We had to take them off as we were getting so many timewasters, climate deniers and death threats. No, really. All our contact details - including our PO Box if you'd like to post something - are listed here: http://www.ageofstupid.net/contact_us . But hopefully this FAQ covers everything you need to know anyway.

Team Stupid runs the show: http://www.ageofstupid.net/team_stupid
The crew made the film: http://www.ageofstupid.net/crew
The funders funded it: http://www.ageofstupid.net/funders
Franny Armstrong directed it: http://www.ageofstupid.net/people/franny_armstrong
Lizzie Gillett produced it: http://www.ageofstupid.net/people/lizzie_gillett
John Battsek exec-produced it: http://www.ageofstupid.net/people/john_battsek
Pete Postlethwaite stars in it: http://www.ageofstupid.net/people/pete_postlethwaite
As do six documentary characters: http://www.ageofstupid.net/the_stars
The Not Stupid campaign attempts to inspire climate action: http://www.notstupid.org
10:10 is Stupid's big idea to cut 10% of emissions in 2010: http://www.1010global.org

Hopefully this FAQ answers all your questions. Or see our websites:
The Age of Stupid (climate change film): http://www.ageofstupid.net
Not Stupid (action campaign): http://www.notstupid.net
Spanner Films (production company): http://www.spannerfilms.net
Crowd-Funding (share scheme which raised the cash for Stupid): http://www.ageofstupid.net/node/1253/

Join the mailing list (see next section) or one of our social networking pages below.

Facebook (Age of Stupid): http://www.facebook.com/ageofstupid
Facebook (Franny): http://www.facebook.com/franny.armstrong
Facebook (10:10): http://www.facebook.com/tentenuk
Twitter (Age of Stupid): http://twitter.com/ageofstupid
Twitter (Not Stupid): http://twitter.com/notstupid
Twitter (10:10): http://twitter.com/tentenuk
YouTube channel (for videos): http://www.youtube.com/spannerfilms
Vimeo channel (for higher quality videos): http://vimeo.com/channels/ageofstupid
Myspace (very out of date): http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid;=443686085
oneclimate: http://oneclimate.net/group/crude
Green Thing: http://www.dothegreenthing.com/users/theageofstupid
Bebo: http://www.bebo.com/FrannyA4
Promotional widget (please add to your websites): http://www.ageofstupid.net/widget

Sorry we can't give out Piers' home phone number, but so many people are writing offering to with his windfarm battles, that we've set up a special online form where you can get involved: http://www.notstupid.org/help-piers

Pete would have to give up acting if he accepted all the requests we get for him, so please only send very special offers. You can email us on person@ageofstupid.net and we will forward any really good requests.

We try our best to keep the info on the website updated, but there's more than 120 countries and only a few of us... The summary list is here: http://www.ageofstupid.net/worldreleases - all upcoming screenings are listed here http://www.ageofstupid.net/screenings/upcoming and then most countries have their own page eg http://www.ageofstupid.net/france or http://www.ageofstupid.net/usa

The Age of Stupid was launched in the UK on 15th March 2009 at the People's Premiere - http://www.ageofstupid.net/premiere . The green-carpet, solar-powered, celeb-tastic event broke the Guinness World Record ( http://www.ageofstupid.net/news/dedications_what_you_need ) for biggest simultaneous film screening (the cinema tent in Leicester Square beamed live by satellite to 61 cinemas round the country), whilst only producing just 1% of the emissions of a normal premiere - http://www.ageofstupid.net/news/the_1_event . Highlights included Gillian Anderson, Will Young and loads of celebs on the green carpet ( http://www.ageofstupid.net/news/on_the_green_carpet ), President Nasheed announcing that the Maldives will go carbon neutral in ten years ( http://www.ageofstupid.net/news/maldives_become_carbon_limbo_world_champions ) and Pete Postlethwaite ambushing Climate Minister Ed Miliband with a giant pledge ( http://www.ageofstupid.net/news/peoples_premiere_not_stupid ). All of which was done on people power - unbelievably, more than 1,000 people worked on the London event and the 61 screenings - as we had no advertising budget. And Stupid was Number 1 at the Box Office (by screen average) too ( http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/15333 ) .
-> Round-up of the premiere, with all links: http://www.ageofstupid.net/premiere
Australia/New Zealand: we headed downunder (yes, we did fly - see below for reasoning) for the joint Australia and NZ premiere on August 19th 2009 - http://www.ageofstupid.net/news/oz_nz_premiere_report . A solar-powered tent in downtown Auckland, linked by satellite to Cate Blanchett's Sydney Theatre, with a live link-up to a Greenpeace ship in the Arctic and celebs aplenty on the green carpets.
-> Round-up of the premiere, with all links: http://www.ageofstupid.net/news/oz_nz_premiere_report
-> Photos from Oz: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ageofstupid/sets/72157622103222414/
-> Photos from NZ: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ageofstupid/sets/72157621976494995/
-> Lizzie & Franny on NZ main news: http://vimeo.com/6297151
-> Lizzie on NZ breakfast TV show: http://vimeo.com/6296595
Global: Finally, we launched at the Global Premiere on September 21st from New York, when one million people in 63 countries watched Stupid at the biggest live film event the world has ever seen, we're pretty sure. Celebs arrived by sailing boat, bicycle, rickshaw, electric car and skates. Moby and Thom Yorke from Radiohead played live. Greenpeace linked in live from the Himalayas and Indonesia. Kofi Annan, Dr Pachauri and Ed Miliband spoke live. Full report: http://www.ageofstupid.net/global_premiere

