The Mentalist star Simon Baker will be joined by Rebecca Gibney​ from Packed to the Rafters and Wanted, Jocelyn Moorhouse, the director of The Dressmaker, and cinematographer Don McAlpine, who shot both that hit film and Moulin Rouge, on the judging panel in Centennial Park on Sunday week.

After weeks of uncertainty about whether the festival would go ahead, the 16 finalists will compete for $10,000 cash plus a trip to Los Angeles to meet with industry executives and other prizes.

With a large crowd expected in Sydney and live sites around the country, the festival will be broadcast on SBS2.

After being cancelled less than a month before it was due to be held in December, Tropfest was only revived when new sponsor CGU Insurance emerged from a wave of goodwill around the country.

The festival that began in a Kings Cross cafe in 1993 appeared destined for extinction when founder John Polson discovered a debt "well into six figures" in discussions with the management company that ran the event.

"This disaster was due to an outrageous mismanagement of Tropfest funds by the company that was entrusted to manage the event, a situation which is now being dealt with behind the scenes," said Polson in an email to launch the crowdfunding campaign.

The festival is aiming to raise $100,000 through a Pozible campaign to "design and build its future."

"Funds raised through crowdfunding will be used to cover the cost of the strategic review, governance review, some vital audience research and focus groups and developing a business model that is genuinely sustainable," the festival said on the site.

"We need to find new partners and new ways of funding what we do best while remaining true to our values of inclusivity and accessibility."

Baker, who is preparing to shoot a film based on Tim Winton's novel Breath in Western Australia, was one of the first people to call Polson offering help when he heard about the cancellation.

"I felt really sad," he said. "Not just for the filmmakers that were [finalists this year] but for the filmmakers of the future that show up and get inspired and go out and do something."

A long-time fan of Tropfest, Baker once considered entering a film before he went to the US to work.

"I went to the second festival," he said. "I just remember what an inspiring idea it was and what I took away from it was belief that you can just go out and do stuff.

"Back in those days, a lot of people were talking about movies they wanted to make and no one had any money: 'I've got an idea for a short film'.

"Then Tropfest came along and there was a platform – a deadline, a goal – for people to go for."

The festival has announced that the entertainment on February 14, after Trop Jr returns from 11am, includes performances by rock duo Winterbourne, DJ-singer KLP and Preatures singer Gideon Bensen, photo booths, bubble soccer and an attempt to break a world record for a pyjama party.