Tropfest NZ Film Winner Goes To Hollywood
30 October 2013
Dave Smith (44), the winner of the inaugural 2013 Tropfest New Zealand Short Film Festival, heads to Hollywood this
Sunday 3 November for five days of intensive workshops mixed with opportunities to meet Hollywood film execs and attend
the US’s largest film market.
Smith’s mini operatic ‘Cappuccino Tango’ won the supreme award at the 2013 Tropfest NZ Film Festival at the stunning
Bowl of Brooklands in New Plymouth, Taranaki. His prize, courtesy of the Motion Picture Association of America and The
NZ Screen Association, is an all expenses paid trip to attend the 5th LATC US Film Industry Immersion Program in Los
Angeles 4 – 9 November 2013.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for me as a no-budget filmmaker to go to Hollywood, the mecca of filmmaking, and learn
how to take myself to the next level,” says Smith.
“There’re workshops on entertainment law, Hollywood financing, pitching, talent agents, Hollywood production companies.
Then I get to mix it up with 8,000 film industry people at the American Film Market. It’s unbelievable.”
Smith has a couple of feature film ideas that he is shaping up to pitch during his time in Hollywood.
On his return he hopes to focus on more film projects while coping with a fulltime job and family.
Smith is a self taught director who only took up filmmaking after moving to New Plymouth from Aberdeen, Scotland11 years
ago with his wife and family to work as a project planner in the Oil & Gas industry.
Filmmaking is a passion he pursues at nights and in the weekends with a close group of collaborators including his wife,
Nicci, who is his producer.
Smith and his team have already completed their Tropfest entry for 2014.
Cappuccino Tango can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pMQG0lbRSg
About Tropfest
Tropfest began twenty-one years ago when director John Polson showed a six-minute film he made for under $100 at his
local café (‘The Tropicana’) in Sydney for 200 friends and family. Today the free Australian event is attended annually
by a live audience of over 150,000 film-lovers and hundreds of thousands more watching via its live national TV
broadcast and other platforms.
In the past two decades, Tropfest has become recognised as one of the world's most exciting launchpads for emerging
filmmakers. Tropfest is also known for securing the support of some of the biggest names in the international film
community including Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Geoffrey Rush, Liev Schreiber and Tobey Maguire.
Tropfest launched last year in New Zealand, Arabia and in the USA with Tropfest Las Vegas and Tropfest New York.
The Tropfest YouTube Channel has had over 11 million video views, with around 40% of those coming from the United
States. The channel provides film enthusiasts the chance to watch the top films from past festivals at: http://www.youtube.com/tropfest
The first Tropfest NZ event was held in 2013 and was attended by 8,000 people.
TROPFEST NZ – The world’s largest short film festival, now in New Zealand – 16 February 2014, Taranaki
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ENDS