Sony Australia and Tropfest have announced that Sony’s association as naming rights sponsor of the short film festival has come to an end. The announcement ends five successful years in partnership.
“Since Sony began its sponsorship of Tropfest in November 2003, the film festival has gone from strength to strength,” said Toby Barbour, Head of Strategy and Brand Development for Sony Australia. “The association was a natural fit due to Sony’s expertise in film-making and showcasing technologies, such as our Handycam camcorders and BRAVIA LCD TVs. We hope that through our sponsorship, filmmakers have been inspired to get out there and share their stories through film.”
“From our modest beginnings in the Tropicana cafe in 1993, to The Domain in Sydney and an audience of over 150,000 nationwide, our growth could not have been possible without Sony’s undying enthusiasm. We are enormously grateful for all of their support over the years,” said John Polson, Founder and Director of Tropfest.
The naming rights sponsorship included a range of initiatives, such as:
- Roughcut filmmaking seminars. Introduced in 2005, Sony hosted the annual free seminar to demystify the filmmaking process with renowned industry names, technology experts and past winners lending their knowledge and expertise.
- Promotion of HD technologies – steady increase in filmmaker adoption of this format, in 2008 over 40 per cent of the competition’s entries were filmed in HD and nearly all finalists’ entries were in HD
- Onsite entertainment – including PlayStation, Handycam camcorder filming, MMS and SMS activations
- Prizes – contribution to First Prize and sponsor of both the Sony Ericsson People’s Choice Award and the Sony Foundation Young Talent Award
Recent festival milestones include:
- First animated film wins the competition (2007)
- Broadcast of festival on free to air, mobile and online (2007)
- Eight regional festival locations and one metropolitan location, Adelaide, were introduced as venues, bringing the total festival reach up to seven capital cities and eight regional locations (from 2007)
- Live satellite crosses between Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne (from 2007)
- TropJr, the first short film festival for kids launched (2008)
[Releae by Sony]