Book a speaker for your screening

If you're organising your own Indie Screening, you may be able to book any of the speakers listed below to come and talk at your event. Visit Indie Screenings for booking details.

Franny Armstrong Director of The Age of Stupid
	Franny Armstrong has directed three cinema-released documentaries - The Age of Stupid (2008), McLibel (2005) and Drowned Out (2003) - which have together been seen by 55 million people worldwide. Her company, Spanner Films, pioneered the "crowd-funding" finance model, which allows filmmakers to raise reasonable-size budgets whilst retaining ownership of their films and the "Indie Screenings" distribution system, which allows anyone to screen independent films. Franny is a Londoner born and bred. MORE ABOUT FRANNY

Lizzie Gillett Producer
	Producer Lizzie Gillett came to London from New Zealand in 2001, where she had been working as a TV news reporter and programme maker. Lizzie planned to live the dream, directing Panorama for the BBC or similar, but somehow wound up working part-time for Franny at Spanner Films instead, and by the end of 2004 Lizzie was on board the Stupid beast as Co-Producer. Over the past four and a half years her roles as manager of the entire 100-strong production crew and constant companion to Franny throughout the filming trip to the four corners of the earth have given Lizzie a unique and intimate inside perspective on the Stupid story as it unfolded. MORE ABOUT LIZZIE

Ed Miliband Climate Change Minister
	Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

Pete Postlethwaite Actor
	Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite is just inches away from becoming a National Treasure in the UK. Steven Spielberg has called him "the best actor in the world". Pete is so disturbed by the prospect of runaway climate change that he is installing eco-insulation, solar panels and a wind turbine at his home in Shropshire. Pete has vowed to speak at as many Stupid events as possible, but as an A-list celeb who is in a lot of demand his available time is very short, so we’re lucky to have him.MORE ABOUT PETE

Mark Lynas Climate Expert
	Author and journalist Mark Lynas has been working full time on climate change since 2000, and is now widely acknowledged as one of the UK’s leading authorities on the issue. So Mark made the perfect Climate Change Supervisor for Stupid, effectively becoming Franny’s co-writer for the central conceit of the film; looking back at today’s society from the perspective of those in the future who will inherit the dreadful mess we are in the process of making. Mark is a one-stop-shop for climate geekery of all kinds and he has generously opened up this natural resource for mining and exploration by audiences of The Age of Stupid. MORE ABOUT MARK

Tim Helweg-Larson
	Tim is the director of the Public Interest Research Centre. He has an extensive history of climate change research and advocacy. He lectures and runs workshops internationally on Contraction & Convergence and climate policy, and has represented the Global Commons Institute and Action for a Global Climate Community. He has worked as a Consultant on climate change policy, and lectured at the Buildings Research Establishment. He has contributed to a lecture series around the UK for Campaign Against Climate Change and was lead lecturer for the Climate change module on the Masters course in Integrated Sustainable Management for Business at Middlesex University. In 2007 he was awarded the Sheila McKechnie Award in the field of Environment in recognition of his work

Jason Isaacs Actor
	Jason Isaacs is a British actor born in Liverpool, who is known for his performances as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, and as lifelong criminal Michael Caffee in the internationally-broadcast American television series Brotherhood. He saw Stupid at the eco premiere in Leicester Square and was inspired to lend his famous face to the Not Stupid campaign.

Dave Morris the modern day David vs Goliath
	One half of the McLibel two, Dave is a tireless campaigner who dedicated over a decade of his life to fighting a legal battle filed by McDonald's Corporation against Helen Steel and himself over a critical pamphlet. McDonald's loved using the UK libel laws to suppress criticism. Major media organisations like the BBC and The Guardian crumbled and apologised. But then they sued gardener Helen Steel and postman Dave Morris. In the longest trial in English legal history, the "McLibel Two" represented themselves against McDonald's £10 million legal team. Every aspect of the corporation's business was cross-examined: from junk food and McJobs, to animal cruelty, environmental damage and advertising to children. He continues to dedicate as much energy to Sustainable Harringay as he did to the high profile legal battle that became the biggest PR disaster in corporate history for McDonalds.

