Lizzie Gillett, producer of the hit documentary The Age of Stupid, which when released in 2009 became one of the most talked about films of the decade, will be touring NZ next year to talk about the film and how it was made without industry backing.
On the five-year production she managed a crew of 105 people in six countries, raised one million pounds through their pioneering crowd-funding model, and was instrumental in setting up the revolutionary Indie Screenings model. She also organised the Guinness World Record beating Global Premiere, the biggest live film event ever held, linked by satellite to more than 700 cinemas in 63 countries and watched by an audience of more than a million people. Lizzie has spoken at international conferences, film festivals and leading film schools around the world. She was named 'European Trailblazer of the Year' at Mipcom in Cannes and was featured by Harpers Bazaar magazine as a "21st century heroine", one of twenty "exceptional women changing the world for the better through the work they do".
Set in the devastated world of 2055, Pete Postlethwaite stars as a future archivist asking why we didn't stop climate change when we had the chance. Giving greater creative control to its makers, and empowering audiences, the production used an innovative crowd-funding finance model and established a new distribution system, which allows anyone anywhere to screen the film. Over 2000 local Indie Screenings have now been organised by concerned individuals worldwide. Despite no industry backing, the film has been seen by millions of people around the world. In 2009, WIFT NZ Executive Director, Susi Newborn, organised the Oceanic Premiere of The Age of Stupid in a solar-powered tent in the Viaduct Basin, with satellite link to the premiere in Sydney.
The Age of Stupid Producer Lizzie Gillett