We didn't want to schlep all round the world burning up loads of carbon by launching in a couple of cities per country, one at a time. So we thought we'd do the whole world all at once, with a big live event too, for one night only. Was it a good plan? Time will tell, but the Huffington Post said that The Age of Stupid "represents the future of film, film culture and film distribution and marketing".
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-reiss/ithe-age-of-stupidi-is-th_b_293361.html

The film is currently (Oct/Nov 2009) on release in cinemas in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Germany, South Africa, Turkey, Hungary, France, Czech Republic, Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden. Check those country pages to see whether it's still playing near you. There are also occasional one-off screenings in other countries, check this page: //www.ageofstupid.net/screenings/upcoming

The DVD is released on November 2nd 2009, except in the countries listed below*. It will be in high street shops in some countries, but easiest (and best for us, as we get a bigger chunk of the cash) if you can buy it direct from our website: http://www.ageofstupid.net/shop . You can get the complete Spanner Films trilogy - Age of Stupid, McLibel and Drowned Out - for 30 quid: http://www.ageofstupid.net/product/spanner_trilogy . That's 2 quid per year as the three darlings took 15 years to make.... bargain.

The Age of Stupid in 31 languages (subtitles, not dubbed - too expensive), plus six hours of extras including the 50-minute Making Of documentary, six short climate films, eight deleted scenes, eight extended interviews, crew commentary, photo gallery and on and on.... see full listing of DVD contents here: http://www.ageofstupid.net/product/the_age_of_stupid_dvd

Arabic, Bengali, Brazillian Portugese, Chinese, (Hanji, and, traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Fasi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hinid, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Kiswahili, (Swahili), Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbo, Croat, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese.

It's PAL, region 0 (ie no region restrictions). We are making the NTSC version now and it will be ready in mid November.

See "About the Film" below.

It's available to purchase from our website worldwide, except in these countries, which have their own versions coming soon: USA, Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Former Yugoslavia (inc Croatia, Servia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo)

Any problems with your orders, please see section "Merchandise & Shop" below.

Our film is probably already on the net on some of the pirate sites. If you watch it on one of these, please make a donation afterwards as we are more than $2 million in debt.

We are currently finalising deals with itunes, netflix and all the main sites - should be available by early November. We're also trying to fix up our own viewing service on our website. If you'd like to hear when it's ready, please join the mailing list by emailing addtolist@ageofstupid.net

Our sales agents, Celluloid Dreams, are busy selling the film to TV in as many countries as possible. So far, they've sold to about 15, including some of the biggies, but we can't say yet. We will list the TV screenings on the International Releases page, as well as the individual country pages (eg http://www.ageofstupid.net/australia ) as soon as contracts are signed. Obviously we are trying to get as many TV stations to broadcast before Copenhagen as possible, but it's not up to us.

Great. Please contact our International Sales agents, Celluloid Dreams, on: +33 1 49 70 03 70 or info@celluloid-dreams.com

We didn't want to burn a load of carbon schleping all round the world, so instead we launched at the Amsterdam Doc Festival (IDFA - very prestigious) in November 2008 and then held our own Global Premiere (see above), so as to launch across the whole world simultaneously. Having said that, we are of course happy for festivals to play our film and for us to join the event by skype/video conferencing whenever possible.

Please try to book your festival through the Indie Screenings website: http://www.indiescreenings.net or contact person@ageofstupid.net if you feel your event is outside the system. If you do email, please include all details - eg where / when, festival website, how many attendees, proposed screening fee, language version requested, screening format, speaker requests, press attendees, entry deadline and so on. Basically, the more info you provide, the faster we can respond.

Only if it's near London and accessible by train. But we're happy to do skype Q&As; if that works for you. Please contact speakers@ageofstupid.net

Most certainly have. Think we're up to 9 parliaments now (including UK, Scotland, Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, er... ), plus the UN, the World Bank, the EPA, the Environment Agency, the UNFCCC meeting in Poznan and at Kofi Annan's Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva.

We most certainly will. All sorts of adventures are planned.

Sounds great. Please email person@ageofstupid.net, if you can make it happen.

Our revolutionary Indie Screenings website - http://www.indiescreenings.net - is now up and running, allowing anyone, anywhere (except countries listed below) to book the film, put on their very own Stupid screening and- crucially - charge for tickets and keep the profits for their climate campaign or pocket. The website also allows individuals to request speakers to attend their event (including Franny Armstrong, Mark Lynas, Tony Juniper and Pete Postlethwaite). Other films - including McLibel, Drowned Out, The Yes Men Fix The World and Heavy Load - will be up on Indie Screenings from December 2009, probably one per month.

