TROPFEST Short Film Festival At The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas June 1-3

TROPFEST, the undisputed world’s largest short film festival, and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas today announced they will collaborate to bring a resurgent and vital film culture to Las Vegas with the launch of TROPFEST Las Vegas 2012.


TROPFEST 20th Birthday Reel 2012

TROPFEST Las Vegas 2012
TROPFEST Las Vegas 2012

The weekend-long event, which celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the acclaimed film festival, will also feature indie spirited emerging musical performances, film-themed anniversary events and will culminate with a Tropfest “All-Star” competition featuring the best Tropfest films from the past 20 years. Choosing from 12 finalist films, an industry and celebrity judging panel will select the overall winner from Tropfest’s storied history live in front of thousands of festival-goers.

“I can’t think of a better partner to kick off Tropfest’s entry into the United States than The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Together we will plant the indie film flag in Las Vegas and establish the city as a hotspot of film culture,” commented John Polson, Tropfest Founder and Director. “Tropfest filmmakers have created some ground-breaking short films over the years, and I’m thrilled the U.S. audience can experience them first hand with our All-Star competition,” he concluded.

Among the musical presentations for the weekend-long event is up-and-coming Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter-artist LP performing Sunday, June 3 at the Boulevard Pool.

The entire weekend’s festivities – including red carpet events, musical performances, and All-star competition - will be filmed by Tropfest’s national broadcast partner, Starz Cinema, and screened across the U.S. after the event.

Tropfest has traditionally received extraordinary support from some of the biggest stars in the international film community. That legacy continued this past weekend at Tropfest Australia in Sydney, where the panel of judges and guests included Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Geoffrey Rush, Baz Luhrmann and Tobey Maguire. On-going celebrity Tropfest U.S. Ambassadors include: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anthony Lapaglia, Liev Schreiber and Charles Randolph.


Tropfest Available In The Apple App Store

Over the past two decades, dozens of successful directors, writers, actors and others got their start at Tropfest. Festival alumni include: Sam Worthington (Avatar, Last Night); Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby, Warrior, Animal Kingdom); Alister Grierson (director of the James Cameron-produced Sanctum); and Jason Gann and Tony Rogers, whose Tropfest short, Wilfred, was the genesis of the popular U.S. TV series of the same name starring Elijah Wood.

Jason Gann, who plays the role of Wilfred in both the original Tropfest short and the U.S. series, gives Tropfest credit for kick-starting his career. He commented, “ Tropfest put me on the Australian map and opened doors as an actor, writer and producer. Now I’m an executive producer and star of a TV series in Hollywood. Were it not for Tropfest recognizing our short, I wouldn’t be still wearing a dog suit ten years later!”

Tropfest Las Vegas Schedule of Events at the Boulevard Pool at The Cosmopolitan:

Tropfest Las Vegas Kick-Off Party – Friday, June 1 – 8:00 PM

Tropfest 20th Anniversary Party – Saturday, June 2 – 8:00 PM

Tropfest All-Star Competition – Sunday, June 3 – 8:00 PM
Performance by Musical Artist LP – 11:00 PM

All Tropfest Las Vegas events will be non-ticketed and open to the public. Exclusive packages and VIP tickets go on sale February 24 and can be purchased online at www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com or by calling 702-698-7778. VIP tickets for the three-day event cost $200 and allow access to premium viewing areas and reserved areas for VIP ticket holders, celebrity judges and filmmakers.

About Tropfest
Tropfest began in a Sydney café almost 20 years ago with an audience of 200 people. In 2011, the Australian event was the most successful festival to date, with live audiences of over 150,000 and hundreds of thousands more watching via its national TV broadcast and other platforms. On November 4 th last year, the inaugural Tropfest Arabia took place in front of a capacity crowd of 12,000 people outdoors in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Submissions were received from 33 Middle Eastern and North African countries. The Tropfest YouTube Channel has had over 10 million video views, with around 40% of those coming from the United States. It provides film enthusiasts the chance to watch the top films from past festivals at: http://www.youtube.com/tropfest .

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Bill Cody is an entertainment, technology and luxury travel reporter in Las Vegas. He reports on celebrities, events, tech, food, Las Vegas and luxury travel.

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