Tropfest: John Polson and Michael Laverty fall out over funding crisis

JOHN Polson has fallen out with his long-time Tropfest partner and managing ­director Michael Laverty over the alleged “mismanagement” of funds.

IT has emerged the unnamed management company John Polson has fallen out with over the alleged “mismanagement” of Tropfest funds is his long-time Tropfest partner and managing ­director Michael Laverty.

Laverty, a respected and established financial manager and entrepreneur, has been Polson’s backroom collaborator in the short film festival for 13 highly successful years since 2002.

“While John was the frontman, Michael was the grunt. He really made it happen this past decade,” one Tropfest insider yesterday said.

Polson, from New York, released a statement overnight on Wednesday saying he discovered just this week to his “surprise” Tropfest was facing a financial crisis and would not be proceeding on December 6 due to a lack of funds.

Yesterday it emerged suppliers and contracted partners of Tropfest have been experiencing payment delays for some time. Laverty was uncontactable yesterday.

Commercial entertainment services agency The Intersection, retained in 2014 and announced to great fanfare in May of that year, issued a statement on Facebook yesterday stating its relationship with Tropfest ended last year over a pay dispute.

“We quit Tropfest in 2014 over a dispute around unpaid invoices,” the company, co-founded by former music industry marketer Shae Constantine, reportedly posted to Facebook yesterday. The post was later removed.

Michael Laverty and John Polson.

“I know we are still yet to be paid for work done almost two years ago.”

Confidential understands other associated companies have been left out of pocket after partnering with Tropfest.

Among them is said to be a catering company that instigated court action against Tropfest at the start of this year in the hope of recouping money owed to them from last year’s washed-out event at Centennial Park.

A web designer, Lachlan Bruce, is also rumoured to be awaiting payment. When contacted yesterday Bruce issued a stiff “I can’t talk about that” before hanging up.

Sources indicated a web design company, Crucial, may also be owed a “considerable” sum after being recruited to build a new online host site for the business. Crucial was also not taking calls yesterday.

While one newspaper stated Polson has now taken legal action, Laverty’s supporters said it would be out of character for the South African-born fundraiser, who also worked on this year’s Vivid Festival, to conceal financial shortfalls from Polson, the founder and public face of the film festival.

Polson put the financial shortfall at allegedly being “well into six figures”.

Other Tropfest partners spent the day lamenting the collapse of the much-loved free public event after 23 years.

Tropfest’s Festival and Development manager Henry Kalaf yesterday said: “I’m numb. I have been dismissed from my role and dismayed by the company who managed Tropfest.”

Tropfest in Centennial Park in 2013.