The first date for international screenings is October 24th, to tie in with 350's International Day of Climate Action. If at all possible, please arrange your screening for October 24th. It would be very cool to have 350 screenings that evening and you'll get lots of punters to your screening as there will be lots of media around the 24th October actions. And we'll probably maybe definitely do a webcast that evening, which you can hook your screening into.

ada: screenings are allowed, but they need to be booked through the Canadian distributors, Criterion Pictures: call 1-800-565-1996 ext. 260 or visit http://www.criterionpic.com
Netherlands, Belgium or Luxembourg: Screenings are allowed, but they need to be booked through the local distributors, Chrisje Simon-van Oosterhout: cs@mgmc.nl
Poland: Screenings are allowed, but they need to be booked through the Polish distributors: Against Gravity, t +48-22-828 1079, aliebhart@docreview.pl, http://www.againstgravity.pl
Former Yugoslavia (including Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo): Maybe. Please contact the local distributor: Demiurg: Vasja Bibic - vasja.bibic@siol.net - 386 40 870 175

You can hold your screening absolutely anywhere you like, as long as it's in the country you booked it for: pubs, schools, churches, museums, bookshops, offices, fields and canal boats have already hosted Stupid screenings. If you want to screen in a cinema it gets a bit trickier, but if you find a cinema willing to go along with your plans, that is fine by us.

There is a multi-language version of the screening DVD, which contains subtitles in 31 languages (Arabic, Bengali, Brazillian Portugese, Chinese, (Hanji, and, traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Fasi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hinid, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Kiswahili, (Swahili), Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbo, Croat, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese). Sorry we don't have a dubbed version of these languages, as it's too expensive to make.

Sorry, no. The long one took five years to make and it would take another year to make a short one.

Go to the website - www.indiescreenings.net - plug in the details of your screening and it will generate a quote for you. The amount is set according to who you are, where you want to screen, which country they're in, how many people will watch and various other factors. The lowest fee is 1 pound (for a school screening in eg Sierra Leone) and the highest 12,000 pounds (for a multinational corporation screening to 1,000 or more people in eg America).

ew days before their screening, you'll get a DVD in the post. You can charge whatever you like for tickets - and pass round a fundraising bucket too, if you want - and all profits are yours to keep for your campaign group or pocket. After the screening, you post back the DVD (unless you paid extra to keep it). That's it. (BTW - we are adding the option for people to download the film instead of getting a DVD in the post - should be ready in next few weeks).

Quite a few people have said that if we "really cared about the planet", we would give our film away. Here's why we're not going to. Firstly, the £450,000 budget was raised by our "crowd-funding" scheme ( http://www.ageofstupid.net/money ) 228 people invested between £500 and £35,000 of their own money. (Which is incidentally the largest amount any project has ever raised using similar schemes.) We want to repay our investors' belief by returning at least some of their money. (We would have to take £10 million pounds to pay everyone back completely, so that's never going to happen - it's not a profit making exercise.) Secondly, if we can prove that this alternative funding system works, we might persuade other filmmakers (or writers or artists or whatever) to step outside the mainstream media and start making independent films, without advertising execs or corporate suits watering down their content. Thirdly, the film was made by 104 people - including top animators, editors, composers and everything in between - working at minimum wage or just above, some of them for five years. If we can take their wages up from almost nothing to ridiculously low, then they are more likely to give their skills to future low-budget projects. Fourthly, we can only make more films if we make our business viable - clearly we have to pay rent and eat. And if we had to get day jobs, we wouldn't be able to concentrate on our films - or our new distribution models - or the Not Stupid action campaign - or writing this FAQ to answer your questions. And finally, we have put our hearts and souls into the film and feel that it has value: the fact that you'd like to hold a screening kind-of means that you agree. So in the same way that car manufacturers don't give away their cars, publishers don't give away their books and hot dog sellers don't give away their hot dogs, we're not going to give away our film. Having said all that, you can of course find a pirate copy of the film and screen it illegally without a license and we'll probably never find out. And you can steal from charity shops, evade your tax and change your granny's will when she loses her eyesight.
A: I'd like to make a poster for my screening. Can I use the logo/pictures?

ernatively, you can use our automatic poster-maker: http://www.ageofstupid.net/postermaker

Yes. Well, as long as you control the non-theatric rights in some or all territories. We are going to start putting other films onto the system from about December 2009. We haven't worked all the details out yet, but basically we will take a cut of the income generated by your film and the rest will be yours. Please join our mailing list by sending an email to addtolist@ageofstupid.net to hear about when this service is ready. Alternatively, email filmmakers@indiescreenings.net and we'll try to remember to contact you.

Thanks very much for the offer. 68 lovely volunteers all round the world have already translated the film into 34 languages (see list in next question). If your language is not in the list, please contact translators@ageofstupid.net

Arabic, Bengali, Brazillian Portugese, Chinese, (Hanji, and, traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Fasi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hinid, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Kiswahili, (Swahili), Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbo, Croat, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese.

We may get dubbed versions for certain languages, depending on TV sales. But for now, just subtitles for those languages.

See Indie Screenings section above.

Thank you very very much for helping out with the translation. Many more people will see the film because of your hard work. We would like to offer you a free screening as a further thank you for all your efforts. Please contact ben@indiescreenings.net to arrange. (You will still be able to charge for tickets for your screening, even though we won't charge you a license fee.)

If you are holding a screening of the film, then you can request a speaker at the same time as booking your DVD through Indie Screenings: www.indiescreenings.net. But, for 2009 at least, we are all run off our feet and sadly have to turn down the majority of speaking requests. If you are not screening the film, but would like to ask one of us to speak at your event, please contact speakers@ageofstupid.net

We employ professional press agents at certain times in certain countries (eg when the DVD is being released). The current ones are listed on: http://www.ageofstupid.net/contact_us If there's nobody listed for your country, please contact press@ageofstupid.net with genuine press queries.

