Me again,
Thanks for all your lovely messages during our PTPD (post traumatic premiere disorder)... Normal enthusiasm levels have almost resumed as we're back in London and back on the case. Last night's message was written a few days ago and posted a little late if you're wondering how we nipped back from New York so quickly.... Speaking of flying, we've updated our
carbon footprint calculation to include the promotion emissions as well as production. About 150 tonnes in total, which is much the same as 215 patio heaters for a month.... Worth it? Guess we won't know till 2045 or so, when we find out whether we triggered runaway climate change or not. (Funny fact: the Met Office have just come out with new research saying that we're
most likely going to hit four degrees between 2060 and 2070 (=TOTAL DISASTER = LOTS OF US DEAD), which is precisely the timescale Mark Lynas and I worked out on the back of an envelope in his shed (true) and then used as the basis of the Stupid future scenarios. Intuitive genius or lucky guess?)
So the big news is that, as of yesterday....
anyone anywhere* can now hold their own screening of The Age of Stupid.
Booking opens today, but the first date you can screen is October 24th, to tie in with the
International Day of Action called by 350 and loads of other biggies. We're aiming for 350 screenings on October 24th and will probably maybe definitely do a webcast that evening for a bit of extra sparkle, though there's a bit of a clash with my brother's 40th b'day party. Hmmmm. Anyway, this is how it works: you book in via Indie Screenings and pay a license fee which is set according to various factors (so a school in India would pay about a pound and a multinational oil company in America about 10,000), then you organise your screening (with lots of helpful advice available online), a DVD arrives in the post, you charge for tickets and... wait for it... you keep the money for yourself or your campaign. May not sound totally thrilling, but the small fact that people can profit from our film is one of the main reasons why commentators are saying things like
"[Stupid] represents the future of film, film culture and film distribution and marketing".
We launched UK Indie Screenings in May and there have already been more than 725 (725!!!) screenings.... So hold on to your hats now we're going global....
* When we say anyone anywhere, there are restrictions in these countries:
- Canada - Screenings can happen, but they need to be booked through Criterion: call 1-800-565-1996 ext. 260 or visit www.criterionpic.com - Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg - book through Chrisje Simon-van Oosterhout: cs@mgmc.nl - Poland, Former Yugoslavia (including Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo) - not possible, sorry
->
The Spanner Trilogy DVD Boxset - starring The Age of Stupid, McLibel and Drowned Out, along with more than 9 hours of extras, spread over five shiny discs - is available now for your viewing pleasure. Gorge yourselves on Big Macs, big dams and climate change... 15 years of hard filmmaking labour for a mere 30 quid - jeez, two quid a year - it's a total bargain. But there's no box, that bit was a lie. We're not big fans of pointless packaging, funnily enough.
-> The Age of Stupid DVD made it up to No 4 in Amazon's pre-order charts. Cor blimey. Please order your copy as soon as possible (preferably
direct from our site as we get a much bigger chunk - well, all of - the cash). Sorry Canada, America and Netherlands, but you can't order yet, as you've got your very own special DVDs coming soon.
-> Our solar-powered friends, Firefly, and tireless event managers, Unity, have won the top awards in their respective categories for Stupid's UK People's Premiere at a big PR bash. Well, that's what I understood from a rambling answerphone message that sounded as though it was recorded fairly late on in the evening's celebrations.
-> Volunteers needed at our office in Camden, starting yesterday. All sorts of exciting plans for Copenhagen afoot. Please contact george@ageofstupid.net if you can give a minimum of one day per week, preferably more.
And from 10:10...
-> Latest big-name sign-ups include O2, Microsoft UK, BAFTA and Pret A Manger, who will all be cutting 10% of their emissions next year. Bloody brilliant.
->
Ed Miliband calls on all Labour Councils to sign up to 10:10 -
"Labour-run Manchester city council last week became the biggest local authority to sign up, following 27 others, including Oxford, Coventry, Wirral and five London boroughs. But Miliband said he would be working closely with the Local Government Association, which represents 423 councils in England and Wales, to get all councils and Labour groups on board to support 10:10."
->
Persuade your MP to sign-up to 10:10 - 38 Degrees have made an easy-peasy email form for you to bug your MP into signing up to 10:10. UK-only, clearly. There's 350 of the little darlings in total, not sure how many have already succumbed, but if you could spare two minutes, that'd be grand.
->
Not signed up yet? Are you hiding your own spare planet capable of sustaining human life under the stairs?
-> Look out for another Guardian 10:10 bonanza this Saturday... which happens to be the 10th of October = 10/10
And in non-Stupid (and not stupid) news....
-> Pete P can keep his OBE as the
Kingsnorth coal power station has been scrapped. This from the Guardian:
Ben Stewart, one of six Greenpeace activists who was cleared of causing £30,000 of criminal damage to a 200 metre Kingsnorth smokestack in one of the most high-profile direct actions, said last night E.ON's announcement was a "huge breakthrough". "It was two years ago tomorrow that we climbed the chimney," he said last night. "At that point they were indicating they were weeks away from pouring in the concrete. To hear this tremendous news shows that the huge coalition against the plans worked." "If you look at how the terrain looked a few years ago, the third runway at Heathrow and the coal power station at Kingsnorth looked inevitable. The turnaround was the result of a lot of people coming together, getting on the same page, and deciding to campaign."
->
- Following hot on the heels of the Kingsnorth triumph, Greenpeace are currently occupying a tar sands site in Canada. Tar sands being the stupidest of all known fossil fuels, as they involve burning up loads of energy to squeeze a few drops of oil out of some oily sand, destroying eco-systems as they go and causing plenty more pointless emissions.
-> Any young'uns (over 16 and under what I do not know) might like to join the PowerShift conference "bringing together experts to share the cutting edge techniques from the Obama grassroots campaign", starting tomorrow in London and a snip at 25 quid:
www.powershift09.co.uk
-> The Yes Men need help getting their gut-bustingly funny climate movie,
The Yes Men Fix The World, out to the unsuspecting public. It opens in New York this week and across lots of US cities thereafter. (It's also still playing in some cinemas in the UK, I've just noticed). Complete screening list
here. If you or your pals happen to be in New York, you can get free tickets by dressing up in the world's stupidest costume (
http://survivaball.com/) and helping hand out flyers. To volunteer for this or other funny stuff, please write to
wearaball@theyesmen.org
Best ten bucks I ever spent....
Went to a palm reader in New York in a moment of boredom whilst waiting for something or other... She concluded that I should a) stop spending so much time on myself and start concentrating on work and b) try working independently, as my current corporate job doesn't suit me....
See you,
Franny