Las Vegas, NV – May 17, 2012 – TROPFEST, the world’s largest short film festival, announced today that Toni Collette will serve as President Of The Jury at the “All-Star Competition,” taking place June 3, during a weekend of events to celebrate the festival’s official 20th birthday. Collette (Jesus Henry Christ, United States of Tara) will lead a panel of renowned celebrity and industry judges including Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids, What To Expect When You’re Expecting), Anthony La Paglia (Without a Trace, Happy Feet), Griffin Dunne (House of Lies, An American Werewolf in London), Charles Randolph (writer/producer, Love And Other Drugs, The Interpreter) and Trevor Groth (Sundance Director of Programming). Closer to event day, additional names will be added to the heavyweight panel.
The “All-Star Competition,” hosted by Rob Corddry (The Daily Show, Hot Tub Time Machine, Childrens Hospital), will be the marquee event to a weekend of free, mostly outdoor activities that will take place at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas June 1-3. Tropfest USA is touching down in The Entertainment Capital of the World before making its way to New York June 21-23 with a sister-event hosted by Hugh Jackman in Bryant Park on June 23.
The 16 finalists in the “All-Star Competition” have been culled from two decades of award-winning Tropfest entries. The esteemed panel of judges will select an overall winner, live, before thousands of festival-goers. The films, each less than seven minutes, have been hand-picked by Tropfest founder and acclaimed director John Polson (Hide & Seek, Tenderness) and represent a wide cross section of work whose principals have gone on to great success in front of and behind the camera.
Collette, who has a long history with the event having previously served on the jury of Tropfest Australia, will guide the judges in the selection process. Along with substantial bragging rights, the Tropfest All-Star Winner will take home $5,000 CASH, sponsored by Motion Picture Association.
“For the past 20 years, Tropfest has been a staple in Australian culture, acting as a launch pad for directors and actors alike,” said Collette. “I’m thrilled to be part of this birthday celebration, which I hope will soon bring those same opportunities to young American filmmakers.”
In addition to the “All-Star Competition,” the weekend’s activities will feature specially curated short film content, and live musical performances from exciting new acts. Six finalists from “The Road to Vegas” competition, which all include a Vegas theme, will also have their films showcased, and celebrated filmmaker Nash Edgerton’s award-winning short films “Spider” and sequel, “Bear,” will be screened together publicly for the very first time.Edgerton is one of dozens of successful Tropfest alumni, having won the top prize back in 1997 when the event was just a few years old.
‘Indie-spirited’ music will play a significant role in the Tropfest Las Vegas weekend. Delta Spirit, who are set to play Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza in coming months, will perform live on Saturday, June 2 at Tropfest’s 20th Birthday Party and acclaimed singer-songwriter, LP, will close out the “All-Star Competition” on Sunday, June 3 at the Boulevard Pool. These events, too, are FREE to the public, although VIP weekend packages are also available for purchase.
Tropfest USA’s Official Broadcast Partner, STARZ CINEMA, is promoting Tropfest in the lead up via its nationally distributed premium movie channel by exhibiting many of the ‘classic’ short films from Tropfest’s extensive library. STARZ CINEMA production crews will also cover Tropfests Las Vegas and New York for programming content that will be broadcast later this year.
Tropfest Las Vegas Schedule of Events at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
Friday June 1 – 8:00 PM
Tropfest Welcome Party at Book & Stage
Live Performance by Allen Stone
Saturday, June 2 – 8:00 PM
Tropfest 20th Birthday Party at the Boulevard Pool
Specially curated short film content
Live Performance from Delta Spirit
Sunday, June 3 – 8:00 PM
Tropfest “All-Star Competition” hosted by Rob Corddry at the Boulevard Pool
Live Performance by singer/songwriter LP
General admittance to all Tropfest Las Vegas events is FREE but we strongly encourage you to reserve your space for the “All-Star Competition” (Maximum 4 spaces per booking), here: http://tropfestlasvegas.eventbrite.com/. For the full release please Click Here
