular appeal to the Gen Y demographic, arguably the first of the so-called “digital natives”. Significantly, it is strongly dominated by male producers - and actors- as evidence in the judges’ comments in 2016. A need for more female or -LGBTQI - producers and actors would be very useful. Paraphernalia has been limited to the actual DVDs of movie compilations year by year, with some stationery and toys brandishing the recognisable logo.

For a time, it looked as if the 2016 Tropfest would not go ahead, due to financial difficulties made more pronounced by Polson’s refusal to not franchise the Tropfest name to places such as China. The stakeholders - other than audiences - remain business patrons and local government. The “easy way out” would have been to commodify the name with a sponsor’s brand (think “Emirates Cup”) but this was eschewed.

In terms of content, every effort is made to make sure the finalists possess content that is appropriate to a general audience. However, there is not classification of films as such, meaning that sexual references, unsavoury language, violence and drug use may permeate the finalists’ content. Often the content of such films is comedic, as comedies tend to prevail year by year.

The power of judges is paramount, with some stinging criticisms by the general of public previous winners. “Animal Beat box” 2011 was considered to be a copy of a previous posting on YouTube. Social media certainly lets criticism be known. In terms of the Sydney Calendar, Tropfest is considered a bonanza for tourists and puts Sydney on the map as hosting the “world’s biggest short-film festival”. Although the “formula” for each Tropfest remains the same, its acceptance has meant a shift from the Domain to Centennial Park to accommodate such vast crowds. (As stated, it remains a “boy’s club” in terms of the producers and actors).

Tropfest is very adroit in expressing contemporary themes in society; loss of childhood; socialisation experiences; mental disability; the plight of the underclass - these films’ themes have all won first place.

It is seen as a springboard to bigger and better things for winners. The chance to meet with film producers in LA is part of the first-place prize. Whilst this may be beneficial for the winner, the knock-on effect for the wider society is contemplation of “everyman” themes which affect us all.

At this time of writing, Tropfest 2017 is an uncertain proposition, perhaps a victim of its own success. Whilst the name remains so tightly associated with its father-figure John Polson, and whilst stakeholders haggle over financial inappropriateness, Tropfest’s near future is uncertain. Nonetheless, Tropfest remains a popular culture in its own right, and is likely to continue its successes into the near future.