Received wisdom (Events - Film) (Site
The Age of Stupid
film premiere brought its own brand of wisdom to the red carpet launch
format this weekend. For a start the red carpet went green - and the
premiere took place in a solar cinema tent in London’s Leicester Square
gardens. Sat Bal (17 Mar '09)
Of course, all of this was to underline the climate change theme of The Age of Stupid.
Film premiere organisers often find themselves creating exotic themes
for their clients and ensuring that everything from dining to transport
is A-list pristine. However, The Age of Stupid premiere captured the Zeitgeist of a frugal March 2009 with its environmental concern (intentionally) and the credit crunch cloud (ostensibly).
There was no sleek limo for the film’s star and narrator, Pete Postlethwaite. Like some other guests, including designer Vivienne Westwood, Green campaigner Postlethwaite arrived at the premiere on his bike. Gillian Anderson and singer KT Tunstall were among the other celebrities to attend the screening, joined by former Labour spin doctor Alistair Campbell, Ken Livingstone and Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour. Firefly Solar handled the technical production for the event and inside the cinema, a Saddlespan S2000, all the house lighting, 15000 lumin HD projector and PA was powered entirely by solar energy.
Logistically,
the event pulled off the feat of a simultaneous launch at over 60
different cinemas across the U.K. where live satellite link-up beamed
the action to a true multiplex of cinemas, including the Eden Project
in Cornwall. With some 16,000 people buying tickets, the event is
expected to propel the film into the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ever film premiere in history.
(Above) Pete Postlethwaite interacting with the futuristic interface designed specifically for the film by designer Taiyo Nagano.
The Age of Stupid is a drama-documentary set in 2055 and is the prescient tale of a world decimated by a failure to act on environmental issues. Pete Postlethwaite is a lone archivist living in the melted Arctic. He looks through film footage from 50 years ago and asks why people allowed the planet to dissolve into its 2055 state.
The film, which cost
£450,000 to make, was “crowd-funded” by donations from 228 people who
invested between £500 and £35,000. Predictably, there is a political
thrust and profits from the ticket sales will be donated to the “Not
Stupid” climate campaign whose activists will lobby the UN Climate
Summit in December this year.
The film was produced by Oscar winner John Battsek (One Day in
September) and directed by Franny Armstrong, known for the film McLibel
featuring the infamous McDonalds libel
trial. For Armstrong the event was the culmination of five years of
work, reportedly living on minimum wages while creating her opus.
The
UK Film Council backs new and groundbreaking methods of distribution
and supported the film’s distributor Dogwoof with funding towards the
live satellite transmission of the premiere and Q&A to cinemas
across the UK.
*The Eco Facts...
- the premiere produced only 1% of the C02 emissions of a normal blockbuster premiere
- Green Travel Plan meant a no-fly-zone banning guests from using air transport
- Celebs options were zero carbon cars including a Lotus Elise running on landfill gas and Cambridge University, the UK’s first road legal solar car
- Event power via a solar panel rig with no mains power used.
*Eco-Audit Compiled by PIRC and Carbon Accounting
The Age of Stupid goes on national release on 20th March 2009