To a collective sigh of relief from amateur (and professional) filmmakers across Australia, Tropfest has announced that they are back in business for 2016. CGU Insurance were the saviours for the last Tropfest, and they have rejoined to make sure the event goes ahead again this year – the 25th instalment.
Tropfest TSI
Tropfest 25 features ‘Pineapple’ as the signature item, meaning that a pineapple needs to be included or referenced in all entries for the seven-minute maximum short film contest. I always like to see how filmmakers use the TSI in their efforts.
Writing Now
Now, the focus turns to coming up with a script. Tropfest has come under fire recently for being transphobic, and many of the finalists have been ‘edgy’, almost on purpose. The temptation to join the circus and come up with something that is funny at the expense of a minority group will be too great for a few.
The seven minute maximum time for Tropfest doesn’t lend itself to too much characterisation or depth, so ‘edginess’ will remain the de facto theme for this year as well. How will people use pineapples?
Production Soon
We’ll come up with a couple of scripts, workshop them with the crew and then find out which one to produce. Melbourne has a lot of talented actors and I really want to make something that everyone can be proud of. We’ll do a proper ‘behind the scenes’ for this one as well. We all love pineapples.
