So it's no surprise then, that Polson is involved in the project. As Tropfest's founder and director Polson said short films are a huge part of his life. "I've been running Tropfest now for 20 years," he told AAP. "I feel like I've watched more short films than probably anyone else on the planet." It was this and his love of Sydney - his hometown - that moved him and Arclight Films managing director Gary Hamilton to hatch the idea during Cannes Film Festival in May.

Polson said Sydney, I Love You simply follows in the footsteps of Paris Je T'aime and New York, I Love You, which were conceived and developed by producer Emmanuel Benbihy. "There's no official connection with those films, really it's just the format," he said. "...this is, I hope, a very respectful addition to that kind of category of short films as features." Polson said the film will draw some of Australia's brightest directors, actors and writers together. "I think it'll be the first film to showcase more than just two or three of our best talent," he said.

"You can imagine the list. "You don't have to use a lot of imagination to see the sort of people we're hoping to get and I think we'll get some of them based on early discussions." He said this standard is what sets Sydney, I Love You apart from Tropfest, the world's largest short film festival. "Tropfest is very much a springboard for new talent - this is not that," he said. "I'm really shooting for the top in terms of the best directors Australia's produced in the last couple of decades, so it's sort of the other end of the experience."

He said he wouldn't rule out getting some of Australia's fresh talent on the scene alongside living legends, but not people who have never made a feature before. Polson said each of the 12 films will be set in a different month, starting with January and ending with December. "And every film will have something to say about love, whether it's in a tongue-in-cheek way, or a comedy or a drama," he said. "This is an opportunity to put energy into a project that has a chance at being a big hit outside of Australia as well as a kind of a love letter to Sydney." Polson hopes to lock in the list of directors by the end of the year, with production to start in 2012.

He said if all goes to plan, the film will be released by the end of 2012 or early 2013. Either way, come January, Polson will be very busy, as he juggles Tropfest, Sydney, I Love You and another film project in Melbourne. But he said it will be worth it. "I guess the goal that I have in my mind is I'm picturing somebody sitting in a cinema in Germany or Denmark, who's never been to Sydney, may never go to Sydney," he said. "(But) by the end of it ... that you come out of the film with an understanding of Sydney that you might not have had when you went in."

He hopes it will show the world the city he grew up in. "This is really about the real Sydney," he said. "Sure the beautiful backdrop is part of it, but the story's the characters and tapping into the essence of the city and what makes it special." He said living away (he's based in America) probably means he sees the city through rose coloured glasses, but it has also given him a new perspective. "I didn't realise how amazing our Christmas was until I went to America," he said.

"The whole idea of having Christmas lunch on the beach is just so crazy to the rest of the world," he said. "(But) that's the Sydney I know and grew up in... "And part of the excitement of this project to me, is just seeing other people's versions of that, to see what they bring to the idea." AAP