John Polson || Tropfest Founder, Actor and Director

Tropfest returns this Sunday in Centennial Park and will be livestreamed globally on YouTube.

In this special episode of Diving Deep, I sit down with Tropfest founder John Polson to unpack how he

built the world’s largest short film festival from scratch and turned it into a cultural movement. For

over 30 years, Tropfest has been a launchpad for emerging filmmakers and actors long before they

became household names.

John shares what he looks for in raw talent, how he recognises

momentum before it’s obvious, and why backing creators early matters more than ever. We talk

creativity, risk, judging art, spotting future stars, and what it takes to build something that lasts.

Tropfest is back this Sunday. Watch it live on YouTube.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.