Daniel Vockins Campaign Coordinator
	Not Stupid Campaign Coordinator Daniel Vockins is a prolific climate change obsessive who joined Team Stupid from the Presidency of the Sussex Student Union. Daniel attended the UN Climate Summit at Poznan in Poland at the end of 2008, as part the UK Youth Delegation. That’s where he learned first-hand just how gut-wrenchingly terrifying it is that we are entrusting the future of life on earth to money-blinded bureaucrats who couldn’t agree to have a piss-up in a brewery. Daniel’s job on the Not Stupid campaign means he is a very good man to talk to about what the hell we should actually do in response to the desperate question posed to humanity by The Age of Stupid. MORE ABOUT DANIEL

Leo Murray Animator and Not Stupid Campaigner
	Leo Murray came to Stupid from his dual life as an animation directing student at the Royal College of Art-cum-very busy climate activist. Working on the Stupid production brought together his two consuming passions of animation and climate change, and Leo liked it so much he is now working for Franny producing content for the film’s website and sister social activism campaign, Not Stupid. Leo has a big mouth and a brain filled with climate change facts, plans and opinions, which he will tell you all about if you ask him.

John Battsek Executive Producer
	John Battsek has probably produced more feature documentaries than anybody in the UK. His most famous is 'One Day in September' (1999), the Oscar-winning feature length doc about the tragic events of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. (As also featured in Spielberg's new movie, 'Munich'.)At this year's Sundance Festival, John launched three new feature documentaries, 'My Kid Could Paint That', 'Crossing The Line' and 'In The Shadow of the Moon', securing distribution deals worth more than 4 million dollars. In 2006, John's film about the New York Cosmos soccer team, 'Once In A Lifetime' was released to ecstatic reviews by Miramax and Pathe, with a book and soundtrack album released alongside. John has also produced 'Live Forever' (2001), 'Game Of Their Lives' (2002), 'State of Mind' (2003), 'Peace One Day' (2004), Once In A Lifetime (2006) and two movies - 'The Serpent's Kiss' (1996) and 'Lila Says' (2004).

Caroline Lucas Green Party Leader
	Caroline Lucas was first elected to the European Parliament as one of the Green Party’s first MEPs in June 1999 to represent the South East of England region, and re-elected with an increased vote share in 2004. Caroline is a member of the International Trade Committee and the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee. She also sits on the Parliament’s Temporary Climate Change Committee. She serves as Vice President of the Animal Welfare, Health and Consumer and Globlisation cross-party Intergroups, as Co-President of the Peace Initiatives Intergroup and is a member of the Parliament’s Permanent Delegation to Palestine.

Ken Livingstone Shouldbe London Mayor
	The Mayor of London from 2004-2008 made significant contributions to reducing London's impact upon the environment.

Dave Hampton Carbon Coach
	Dave Hampton is The Carbon Coach (www.carboncoach.com) and one of the film’s many crowd funders. Dave is an entertaining and motivational public speaker who helps leaders come off their personal ‘addiction’ to fossil fuels, one on one, ton by ton, and one at a time! He lives in a highly energy efficient refurbished house in Marlow, Bucks, with his wife and 4 children, and keeps a low footprint. A Cambridge engineer and former GB rower, Dave had an illustrious professional career greening the built environment, culminating in winning Building’s inaugural Sustainability Leadership Award in 2005, the year he established carbon coach.

Dr Richard Betts Met Office Hadley Centre
	Dr Richard Betts is Head of Climate Impacts at the Met Office Hadley Centre, which is the UK Government’s official research centre on the science of climate change. He has a BSc in Physics, and an MSc and PhD in Meteorology. He has worked as a climate modeller for 16 years, and has pioneered a number of key scientific developments. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers and other articles. Richard was a lead author on the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with Former US Vice President Al Gore. Richard was also a lead author on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the authors of which shared the Zayed Environment Prize with Kofi Annan, then Secretary-General of the United Nations. He is one of the Met Office’s regular spokespeople on the science of climate change.

