News archive

As the Government's Climate Bill reaches its final stages, Pete Postlethwaite presents his new feature documentary, "The Age of Stupid", to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change on Monday July 21st at Portcullis House. Full press release here .

12-page PDF file of all our press articles to date, plus far too much blarb. http://www.spannerfilms.net/downloadfiles/ageofstupid/AOSpresspack10.pdf

Age of Stupid is playing to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change on July 21st, just as the crucial Climate Bill is making its way into law. Hopefully it will help persuade them to make the law as strong as the science says it needs to be.

 Parliament flyer

Sneak preview for Oxford contingent now confirmed at the Ultimate Picture Palace on July 22nd and a few public tickets are available. Most exciting thing is that Layefa is coming over from Nigeria and will be at the screening (assuming she gets a visa).

New Guardian article about our cunning funding scheme and lovely investors.

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2287367,00.html

Lizzie and Franny coordinating

Posing for the local rag

Fernand joins the cult

Tough job but someone has to do it

[Left to Right] Photographer Karen, Fernand's wife Nicole, Director Franny, Interpreter Oceane, Producer Lizzie, Star Fernand, Composer Chris, Investor John

Franny collects the prizes for Best Green Doc and Film Most Likely to Become Cinema Hit

Yahey. We just won an organic hamper and some editing software for Best Green Doc (which we had a sneaky suspicion we might win) and a free digital-converstion for Film Most Likely To Succeed at the Cinema (which we didn't even know we'd entered). Bodes well for winning prizes at the big festivals coming up.

See the press release from Sunny Side: http://www.sunnysideofthedoc.com/upload//SITE%20WEB%202008/DOCUMENT%20EN...

Franny collects prize at Sunny Side

Franny's dad has made another of his classic videos, this time following the Stupid crew down to La Rochelle, where they attempt to sell the film to a sales agent - and accidentally win two prizes.

http://www.oneclimate.net/2008/06/26/selling-of-the-age-of-stupid-2/

We're taking our baby to the film market, Sunny Side of the Doc, in La Rochelle, France, in two weeks to see if anyone would like to buy her. There's also a public screening, details on the flyer. See you there?

Sunny Side screenings flyer

We've collated some of the emails we received after last week's crew & funders screening. Admittedly, they're biased, but still...

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Hey both, just wanted to say congrats on the FANTASTIC film! Seeing the finished product yesterday was very exciting, and it really, really got me deep down inside, yet again. Wow. I hope you're feeling proud of it. M

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Franny, Easy to say "well done" just after a screening with friends. but the film is seriously brilliant. As are you.The use of Pete is economical and skillful. The docs thread together seamlessly. and the graphics are beautiful, informative and never preachy. Stunning. Stunning. And Stunning. S x

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Dear Lizzie and Franny, The final cut is very impressive it really is, thank you for arranging the opportunity to see it with fellow investors. Met some lovely interesting people working in all sorts of different ways to Be the Change, very inspiring for me right now. I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye before I left, I was feeling rather emotional actually. Thank you again for your incredible dedication and work, however successful it is in financial terms it will surely make a difference and contribute positively to creating wider understanding amongst ordinary people and inspiring them to take determined action. All good wishes

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Dear both, It's not often in any of our lives that we can feel that we have really found and answered our vocation, but you two can be sure of that. We joke about saving the world, but this may just be a real piece of helping that salvation come in time. Bless you and thank you both, With love, P

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Hi Lizzie, Thanks so much for inviting me to the screening - my head's still buzzing with it.
Can't wait to see it again and tell everyone else to see it too. Congratulations - it's an absolutely amazing film.
Awestruck, A

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Dear Franny and Lizzie, My Goodness you're a talented pair! I was absolutely thrilled with "Stupid". What a tremendous achievement. It's really powerful; a knockout indeed and I loved the music. Not only is "Stupid" crammed with info but it has its funny moments and is touching too - both R and I had tears in our eyes at times. I feel privilieged to have been able to support the making of it. Love from B. P.S Have just remembered that tantalising comment you made about the subtle joke that viewers have missed.....mmmmmm.

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Unsure why... but at some level i curiously feel deeply lifted and liberated... now, the morning after the film
Thought you should know... The power of a question mark .... ? Maybe you’ve created a feelgood movie where the feelgood only kicks in after 18 hours. Kinda “surprised by joy”. know it’ll wear off, but if others get the same delayed action high kick, it’ll be worth every penny at the box office. What if at some deep level we all decide we’re worth saving, Happy D

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Hi, Sorry I left without seeing you all on Saturday but I felt I should drive home while I was still awake! I was so pleased with how it sounded at the cinema, and as I keep saying how incredible it looked. Thanks again for letting me be so involved in such a great project. N

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hi franny and lizzie, oh congratulations! what an epic achievement..i loved the film. so did the friend i came with. he said it was excellent, and appreciated the unique angle on climate change. i thought it was really smooth, flowed, very engaging throughout, not a word out of place, 90 mins passed by in a flash. excellent mix of macro/micro stores and the animation. it was a bit of a tear jerker seeing the children in jordan knowing how much you did for so many children out there...and so much fun seeing things you've sent pics of..it was brilliant, the characters and stories were so strong. oh what incredible representatives of the world you found..i keep thinking of different parts of the film. i want to see it again. i take back my reservations of the title, i can see it fits the film now...i hope it doesn't put anybody off, but im sure it will attract lots too. ill keep my fingers and everything crossed for you now. what an incredible journey you've been on! D x