Maybe. But they're all so overworked that they have to turn down most requests. So if at all possible, please take quotes from existing interviews from here: http://www.ageofstupid.net/pr_resources . There's also high-res pictures and everything else you could need on there. But if you'd still like to request an interview, contact us on press@ageofstupid.net

Yes, help yourself: http://www.ageofstupid.net/electronic_press_kit

There's a whole page of resources for journalists at http://www.ageofstupid.net/pr_resources and the press book here: http://www.ageofstupid.net/press-pack

Yes. These images are all free to use if promoting/featuring the film. If not, please contact us for permission. Details of the credit required are by each picture.
- Selection of the best ones: http://www.ageofstupid.net/image/tid/1229
- Key press image (Pete in the archive) at very high res: https://www.ageofstupid.net.s3.amazonaws.com/InterfaceStill_forPrint_Nov14_HDPete01.tiff
- Production photos: http://www.ageofstupid.net/photos.
- People's Premiere: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ageofstupid
- Screengrabs from the film: https://www.ageofstupid.net.s3.amazonaws.com/screenshots.zip
- Devastated images of the world in 2055 (folder which will download and then needs to be unzipped): https://www.ageofstupid.net.s3.amazonaws.com/Devastated%20scenes.zip

Yes. Help yourself and we don't need a credit: http://www.ageofstupid.net/image/tid/1205

Probably. There would be a fee set according to who you are and how you plan to use our material. We also have tonnes of footage around each of the main stories that didn't make it into the film, if you're in need of shots of the Alps or Nigeria or New Orleans devastation. Contact us on press@ageofstupid.net

Yes, as long as it's related to the film and not commercial. If it is commercial or for an unrelated project, contact us on press@ageofstupid.net

Absolutely. No need to ask our permission, just embed the trailer onto your website straight from our Vimeo channel here: http://www.vimeo.com/2991411
Or download a high-res version for screenings here: https://www.ageofstupid.net.s3.amazonaws.com/AoS_trailer_HD.mov

We promise you they all work, as they've been downloaded loads of times. Could you ask a technically-minded friend to help you? Or try on another computer? Or use a different web browser? Sorry we don't have time to talk you through it.

Shedloads: http://www.ageofstupid.net/press-pack

Everything from "The most important film you'll see this year" (News of the World) and "represents the future of film, film culture and film distribution and marketing" (The Huffington Post) to "the second most lame, risibly awful and toe-curlingly emetic movie in British cinematic history after Love Actually" (James Delingpole)
Best quotes: http://www.ageofstupid.net/franny_quotes
Full list of press reviews: http://www.ageofstupid.net/press_reviews
Our Rotten Tomatoes page looks as though we've only had a few reviews, when actually we've had more than 100. Not very helpful, as their raison d'etre is to aggregate press reviews. (Interesting fact, Franny's earlier film McLibel has an almost-impossible 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes: http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/mclibel/ )

On IMDB we have a rating of 6.8/10 with 224 votes (or a median of 8, if you take out the climate deniers trying to spike us - see detail http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1300563/ratings ). If you'd like to cast your vote then please do so at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1300563/
Or see our Public Review page: http://www.ageofstupid.net/public_reviews

We'd love you to. There's an easy form on the website: http://www.ageofstupid.net/public_reviews

Add it to the Public Review page and then add a link to your blog's website from there: http://www.ageofstupid.net/public_reviews

See "Indie Screenings" above.

Yes if it is one of the ones available on the website and it is not for commercial purposes. Just help yourself from our vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/ageofstupid If you want a clip that isn't already available, we'd have to charge you to copy it and screen it, so probably not worth it. But contact us on press@ageofstupid.net if you like.

As above.

Sorry, no. The 85-minute version took five years to make and it would take us another year to make a short one. Having said that, we are vaguely thinking of doing a 10-minute version. If you join our mailing list (by sending an email to addtolist@ageofstupid.net) you'll hear if/when we do that.

Our email list is by far the best way to keep in touch with everything that's happening in the Stupid world. Lots of people write saying "Can you let me know when the film is out in my country?", but obviously it's impossible for us to remember to reply six months down the line. So just sign up to our list and you'll hear everything as it happens. We send messages about once or twice a week - about the film, the Not Stupid and 10:10 campaigns and climate change generally - though more during peak periods (eg around the Global Premiere in September 2009). And as we get towards Copenhagen (see below), there will be lots more ideas about how you can get involved. The list tries to be funny and sometimes succeeds. See back issues here: http://www.ageofstupid.net/diary

Either email addtolist@ageofstupid.net or sign-up on the front page of the website: http://www.ageofstupid.net

You can unsubscribe from the list at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link on the bottom of every message. Or here: http://aos.dh.bytemark.co.uk/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/age-of-stupid. We used to have a dodgy server which made it hard for people to unsubscribe themselves, but it's now fixed. Alternatively, email addtolist@ageofstupid.net with UNSUBSCRIBE in the mailing list and a volunteer will take you off next time they are in the office (about once a week).

If it's relevant - we only send climate change or independent film-related stuff - then send a clear, concise message, including any web links to: mailinglistcontent@ageofstupid.net. Pls don't email us to ask whether it's going on, as you'll soon see by reading the next few messages.

