Press release from Tropfest
Movie Extra Tropfest’s 2010 official Call For Entries launches today. The 2010 Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) is DICE and filmmakers across the country and abroad are urged to visit the Tropfest website www.tropfest.com to find entry details for the world’s largest short film festival. The deadline for entries is Thursday 7 January 2010.
The 2010 festival will be held on Sunday 21 February to an anticipated live audience of over 150,000 people. Movie Extra, part of the Movie Network Channels, will again broadcast the event reaching a live television audience in excess of 235,000* Foxtel and Austar subscribers.
As Tropfest Founder and Director John Polson said, “Having your film screened in front of a live audience of over 150,000 people right across the country as well as reaching a live television audience in excess of 235,000 people on the Movie Extra channel is certainly tempting for any filmmaker.”
Tropfest is excited to announce that a mobile film category – Telstra Mobile Masterpieces (TMM) is being added to the competition for the first time.
Amanda Johnston-Pell, Telstra’s Executive Director of Brand and Communications said, "There has been a boom in sharing images and videos through mobile devices. With the rapid advancement of multimedia capabilities of mobile handsets, and the speed of sending content via Telstra’s Next G™ Network, this new category presents an exciting vehicle for filmmakers to get creative.“
"Telstra looks forward to seeing people’s creative talents explore new territory using this story telling medium," Ms Johnston-Pell said.
Filmmakers are invited to make their films on mobile phone cameras and can gain inspiration from the winning film of Tropfest NY 2008, ‘Mankind is no Island,’ by Jason van Genderen and Shane Emmett which was shot entirely on mobile phone (youtube.com/tropfest).
Films made on mobile phones will be entered into the main Tropfest competition as well as being eligible for further Telstra Mobile Masterpieces category prizes. The same rules of entry apply to all films entered into Tropfest. Films must include the TSI (Dice), be no longer than seven minutes, must be premiering at Tropfest, and must be made specifically for the festival.
“The Telstra Mobile Masterpieces mobile film category provides filmmakers another opportunity to tell their stories through the art of filmmaking. By including a mobile film category in Tropfest, we are recognising this relatively new art form and are looking forward to seeing how filmmakers continue to take up the challenge of making films on mobile phones,” said John Polson.
Tropfest’s National Information Tour for Filmmakers will take place in October. Aspiring filmmakers will have the chance to meet Tropfest alumni and find out more about entering the competition, including a session on making films on mobile devices. Filmmakers should visit the Tropfest website for details.
John Polson said, “Tropfest has proven to be a great launch pad for many filmmakers and I encourage everyone to get a move on in making their films by the entry deadline of 7 January. I’m really looking forward to seeing this year’s entries and uncovering some new filmmaking talent.”