Chris Goodall Author
	Chris Goodall is the author of Ten Technologies to Save the Planet, listed as one of the Financial Times Science Books of the Year 2008. His previous book, How to Live a Low-Carbon Life, won the 2007 Clarion Award for non-fiction and was described by the New Scientist as ‘the definitive guide to reducing your carbon footprint’. He is a columnist for the Independent on Sunday and the Guardian, regularly delivers talks and presentations on climate change issues, and provides consulting advice to businesses and other institutions.

Jonathan Hodgson Animation Director
	Jonathan Hodgson animated the highly acclaimed "War for Resources" sequence in the film. In his talk he will share with viewers the tricks of the trade and one or two humorous anecdotes from the production stage of The Age of Stupid.

Martyn Pick Animation Director
	Martyn Pick animated the hugely impressive devastated world scenes from 2055. In his talk he will share with viewers the tricks of the trade and one or two humorous anecdotes from the production stage of The Age of Stupid.

Chris Brierley Composer
	After classical violin studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, Chris helped found the Kreisler String Orchestra who later signed to the classical wing of Factory Records; the orchestra has since toured Europe from Barcelona to Moscow and widened its musical horizons through collaborations with Youssou N'Dour, John Cale and Brian Eno. Chris joined The Band of Holy Joy in the early 90's and eventually formed a song-writing partnership with lyricist/vocalist Johny Brown and keyboard player Alfie Thomas (Franny Armstrong joined us briefly on drums before we lost her to Spanner). Chris wrote the memorable theme tune for Stupid which along with most of the original music.

Martin Nichols Campaigner - Christian Aid
	Martin co-ordinates Christian Aid's development education, fundraising and campaign work across the South West of England. For over a decade he's worked extensively with the media, local action groups, Church networks and the arts, raising awareness and promoting action on such issues as Poor Country Debt, Trade Justice and the impact of Climate Chaos on the poorest communities in the world. He has personal experience of the affects of Climate Change in Africa and Latin America and as a singer songwriter has shared these experiences and challenged audiences with his hard-hitting and inspirational roadshows throughout the UK and beyond.

Piers Guy Windfarm developer
	Windfarm developer Piers Guy doesn't see wind energy as the magic bullet that will save the world from climate change. But he does think that, especially for a windy country like England, turbines are the "foot soldiers, the pioneers" of a more intelligent energy system based on massively reducing energy use.

Ashok Sinha Stop Climate Chaos
	Ashok is Director of Stop Climate Chaos, the UK’s largest group of people dedicated to action on climate change and limiting its impact on the world’s poorest communities with a combined supporter base of more than 11 million people spans over 100 organisations, from environment and development charities to unions, faith, community and women's groups.

Denise Stephenson Actress
	My day job is being an actor but I increasingly spend my time campaigning on environmental issues. I have been concerned about climate change for a long time but motherhood brought that concern sharply into focus. In February 2008 with a group of fabulously dynamic mothers who were also enraged by the lack of political action to stop climate change, WeCAN was formed. Our aim is to give a voice to young people on climate issues, lobby parliament and generally kick up a fuss!

Rob Hopkins Transition Towns
	Rob is a permaculturlist, teacher, and founder of the Transition Towns movement.

Tony Juniper Big Ask/FOE
	Tony is a long time campaigner, former vice-chair of Friends of the Earth and currently the Green Party's General Election candidate. As an independent sustainability and environment advisor, he speaks and writes on many aspects and sits on many advisory pannels.

Andrew Simms director of the New Economics Foundation
	Andrew Simms is nef's Policy Director and head of nef's Climate Change programme. He is the author of Ecological Debt: the health of the planet and the wealth of nations (2005) as well as numerous other publications about human development and the environment. He is co-editor of, Do Good Lives Have to Cost the Earth? (2008), and author of Tescopoly: How one shop came out on top and why it matters (2007).