Apologies that the DVD keeps getting delayed.... it's because we kept stuffing more and more extras on there. Anyway, the copies arrive in our office on October 26th and we've got extra people booked in to come and post them all that day. So if you pre-ordered on the website, you will get it soon after that. In normal circumstances (ie once the DVD is out, after October 26th), you should receive your DVD within one week + normal postage times to your country. If you haven't received it after that, please email shop@ageofstupid.net

All merchandise is sent out once a week. So please allow at least 7 days + normal postage times for your order to arrive. If it hasn't after that, please contact the shop keeper on shop@ageofstupid.net

It's extremely difficult to make independent films without taking the corporate dollar. Very few filmmakers anywhere in the world manage to make it work. By buying our stuff you're helping us not sell out. And each item will hopefully decrease consumerism overall, as the reuse water bottles stops you buying plastic bottles, the reuse bag stops plastic bags etc. Apart from the T-shirts and DVDs. Er.

10:10 is The Age of Stupid's answer to the question: what can I do about climate change? 10:10 asks individuals, businesses, schools, hospitals, the military, the monarchy - everybody - to commit to cut their emissions by 10% in 2010. Once we have a sizeable chunk of the UK population signed up, we will challenge the UK Government to follow suit and introduce legislation to quickly cut the whole country's emissions. In the hope that, if one of the bigget polluters (the UK) acts first, it may just break the deadlock in the international climate negotiations and inspire other countries to start quickly cutting their emissions too.

10:10 was launched at Tate Modern on 1st September 2009 ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/01/10-10-launch-ian-katz ) and within 48 hours, sign-ups included 10,000 individuals, 700 businesses, 50 schools, all the leaders of the main political parties, all the cabinet and the Prime Minister. As of 11th October 2009, there are now 31,305 individuals - including Colin Firth, Stella McCartney, Antony Horowitz, Lord Stern, Lord Giddens, Kevin McCloud and Sara Cox - plus more than 1,000 businesses including some very well known brands such as Microsoft, Pret A Manger, B&Q; and Royal Mail. Sign up your family, school, business, workplace or scout group here: http://www.1010uk.org

Story here: http://www.1010uk.org/#what_is_1010/back_story

All 10:10 questions answered here: http://www.1010uk.org/#what_is_1010/faq

We asked them whether they'd do an article about 10:10 and they went absolutely crazy for it - to the extent that many people think that it's the Guardian's campaign. Check out their fantastic 10:10 minisite here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/10-10

First, sign up yourself, your family, your friends, your workplace, your school and everyone you know on the 10:10 website: http://www.1010uk.org . You are committing yourselves to cut 10% of your emissions next year. And then: do you have any spare cash? http://www.1010uk.org/1010/what_is_1010/donate

We've already had offers from more than 15 groups wanting to start eg 10:10 France and 10:10 Australia. We're definitely going to do it, as soon as we can work out the logistics. Please contact mal@1010uk.org

Not Stupid is the action campaign of The Age of Stupid film. During the five long years of production we felt that the film itself was our contribution to climate change and that we could retire as soon as it was finished. But then we were persuaded that, seeing as the climate crisis is so desperately urgent and we completely control the film (as we own the rights - see "crowd-funding" below), that the responsibility had only just begun...

The filmmakers, together with a small team of campaigners. It is supported by Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF, Stop Climate Chaos and all the big climate campaigns in the UK. See list here: http://www.notstupid.org/supporters

To reach 250 million viewers worldwide and inspire them all to become active citizens, pressurising their Governments to make the right deal at Copenhagen.
(Yes, we know 250 million sounds ludicrous, but it's only 10 times more than we managed for our last film, McLibel and now we have at least 100 times the resources. Plus, all of life on Earth is at stake, so may as well aim high.)

At the UK Premiere in March 2009 ( http://www.ageofstupid.net/premiere ), we ambushed the UK Climate Change Minister, Ed Miliband, with a giant pledge: Stupid-star Pete Postlethwaite threatened to give back his OBE if the Kingsnorth coal power station got the go-ahead. Within a month Ed had changed his coal policy - http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/24/energy-coal-carbon-capture-environment - and then in October 2009, the Kingsnorth project was shelved indefinitely (which we've definitely not taking the credit for as there was loads of pressure from all sides).
We have also presented Stupid certificates to Global Warming Swindle Director Martin Durkin (live on Newsnight: http://notstupid.org/news/stupid-vs-swindle-newsnight ) and to Belfast City Airport (http://notstupid.org/news/belfast-city-airport-officially-stupid ). And we've presented Not Stupid certificates to climate writer George Monbiot (at the launch of Indie Screenings: http://www.ageofstupid.net/news/webcast_wizardry_the_rsa_indie_screenings_launch ), to the Maldives negotiating team (at the Bonn climate talks: http://notstupid.org/action-stations ), to Eurostar ( http://notstupid.org/news/not-stupid-flashmobbers ) and to President Nasheed of The Maldives (at the Global Premiere: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ageofstupid/3944596848/in/set-72157622430257280/ ) for being the first country to commit to going carbon neutral within ten years.
Lots of naughty people we've never met before, honest, have done lots of funny stuff involving the word Stupid. Best of all has to be Greenpeace re-decorating a coal power station in Italy: http://www.ageofstupid.net/node/3266 . http://www.ageofstupid.net/action_stations
Copenhagen & climate action

The capital of Denmark.

