People
JOHN POLSON
TROPFEST FOUNDER/ DIRECTOR
John Polson is an award-winning actor and director, as well as the founder and director of the World’s Largest Short Film Festival, Tropfest.
From its humble beginnings as a screening of one of his own short films at Sydney’s Tropicana Caffe in 1993, John has nurtured Tropfest (originally known as the Tropicana Short Film Festival) onto the international stage. Tropfest in Australia attracts an audience of over 150,000 people on a single night. First and foremost, though, John’s passion lies behind the camera as a film director.
Creating his first short film AN EVENING WITH HERMAN in the early 1980s, John has since garnered worldwide attention with feature films such as SIAM SUNSET (starring Linus Roache), which won awards at numerous film festivals around the world, as well as SWIMFAN (Jesse Bradford, Erica Christensen) and HIDE AND SEEK (Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning) both of which opened at Number 1 at the US box office. Despite his acting and directing commitments, John continues to play a pivotal role in the development of Tropfest and Trop Jr, (for up to 15 years old) both of which are designed to provide support for emerging talent.
In 2006, John took the Tropfest brand to the next level by introducing the Tropfest Feature Program (TFP), a new initiative funded by Movie Network Channels. The TFP offers previous Tropfest finalists (and others) the chance to extend their careers into the professional feature film and television realm. The inaugural TFP Feature Film SEPTEMBER was released in 2007 to enormous critical success, as well as extensive international festival exposure, including the Toronto International Film Festival and Berlin.
Also in 2006, John took the Tropfest concept to New York (where he is now based) as Tropfest NY, an outdoor event that is now attended by thousands of New Yorkers each September. Previously presented in partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival, Tropfest NY took place for the first time as a stand-alone event in September of 2008.
Meanwhile, John’s latest feature film TENDERNESS, in which he directs Russell Crowe and Laura Dern, will be released by Lionsgate in 2008.
Today, in addition to his feature film work, John flexes his creative muscle on the small screen as a producer and director on shows such as WITHOUT A TRACE, FRINGE and THE MENTALIST.
SELECTED FILMORGRAPHY:
Director: Tenderness (2007)
Director: Hide and Seek (2005)
Director: Swimfan (2002)
Role in Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
Director: Siam Sunset (1999)
Starring role in Idiot Box (1999)
Starring role in Sirens (1994)
Starring role in The Sum of Us (1994)
SELECTED AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS:
Fantasporto:
Winner of International Fantasy Film Award for Siam Sunset (2000)
Cannes Film Festival:
Winner of Grand Golden Rail Award for Siam Sunset (1999)
Hawaii International Film Festival:
Winner of Best Feature for Siam Sunset (1999)
Puchon International Fantastic Film Awards:
Winner of Best of Puchon Award for Siam Sunset (1999)
AFI:
Winner of Best Performance by an actor in a supporting role for The Boys (1998)
AFI:
Winner of Byron Kennedy Award for his contribution to the Australian film industry as the Director of Tropfest (1997)