It’s more than twenty years since the Tropicana Short Film Festival first screened in the Tropicana Cafe on Victoria Street in Darlinghurst Sydney to the 200 cast, crew and friends invited by John Polson.

Tropfest is now a group of standalone competitions in Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, New York and the Middle East, and is screened at dozens of venues throughout the world.

And this year has been a big one for the growth of its network of partnerships. Getty Images signed on at the beginning of August. And the new official photography, video and production music partner announced a few weeks later that it will give all Tropfest filmmakers access to its library of content for free.

So Tropfest needed a website that reflects its international standing. And it is going to get one. It has signed a three year partnership with Lash Creative, who will create its new, more sophisticated website and digital platforms.

Features of the new website will include an interactive and social space for Tropfest fans worldwide, allowing for access to both current and past films from the competition.

James Chung, managing director of Lash Creative, acknowledged the honour, “It’s a locally and internationally renowned and well-loved brand for both the film making and film watching communities. The long-term partnership provides us with exciting opportunities to excel on the creative as well as the development frontier.”

Michael Laverty, managing director of Tropfest, added, “Lash Creative’s expertise will be a key attribute in the development of Tropfest’s partnership offering.  For over 20 years Tropfest has connected brands with an enormous audience of young and perceptive festival-goers. This year we’re excited to raise that bar even higher and offer our partners new and powerful ways to engage with our global Tropfest community online.”