The only way we can prevent catastrophic climate change is to massively cut global emissions very quickly over the next couple of decades. The only way we can do that is by agreeing a binding international treaty. And the last chance we have to do that in the timescale set by the science of the planet... is the UN climate summit at Copenhagen ( http://en.cop15.dk/ ) in December 2009. So when people call it "the most important meeting in human history", they are not exaggerating.

Obviously they don't just write the deal at the final meeting, they've been working on it for years. The best option currently on the table (the EU's) would, if it were agreed and then if all the cuts made - which are two gigantic ifs - only give us a 50% chance of averting catastrophe. So our elected leaders are giving us - at best - a coinflip chance of survival. We could have a much higher chance - we're not waiting for technology or knowledge or anything - it's only the politics.

Sorry, nobody gets off the hook that easily. Every part of society has pretty much failed so far. The politicians have failed to lead. The media have failed to convey the urgency of the problem. The public have failed to protest - and failed to cut their own emissions. Civil society has failed to put aside differences and unite...... BUT there is just about still time. We have six months left before Copenhagen and we could yet turn everything around. These six months will define our generation, as others before us were defined by ending slavery or landing on the moon or winning independence or whathaveyou. Hence the title of our film. Though if, as looks likely, our collective actions will lead to the deaths of hundreds of millions of people and leave the planet pretty-much uninhabitable, then future generations will be calling us much worse names than "stupid".

Yup. See 10:10 above.

Oh, but it were that simple. There are a million different solutions to climate change, so there is something for everyone to do, depending on your age, location, skills, life-commitments and so on. But if you insist on one thing, then join our mailing list by sending an email to addtolist@ageofstupid.net. That way, you'll get news of all sorts of climate actions going on so you can choose the one that suits you. And then pledge to cut your emissions by 10% near year at 10:10. Oops, that's two.

Loads of really good books and films detailed here: http://www.notstupid.org/get-cleverer Don't forget to buy them second-hand or borrow from a friend.

Stupid's climate change supervisor, Mark Lynas ( http://www.ageofstupid.net/people/mark_lynas ), met the Maldives administration at a conference in February 2009 and had a good old chat... Less than a month later, on March 15th 2009, President Nasheed caused a riot at the People's Premiere of The Age of Stupid by announcing that The Maldives will be the first country to go completely carbon neutral within ten years (see video: "http://www.ageofstupid.net/news/maldives_become_carbon_limbo_world_champions ). Leading to plenty of fireworks in the international press - including six pages in the New York Times ( http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/magazine/10MALDIVES-t.html?pagewanted=all ) , a think-piece from Nasheed in the Huffington Post ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mohamed-nasheed/climate-change-requires-a_b_292747.html ) and a double page feature in the Observer newspaper http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/15/maldives-president-nasheed-carbon-neutral . Since then, the Maldives have continued their revolutionary ways by holding cabinet meetings underwater and all sorts of shenanigans summarised in this article. Stupid director Franny Armstrong presented President Nasheed with a giant Not Stupid certificate at the Global Premiere in New York on 21st September in recognition of his world-leading ways.

We first met the UK's Climate Change Minister, Ed Miliband, at The Age of Stupid premiere in March 2009, when we ambushed him with a giant pledge - http://www.ageofstupid.net/news/peoples_premiere_not_stupid - which helped persuade him to change his coal policy less than a month later. Frankly, we thought that would be the last time we saw the likes of him, but then his office called up and challenged Stupid director Franny Armstrong to a public debate. Since then, Ed and Franny have been trading blows in public every few weeks. This is the scoreboard as it stands on 12th October 2009.
- Round 1: Age of Stupid premiere. Pete P ambushes Ed. Victor: FRANNY (technically PETE P) http://www.ageofstupid.net/premiere
- Round 2: Tricycle Theatre debate. Franny suggests 10:10 and Ed says blocking windfarms should be "socially unacceptable". Victor: TIE http://www.ageofstupid.net/node/2762
- Round 3: Hay Festival debate. Franny goes for the jugular on flying. Victor: FRANNY http://notstupid.org/news/ed-vs-franny-round-3-hay-festival
- Round 4. Latitude Festival. Franny surprises Ed with a giant Not Stupid certificate for his Low Carbon Transition Plan. Victor: ED http://www.actoncopenhagen.decc.gov.uk/en/ukaction/culture/Latitude-festival
- Round 5. Newsnight. Ed lands killer blow "You (the host) are a defeatist) and you (Franny) are an impossibilist". Victor: ED
- Round 6. Age of Stupid Global Premiere. Franny's "thanks for the politician answer" causes much hilarity in cinemas across the world. Victor: FRANNY http://www.ageofstupid.net/global_premiere"
Current score: 4-3 to Franny
Next round: Guardian podcast series

Please let website@ageofstupid.net know. Thanks very much.

Yeah, we agree. It's on our to-do list, but to be honest there's quite a lot of stuff higher up.

Ditto.

Sounds great, thanks very much. Please list the languages you could help with and your availability over the next three months to: website@ageofstupid.net
Sorry, but we can't afford to pay you, so please only get in touch if you are happy to work voluntarily.

Yes. Any school anywhere in the world (except the exception countries listed under "Indie Screenings" above) can book a screening of the film via the Indie Screenings website.

