JOHN POLSON

Edited transcript of live chat with John Polson. Thursday, 22th of February 2001

Andrew Urban: Hello and welcome to John Polson, who joins us on the eve of Tropfest number 9, held on Sunday February 25 at Sydney’s Domain – and also webcast live through Telstra in association with Urban Cinefile. John founded Tropfest and continues to be its driving force. Hello there John, thanks for joining us.
John Polson: Hi guys, Hi Andrew, Louise and everyone.

Andrew Urban: For the people who don’t know what Tropfest is, can you tell us?
John Polson: Sure, its a short film festival, the worlds biggest, its about encouraging people to make films and not just show them. It screens around Australia in venues and also on webcast each year for one night, this year Feb. 25th on Sunday and its lots of fun.

Andrew Urban: Record entries this year 580, and several from overseas; tell us a bit about those.
John Polson: It's hard to generalize about so many short films but I will say the quality is better than we have ever had, particularly the 16 finalist, we have some animation, some comedy, some drama, and surprisingly, films from South Africa, the UK, US and some other countries.

Andrew Urban: Siam: What was the judging criteria for this year?
John Polson: You have to be a friend of mine. *Laughs* The judging criteria is always the same which is, who has the best idea, told the best, regardless of financial constraints.

Andrew Urban: DRIPS: how would I go about entering a film into Tropfest?
John Polson: It's pretty simple. You get on the web site, download the entry form, you make a brilliant movie and then you pray that our judges know what they are doing.

Andrew Urban: How are the selectors and judges chosen?
John Polson: Basically a group of people who have some experience with film or short film be it as an actor, director or writer and people who have an opinion and who will know a good short film when they see one.

Andrew Urban: Tell us a bit about the team that puts Tropfest together.
John Polson: It's just me *laughs* I have a team of very loyal people, mostly who have worked on the festival for years and they have all got a specific role to play, and do it very well. Without them it wouldn't happen.

Andrew Urban: Stanley: Is there an anecdote about Tropfest you can share with us?
John Polson: If I told all the anecdotes you would run out of server space. They range from people offering bribes to get in, people breaking into our OB truck and replacing finalists tapes with their own, to people offering ...... *favours* of other kinds. There are as many anecdotes as there have been entries.

Andrew Urban: WideAngle: John, have you actually thought of entering anonymously yourself and seeing how you would rate?
John Polson: Yeah that’s a good one, sadly, I entered three films last year. None of them even got into "the best of the rest", I threatened to fire some people but it still didn’t' help.

Andrew Urban: DRIPS: out of the number of people that enter films into Tropfest how many would u say make it to serious directing and making major films?
John Polson: I guess each year, of the 16 finalists, hopefully one or two WILL become fully fledged directors, but its important to point out the amount of lesser known cases i.e. techs and actors who cut their teeth on short films generally and Tropfest films in particular.

Andrew Urban: WideAngle: Are there any entrants from outside of Australia?
John Polson: first of all welcome to the chat, yes we had entrants from the UK, USA, and a finalist from South Africa

Andrew Urban: What are some of the biggest costs associated with Tropfest?
John Polson: Well... the big one is, of course, Sunday night. For this Sunday night we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars erecting screens etc, the other costs are the keeping of things running annually, the keeping of staff who understand the plight of the short filmmaker but the big one is, as always, the big event itself.

Andrew Urban: cool_mellow: when do people start heading down to the Domain in Sydney to map out their turf for the night?
John Polson: Hi cool, stay mellow. I saw a couple of people there today would you believe. They were roping off their section of the Domain but the bulk of people start arriving on Sunday Morning. Entertainment starts about 3pm so that’s not a bad time to start thinking about showing up.

Andrew Urban: WideAngle: after 9 years are there still new things that people can come up with? It must be a hard ask to be original these days as it seem almost every technique and idea has been exploited
John Polson: I think with something creative like making films there are an infinite number of ideas to explore, ways to explore them. The rapid advance of technology almost daily opens up new ways to get it to the screen and keep it interesting.

Andrew Urban: cool_mellow: how do you feel the finalist films rate this year in terms of style and content?
John Polson: I think the films are better than those we have had before. I know I’ve said that before but with 585 films to choose from, you would hope it would be better.

