Tropfest's funding gap twice what John Polson had been told

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This was published 8 years ago

Tropfest's funding gap twice what John Polson had been told

By Garry Maddox
Updated

Amid the fall-out from the surprise cancellation of Tropfest, it has emerged that founder John Polson started discussions about covering a financial shortfall a fortnight ago then discovered it was twice as big as he had been told.

The funding gap of "well into six figures" that caused the so-called world's largest short film festival to be axed less than a month before it was due to take place came despite a list of sponsors that includes Qantas, Nikon, Destination NSW, Screen Australia and Screen NSW.

Surprised by the gap in funding ... Tropfest founder John Polson.

Surprised by the gap in funding ... Tropfest founder John Polson. Credit: James Alcock

It is believed Polson was surprised by what he called a "huge hole" in the finances in discussions with Tropfest's managing director, Michael Laverty, who handles the day-to-day running of the festival.

His company, Tropfest Festival Productions, has a contract to run the event.

Tropfest managing director Michael Laverty at the festival in 2014.

Tropfest managing director Michael Laverty at the festival in 2014.Credit: James Alcock

Laverty, who has not been returning calls to Fairfax Media on Thursday, has been a popular figure around many successful festivals. With a background in finance and film, he took over managing Tropfest in 2002.

Raising sponsorship is rarely easy for arts events, even ones as successful as Tropfest as it expanded rapidly from a Kings Cross cafe to an annual event that attracts hundreds of thousands of viewers every year and launched spin-off festivals in the United States, Middle East, South East Asia and New Zealand.

But it is believed the loss of sponsorship by the Movie Network channels, which closed when Foxtel introduced its own movie channels at the end of 2012, made the task more difficult for Tropfest.

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The 24th festival was due to be held at Sydney's Centennial Park on December 6, beamed to venues around the country and broadcast live on SBS2.

The early crowd at the festival in Centennial Park last year.

The early crowd at the festival in Centennial Park last year.Credit: James Alcock

The 16 finalists had been told they had been selected ahead of an announcement next week, which was to include Hollywood star Susan Sarandon being named head of the jury.

Polson told Fairfax on Wednesday that he had started legal action against a company he declined to name that has been managing the event.

He described himself as being uncertain about the future of the festival and numb about cancelling it.

"It's like being in a bad dream," Polson said. "This is 23 years of work. It's a stunning, shocking blow, with really no hint of what was to come."

A fortnight ago, he held discussions with Screen Australia, which sponsors Tropfest for $30,000 annually, about ways of bridging the funding gap.

The head of business and audience, Richard Harris, said the agency was considering matching funding from other sources and assisting him with a sponsorship specialist.

But this week Polson learnt the gap was twice what he had been told.

"In the last couple of days he's realised the extent of the challenge and made the decision," Harris said. "Sadly it hasn't worked out."

As suggestions about how to save Tropfest came in, Polson issued a statement saying the festival was assessing its next steps.

"Since yesterday's announcement, Tropfest has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from individuals and organisations around Australia," he said.

NSW Opposition leader Luke Foley called on the state government to work with the organisers to see the festival return next year, tweeting that it was "too important to lose."

A spokesman for Destination NSW described it as a "Tropfest strategic partner" but would not divulge how much it contributed to the festival, describing it as "commercial in confidence".

"We were disappointed to hear of the event cancellation and hope the organisers can stage the event again soon," he said.

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