Yes. We've teamed up with Action Aid to produce a special pack about the film, which was launched in October 2009. More info and to order your copy: http://www.actionaid.org.uk/101751/the_age_of_stupid.html

We're interested to hear any suggestions. Please contact person@ageofstupid.net

The UK cinema rating for the film is 12A, which means that no child younger than 12 may see it in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. More info about the UK's 12A classification: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/c_12.php . There is a version on the DVD where all the swearwords have been bleeped out, so teachers may decide this version is suitable for their classes (though it does still contain harrowing stuff about the destruction of humanity). Up to you.

Sure, go for it. At least 20 students have asked to do this, over the years. Every single one promised to send a copy of the finished thesis, but not a single one followed through, so we are kind-of jaded with helping with these requests. So please just take info from the website.

We literally googled him to see if he was into climate change, and found this article http://www.shropshirestar.com/2007/05/01/movie-star-pete-going-green/ . On Dec 17 2007 at 3.27pm, he said 'Yes'.

See "Contacts" above.

See "Basic Info" page: http://www.ageofstupid.net/synopsis_0

Complete credits here: http://www.ageofstupid.net/credits

12A in the UK. Which means children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. But the DVD will be E (Exempt), as it's a documentary. So, as far as we understand it, anybody can watch.

Yes, in the original version there are some swearwords, but we bleeped them out to get the 12A rating. Both versions are on the Indie Screening DVDs, so you can choose which to watch.

Actually all of those issues are mentioned briefly in the animation sections, but clearly we couldn't go into great depth on all the related issues because that would make a 46 hour film that nobody would ever see. There's just too damn many of them, as everything's related to climate change, one way or another. We felt that we choose strong, symbolic examples which the viewers could use to extrapolate. We're sorry if you disagree. And there's always room for more takes on the subject: why don't you make the film you feel we should have made?

Yes. See: http://www.ageofstupid.net/the_science
The Met Office has also officially endorsed the film: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/stupid/index.html . Franny recently put the question "Did we exaggerate the science in Age of Stupid or is it about right?" to Dr Richard Betts, the Head of Climate Impacts, and he replied: "I wouldn't be sat here now if you had exaggerated it. It's all based on science in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. From the IPCC. So, yes, you did a good job."

We thought long and hard about this one, we promise. In the end we decided that the key message is "Our house is on fire, get the fire engines!", rather than "Our house is on fire, but we feel there is hope about whether or not we will put it out". We may be wrong and someone may make a "dream" film at a later date which is more powerful than ours.

Chris Brierley composed most of the original music - http://www.ageofstupid.net/people/chris_brierley . More info, including full music credits at: http://www.ageofstupid.net/music The soundtrack will be available to buy as a CD or download if we ever get round to it. Maybe December 2009?

About fifteen male people. Lots of info and cute production videos here: http://www.ageofstupid.net/animation

John Battsek started off as the Producer of the film but as the years wore on he took over the Executive Producer job and Lizzie Gillett did the day-to-day producing of the film. More about John at: http://www.ageofstupid.net/node/224

The most well-known are McLibel and Drowned Out. See http://www.spannerfilms.net/drownedout http://www.mclibel.com http://www.spannerfilms.net

See the 50 minute Making Of documentary for the full story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/mar/02/age-of-stupid-making-of

About five years all up. See the timeline for every detail: http://www.ageofstupid.net/timeline

There are loads of articles and full production notes in our press pack: http://www.ageofstupid.net/press-pack
Also, see Franny's diaries, for the daily thrills and spills: http://www.ageofstupid.net/diary

The production totalled 94 tonnes. Which is equivalent to 8 European people or 4 Americans living for one year. Or 184 patio heaters for one month... Not bad for a film that was shot in six countries over five years and had a crew of 105 people. Then the promotion added another ~50 tonnes, mainly in flights to America and Australia/New Zealand. See calculations here: http://www.ageofstupid.net/carbon_footprint

It's all about numbers at the end of the day. We have to cut global emissions by more than 40% by 2020. If we don't, we're basically toast. As the situation currently stands we are going to utterly fail to cut anywhere near enough. So we need a fast, massive awakening of both the public and the politicians. We made our film - producing 94 tonnes of carbon dioxide - in the hope (there's that word again) that our film may contribute to the awakening in time. If it doesn't, we have sped up the apocalypse by a few days. If it does, we may have helped avert the greatest humanitarian disaster of all time. In which case the 94 tonnes would be well spent.

We don't make people sign a "I will live on one tonne a year" pledge when they come to work for us. But clearly we're all working here because we believe in the aim, not because we want to get rich (we wouldn't have spent five years on minimum wage if we didn't passionately believe in the issues). So, yes, the majority of Team Stupid do not fly for personal reasons, are vegetarian, travel everywhere by bike or public transport, mainly buy second-hand stuff, recycle & compost, wear lots of jumpers rather than turning the heating up, don't have cars and spend every waking hour working on climate change. And Franny managed to get the second Camden council grant to install solar hot-water at her house - the first Camden council grant went to someone else who worked briefly on the film, we found out later. Small world.

As of 10th October, we're up to about one million people in 63 countries. We're going to try to get a counter going on the website soon.

