news flash
August 2008
A young filmmaker can win big, thanks to TropJR ‘09 and EnhanceTV
Tropfest is bringing kids around Australia the second annual Trop Jr: a short film competition and festival for kids aged 15 years and younger. Trop Jr is a fantastic opportunity for creative young people to get involved in filmmaking and to screen their films in one of the most unique festival environments in the world.
This year EnhanceTV is sponsoring the first prize. Mike Lynch, the head of EnhanceTV said, "EnhanceTV is thrilled to be involved in another TropJr, and to see budding future filmmakers bring their talent to the festival screen. As first prize sponsor, we hope the $3,000 can open up opportunities for the winner to further develop their media creation skills."
According to the first ever Trop Jr Winner, Guy Verge Wallace of NSW who created his film Poor Joshua Verde aged 15 last year, interested kids should get a move on with their application if they want to get their entries in on time.
“Making my short film was a real eye opener! I had heaps of fun thinking up the idea for the film and then getting my friends and family involved in helping me out. There’s a lot of work to do and it’s really enjoyable – so if you don’t want to miss out now’s the time to get started.”
Entry to Trop Jr 2009 is free and can be made online at www.tropjr.com.au In Trop tradition, each film must also include a Trop Jr Signature Item (TSI) which for 2009 is SQUEEZE. This can be interpreted in any way the filmmaker chooses as long as it is referenced somewhere in the film.
With over 80 entries received last year, Tropfest Founder and Director John Polson thinks the response will be even bigger this year. Trop Jr will take place during the afternoon before the main Tropfest festival, at the Crescent Precinct in Sydney’s Domain on Sunday 22 February 2009.
“We were thrilled by the quality and creativity of the films we received in Trop Jr’s inaugural year – viewing the entries was like a window into the future and a preview of the next generation of filmmaking talent in this country. Trop Jr has an important role to play in encouraging and nurturing our young filmmakers and we’ve no doubt that the response will be even bigger and better this year,” said John Polson.
For EnhanceTV media enquiries please contact:
Virginia Gordon
Public Affairs Manager, Screenrights, the audio-visual copyright society
Mob: 61 - 414 389 551
Tel: 61-2-9904 0133 (Fridays)
Fax 61-2-9904 0498
For Trop Jr and Tropfest media enquiries please contact:
Francesca Millena
Spin Communications
Tel: (02) 9360 3377
Mob: 0424 070 056
Email: f.millena@spin.com.au
