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Tropfest releases iPhone app for 20th anniversary of short film festival

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Tropfest, one of the world’s largest short film festivals, has for the first time released an iPhone app on its 20th anniversary.

The app has been produced by Captiv8, a Bondi Beach broadcast and digital studio that has produced motion graphics for Tropfest for the past three years.

“We are always looking to provide our audience with new ways to interact with the Tropfest brand and our unique content. We share a great working relationship with the team at Captiv8 and we are thrilled with what they have achieved for our very first app,” said Tropfest Festival and Business Manager Paul Stuart.

Captiv8 Director Keir Maher said it was “great to be expanding our partnership with Tropfest.”

“Developing the mobile app is a natural extension, allowing people to access the fantastic short film content collected over the last 20 years as well as an interactive companion for event information,” he said.

The 20th anniversary festival, started by John Polson, will be held across a three-day weekend at The Domain in Sydney and other outdoor locations around Australia, with live satellite links to outdoor locations in major cities including Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide and Surfers Paradise. It also will be broadcast live on subscription television channel, Movie Extra, on 19 February. Up to one million subscriptions have been sold in previous years.

The Tropfest iPhone app includes the following features:

  • 40 Tropfest films including an exclusive selection of never-before-seen Tropfest content
  • Playlist – the ability for the user to create playlists of their favorite Tropfest films on the fly
  • Live countdown to the festival
  • Event information with detailed maps and location information, transport information and schedule for all live Movie Extra Tropfest sites — Sydney, Melbourne, Wollongong, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Surfers Paradise and New Zealand.
  • Information on this year’s Movie Extra Tropfest Finalists.

The annual competition attracts hundreds of entries from across Australia and overseas, culminating in a live film event that draws about 150,000 people. Sixteen finalists are selected from an average 700 annual entries and compete for more than $100,000 in prizes. Films exhibited at the festival are no longer than seven minutes and have been specially made for Tropfest. Each year, the festival has a “Tropfest Signature Item,” a theme for all the films. This year, it is “Light Bulb.”

The festival draws a bevy of celebrity judges. Past judges have included Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Samuel L. Jackson, Keanu Reeves and Salma Hayek.

Captiv8 said it would update the app for other Tropfest festivals around the world, including the one in New York in June. Tropfest also hosts the festivals in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi in the Middle East.