Hollywood legend George Miller takes Tropfest film festival to the max
Mad Max director George Miller is joining the board of film festival Tropfest in time for its 25th anniversary.
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MAD Max director George Miller is joining the board of Tropfest in a coup for the troubled short-film festival.
The Hollywood legend has been appointed as the film festival’s first board member, as sponsorship from CGU secures the event for the next three years.
Miller attended the inaugural Tropfest, which screened to a small crowd of 200 people at the Tropicana Cafe in Darlinghurst 24 years ago.
“George really was there at the beginning … Tropfest struck a chord with him back on day one,” Tropfest founder John Polson said.
Polson said he admired Miller as a filmmaker who learnt his skills on the job.
He said the revered director was a doctor in emergency at a Sydney hospital when he made Mad Max in 1979 and had minimal film training.
“George thinks the way to become a better film maker is to make films, to keep making films — not so much about going to film school or reading the textbooks,” Polson said.
That Miller agreed to join the board was “quite a moving thing” for Polson after the festival was delayed last year due to a funding shortfall.
“Last year was by far out of 24 years the toughest year we have ever had,” Polson said.
The 2015 event was saved with emergency funds from CGU Insurance, who have now signed on to sponsor Tropfest for the next three years, paying an undisclosed seven-figure sum.
“This deal with CGU is fantastic because it is a three-year base for us to build from,” Mr Polson said.
Tropfest regularly attracts about 90,000 people to the free screening in Centennial Park and is broadcast live on television in Australia and streamed on YouTube to the world.
The event — which costs a few million dollars to put on — also supports about 30 small businesses in the Australian film industry as well as a large number of contractors.
Next year will be Tropfest’s 25th anniversary, with Polson deciding to shake things up by hosting it for the first time on a Saturday night on February 11.
“Moving from Sunday to Saturday is a big deal … we’ve talked about it for a while … it will probably mean a slightly younger crowd on the night,” he said.
The 2017 event will also have a pineapple as the signature item, which filmmakers will need to include in their short films to be able to enter the competition.
“I’m excited about it because it sort of sums up what Tropfest is — pineapple, tropical, Tropicana (Cafe) — it’s fun,” Polson said.
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