A filmmaker lab for the next generation of Australian storytellers.
Roughcut is a two-day immersive program supported by Screen Australia and powered by YouTube, designed to sharpen your craft, expand your thinking, and connect you to the industry.
Hosted at NIDA and bringing together emerging filmmakers, industry voices and creative leaders for honest conversations, practical learning and meaningful connection, Tropfest: Roughcut is for emerging and early-career filmmakers who want to take their ideas further. Across talks, workshops and live sessions, Roughcut focuses on practical tools, real insight, and direct access to people shaping the future of Australian storytelling. Speakers include Bus Stop Films’ Genevieve Clay-Smith, SuperWog’s Theo Saidden, American film and television director Steph Green, director Yolanda Ramke, cinematographer John Seale and NIDA alumni Fiona Donovan (Design, 1992) and Gypsy Taylor (Design, 2003).
Over two days Friday 20 and Saturday 21 February 2026, Tropfest: Roughcut will explore craft, audience, platforms, financing, creative development and the evolving screen landscape across talks and panel discussions, delivering tangible learning outcomes and rare access to industry insight.
An outstanding panel of NIDA design alumni come together in Creating Worlds by Design, to explore how imaginative worlds are created for stage and screen. The discussion will unpack visual storytelling, collaboration with directors, and the practical realities of designing for major national and international productions.
Moderated by Emmy Award-winning director Neil Sharma, the panel features Gypsy Taylor, 2026 AACTA Award nominee for Best Costume Design in Television for The Newsreader. Gypsy’s screen and stage credits include The Newsreader, Five Bedrooms, Total Control and The Commons, as well as theatre work for major Australian companies; and Fiona Donovan, winner of the 2026 AACTA Award for Best Production Design for The Correspondent. Fiona has worked extensively across film and television, with credits including The Correspondent, Total Control, Love Me and Wakefield.
Together, the panelists will share insights into how design shapes narrative, how designers collaborate with directors and creative teams, and how careers evolve from training to large-scale professional work.
Key Details
When: Friday 20 and Saturday 21 February 2026
Where: NIDA Theatres, 215 Anzac Parade Kensington, NSW
Tickets: One-day access $95, two-day access $165
Panel: Creating Worlds by Design
Neil Sharma (moderator)
Neil Sharma is an International Emmy Award winning director, based in Sydney.
Mentored by Oscar winning auteur Taika Waititi and acclaimed director Jeffrey Walker, his directing credits include the International Emmy and AACTA winning reboot of Heartbreak High for Fremantle Media and Netflix; Strife S2 for Binge and Made Up Stories; the psychological drama Critical Incident for Stan; The dramedy remake Mother and Son for Wooden Horse and the ABC; the SBS Digital Original Series Appetite, which premiered at the 2023 CANNESERIES Festival as the only Australian project invited into competition.
Neil’s work has also been nominated for two ADG awards, an AACTA and a Rose D’Or.
Fiona Donovan
Fiona Donovan has built a vibrant and wide-ranging career as a collaborative, world-building, and imaginative production designer, working across all screen formats.
Fiona is best known for her acclaimed work on the beloved period drama A Place to Call Home, for which she received four AACTA nominations and won the 2017 AACTA Award for Best Production Design in Television.
Recent projects include Netflix’s The Correspondent (AACTA winner for best production design in 2026), the Stan series Silver, and the Logie and AACTA-nominated anthology Erotic Stories (Lingo Pictures/SBS). Fiona also designed the award-winning miniseries The Twelve (Warner Bros/Easy Tiger).
Gypsy Taylor
Gypsy is an award-winning Costume & Production Designer whose 25 year career spans feature & short films, TV series, commercials, theatre and animation.
Recent projects include All Her Fault (NBC/Peacock), The Newsreader (ABC, BBC), Our Flag Means Death (MAX), Wellmania (NETFLIX), Russell Crowe’s Poker Face (HULU) and Assistant Costume Designer for The Wheel of Time (AMAZON).
Gypsy’s accolades encompass 2 wins and 6 nominations. Most recently, she was nominated for an AACTA and an APDG award for her costume designs for The Newsreader. She was also the was the winner of the Catherine Martin Design for a Television Production for Our Flag Means Death (MAX) as well as a Streamy Award win for Costume Design on Oscar’s Hotel for Fantastical Creatures.
The Tropfest Roughcut program forms a key part of our renewed vision for 2026 and beyond.
Tropfest returns to Sydney’s Centennial Park on Sunday, 22 February 2026. The event is FREE to attend and will be livestreamed globally on YouTube. For more information, visit tropfest.com