Loads of people have written to us saying they've changed their lives, so anecdotally we can say it's definitely had an impact. Some of the actions inspired by the film can be seen at: http://www.ageofstupid.net/action_stations And some of the emails we received from people after our UK premiere are at: http://www.ageofstupid.net/peoples_premiere_the_world_seems_a_little_different_today

We've already screened at the EU, British, Scottish, Welsh, Swedish, Australian, Canadian and Dutch parliaments, as well as at the UN's climate summit in Poznan in December 2008. Obama's think tank (the Center for American Progress), the World Bank, the Environment Agency, the UN and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) have also held screenings. Kofi Annan hosted a screening at the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva in June.

a full list of public reviews at: http://www.ageofstupid.net/public_reviews
Or some quotes form famous people at: http://www.ageofstupid.net/famous_people_quotes

A few: http://www.ageofstupid.net/awards

Become actively involved in solving the problem. For anyone producing more than 1 tonne of emissions per year, start by joining 10:10. http://www.1010uk.org

The cunning financing model we invented for this film, which basically allowed us to raise 450,000 UK pounds to make the film, without giving away any of the rights (normally when a TV company or film financer invests in a film they take a proportion of the rights and then control the distribution). We then raised a further ~300k to distribute it. More info, including links to press about it, here: http://www.ageofstupid.net/money

228 people and groups - including a hockey team and a women's health centre. See the funders' page for a selection: http://www.ageofstupid.net/funders
"

1. Complete editorial freedom (no commissioners or advertising execs telling us to water down the content). 2. Control of the distribution (we wouldn't be able to do Indie Screenings if the film belonged to the BBC). 3. No outside deadlines. 4. 228-person strong PR team. 5. Loads of moral support.

Sorry we don't have time to meet or speak, but we have put all the documents - including the legal contracts - online so anyone can follow our model: http://www.ageofstupid.net/how_to_crowd_fund_your_film .

As of October 2009, we are selling some of our own shares to fund our Copenhagen plans. Would be fantastic if you could buy one for 10,000 pounds - or half for 5,000. More info: http://www.ageofstupid.net/node/1253/ . This is your last chance to own a slice of the Stupid profits. The deal is that you give us your 10K (or 20K or 30K etc) and we give you a percentage of the income, paid once a year for ten years.
If you're interested in finding out more, go to http://www.ageofstupid.net/buyshare where you can download the Funding Plan with all the details, and the standard Letter of Agreement investors have to fill out. If you want to have a chat about any of this before signing away upwards of ten grand, please drop lizzie@ageofstupid.net an email, and she'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. It's first come first served on this last handful of 'shares' and we were over-subscribed for the earlier funding rounds, so if you're interested, best to get in there quick! (*'shares' is in inverted commas because according to our lawyers, they're not technically shares, but some clever form of loan that's sort of like a share.)

We gratefully receive donations of any amount, either as a one-off or a monthly donation: http://www.ageofstupid.net/money . You can specify whether you want your money to go towards the distribution of the film or the Not Stupid action campaign. Thank you very very much, we couldn't do any of this without our supporters.

Please hold a screening, spread the word (via email, Facebook, Twitter etc - all links in first question above), buy a share or make a donation: http://www.indiescreenings.net

We're often in need of volunteers to come and help out in the office in Camden, North London, as there's always far more to do than our small team can manage. At the moment, we're not making any films, but we do have tonnes of exciting plans for Copenhagen. So if you join us as a volunteer you won't be shooting a masterpiece documentary with Franny - you'll be helping keep the ship afloat by picking stuff up, sorting receipts, going to the post office, updating the website and so on and so forth. NB: This is how Lizzie started six years ago and she's now the producer of The Age of Stupid! If you're interested, email volunteers@ageofstupid.net telling us a few lines about your skills, experience, why/how you want to be involved, where you live and what your availability is like (how many days per week over what time period).

Jobs come up from time to time. Join our mailing list by emailing addtolist@ageofstupid.net and you'll be first to hear about them. Alternatively, keep checking the website. There's not much use sending us your CV randomly, as we never know what to do with them.

See Franny's "Top Ten Tips", written for The Guardian, here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/feb/18/1 or watch the complete 50-minute story of the Making Of Stupid here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/mar/02/age-of-stupid-making-of

We're a wee bit busy for at least the next year trying to help stop catastrophic climate change. And after that we are all planning to have a lie down. So there's no point sending us your great film ideas. Why not make it yourself? Or find other indie filmmakers here: www.shootingpeople.org

Our problem at the moment is too many good ideas and not enough time to do them all. But if you really think your idea would fit well with our plans, you are welcome to email it to person@ageofstupid.net

Sorry to be rude, but we are currently spending every waking hour on our own projects (We used to feel guilty if we took a day off, then it became an hour and right now we feel bad if we stop working for five minutes.)

In the past we have run a SWOTS session, our one day course that covers everything you need to know to make a documentary with no cash, crew or commission, but we are too busy to run this course for the foreseeable future. If you're interested in putting your name down for the next one - maybe in 2010, maybe not - email swots@spannerfilms.net The info from our last SWOTS course is at: http://www.spannerfilms.net/?lid=1029

The people who came before us didn't know about climate change and the ones who come after will be powerless to stop it. So it's down to us. Other generations came together to overturn slavery or end apartheid or win the vote for women. There is nothing intrinsically more useless about our generation and there is no doubt about what we have to do. The only question which remains is whether or not we give it a go.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/franny-armstrong/the-age-of-stupid-gives-a_b_281903.html