Andrew Urban: How has your involvement with Tropfest affected your career – if at all?
John Polson: It's not so much affected my career, as given me another one. I don't think it’s affected my acting or directing career one way or another, except I get offered more roles in short films for some reason.

Andrew Urban: ktashton: I just want to say hello to John, thanks
John Polson: Hi KT :) Thanks to you to

Andrew Urban: DRIPS: what other movies have you directed or stared in?
John Polson: I've directed quite a few short films, and one feature film "Siam Sunset" (btw starred has two rr's) *laughs* in terms of starring in films, I have done a few Aussie movies the best known are the "Sum of us" and a small part in MI2.

Andrew Urban: What about your own filmmaking plans – you’re developing three feature films, what can you tell us about any of them?
John Polson: Well, I have one film in planning in Australian and two overseas. The first cab off the rank is a thriller that’s in the US, and then I want to come back and do a Comedy later in the year.

Andrew Urban: How do you handle people asking you about Tom and Nicole?
John Polson: It can be difficult, but I know its difficult for them too when people as about me. *chuckle*

Andrew Urban: OK - They are both mentioned as sponsors this year – are they supporting Tropfest separately or jointly?
John Polson: All I can tell you is that we received a letter and cheque from them together, although that was going back a few weeks so....... *shrugs*

Andrew Urban: boffin: What first drew you to short films?
John Polson: Not being able to afford long ones and having ideas that would be great in 10 mins but would never stretch to two hours.

Andrew Urban: DRIPS: who’s the biggest celebrity you've meet
John Polson: Well I only shook his hand but... Craig McLaughlin. I also sat on a bus next to Bert Newton once, but I didn't have the courage to say hello. *laughs*

Andrew Urban: cool_mellow: Do you see Tropfest moving in different directions -evolving so to speak any more than it already has?
John Polson: I see our film distribution manager taking over the whole office (hi Serena)

Andrew Urban: Tell us about selling video compilations of Tropfest films.
John Polson: You can buy them on the net this year for the first time. There are 16 great short films and we are expecting them to go like hot cakes.

Andrew Urban: WideAngle: John, the Australian government has placed a lot of restrictions on internet broadcasting and digital TV. This must be limiting for events like this and new wave of "digital" artists.
John Polson: It can be a legal nightmare, but we have been working on it for months and can safely go into Sunday night knowing that hundreds of thousands of people can enjoy the films around the world. In a way the restrictions can be an advantage in that filmmakers are encouraged to use original music getting composers the same opportunity with Tropfest that filmmakers have.

Andrew Urban: Bert-Newton: where can I download one of your movies?
John Polson: Firstly Bert, sorry I didn't say hi on that bus. As far as downloading one of the Tropfest movies, keep and eye on our webcast site, all of the info will be there www.telstra.com/entertainment/tropfest.

Andrew Urban: Have you ever tried to get cinemas to show Tropfest finalists or winners before the main feature?
John Polson: Not really, we haven't really pursued that angle. We have pursued a lot of other angles, namely International TV, the Internet. I think its difficult to get the cinema's to show short films for the simple reason there is no money in it.

Andrew Urban: Matt: With so many entries this year, do you think there will be separate categories next year?
John Polson: I've always avoided categories, if we really wanted to go down that path we would go over a week. To me keeping it simple is best. The only categories we might consider in the future is an international one if those entries continue to escalate, otherwise you would have 2 films per category.

Andrew Urban: nappy: You always attract celebrities to Tropfest - who is coming this year?
John Polson: Again I don't want to jump the gun but Bert has mentioned .... *laughs* Just kidding.... our judging panel so far is David Wenham, Toni Colette, Rachael Ward, Greta Sacchi and we have a couple of mystery judges to announce on the night, a mystery even to myself. *chuckle*

Andrew Urban: boffin: where did the name 'Tropfest' come from?
John Polson: Because it started at the Tropicana cafe it was initially called the Tropicana Festival, and that developed into Tropfest.

Andrew Urban: Well time is up, John has to get his beauty sleep before the big day, but many thanks for your time - and best wishes for a terrific Tropfest on Sunday. See you there during the webcast, which we are all looking forward to. Thanks to all you chatters.
John Polson: Thank you Andrew and chatters