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hi Franny, Lizzie, Many congratulations on an incredible film. It looks fantastic, beautifully filmed, and it's so consumingly stimulating, with so many aspects to it, there's no way you could come out and talk about other things like you do after so many one-dimensional films. I loved the animations, too. best of luck, S x

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Absolutely awesome! I am sooo excited... You deserve to sleep well tonight. You must be / should be / immensely proud. I am so pleased i was able to be a funder... and.... at same time.... i want to be so much more now... I am ready to mobilise and help get the film out there... and do something to help the next phase...
My networks are pretty good... Much love D

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Hi Lizzie and Franny, Just to say Congratulations - it's a fantastic film and I so enjoyed seeing it this morning. Hope it will be out as a DVD so I can give it to everyone in my life and convert them. G

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Dear Lizzie, Franny and others in the team- Thanks for showing us such a well-made, thoughtful and convincing film and for organising the Premiere so well. It is fab! Well done. Best wishes, A

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Lizzie, it was really really great. I’m still kind of reeling; it was very powerful, v affecting. xx F

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Hi! Just a quick e-mail (I am sure you have had loads!) to congratulate you on The Age of Stupid. I came along this morning with my husband (sorry unable to stop for champagne and lunch) and we were both really impressed - thought provoking stuff. I would love to hear your plans for it now it is made. I hope you will be able to continue to keep everyone informed - I have loved following the e-mail story. Hope your heads aren't too sore as you read this! R

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Hello again,

I was blown away. Sorry I couldn't stay around for the party today. Just got out of the library and before I head off to a Shropshire village fete (don't ask) I wanted to say once again how impressed I was with how powerful the film is. Like a kick in the balls with a hug, I felt. I was on the verge of tears throughout. It's a fantastic piece of work and I really hope it wakes people up - I think you've done everything possible to make the message accessible without diluting it. Well done again. Love, D

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Dear Frannie and Lizzie, I was absolutely blown away by your film. I thought it'd be good, but it was amazing. Heartbreakingly beautiful. C

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If I were a film critic my review would be filled with words like moving, powerful, and must see! As a member of the audience I was totally engaged from beginning to end and was converted, without any preaching or lecturing, from being mildly concerned about climage change to a party bore on the urgency of the issue. I am convinced I will be the first amongst many converts and hope that this film gets the widest possible audience. Everyone I speak to asks the same question "what can i do?". The first thing I will be doing is telling everyone to go see "The Age of Stupid". Great job! and thanks for inviting me to be a part of it N

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Hi Lizzie and first of all many congratulations to you and everyone else involved for a fantastic film! My main objective in putting some money into the project, especially now the film has been made, is about making a contribution to something that might actually change people's attitudes and habits. However worthy the film might be, unless it can actually change behaviour, then it would be rather pointless. I have no doubt you have been constantly debating this point as you went along!

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Hi Franny, Had a very profound experience at the screening - with your film and with hearing you speak. Seeing someone so completely committed and true to themselves and their artistic vision. I actually can't quite convey the impact you had on me, so I'll just say hat off to you. Very selfishly hoping this wasn't your last film. With respect, C

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Hi Franny and Lizzie, I watched Leonardo di Caprio's Eleventh Hour on Sunday evening. At roughly the same length, with a celebrity frontman and similar message, competition bells rang. I needn't have worried. It was talking heads (lots of Yankee profs, boffs and Stephen Hawking) talking history, showing traditional stats, in right-n lecture mode - even Leo came over all ponderous. It had none of the zip and impact visually, artistically or dramatically as Year of Stupid. Though, of course, it's all to the good if (some) Americans are getting the message but this effort will have the opposite effect on the general masses if they don't nod off in the first few frames. Your film was extraordinaryly powerful and engaging with the issue brought stunningly alive by the individual dilemmas facing the Shell-employeed, gentle good-guy Katrina survivor; the would-be African doctor forced to sell blackmarket oil in water bottles to fund her education; the Indian airline magnet who believes he's helping eradicate poverty and the windfarm developer fighting the NIMBY battles. love J

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I would like to say that I left the Curzon feeling a whole host of emotions. I felt anger (I knew a little about the Shell issue in Kenya and have been boycotting them for some years now), despair, I laughed in places and I actually welled up in places. Your film is magnificent and I've been telling anyone who listens about it! I don't quite know how these things work, but it needs to be shown to as large an audience as possible, on television. Regards, A

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I really really loved the film. Sorry I didn't stay around for the party. I was actually completely overwhelmed and had to go and cry for ten minutes. Protracted sleep deprivation and nerves relating to imminent Serbian exam no doubt contributed to my emotional state, but the film seemed very powerful to me. I don't think we see such nuanced characterisations in documentaries very often - particularly not in issue driven films. Charlotte

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Hey F & L, You made me cry, and I wasn't alone. All yr investors, we were holding our breath hoping you'd done a good job. It was better than I'd dared hope. Awesome. Thank you for your gift to the world...I'll shut up now cos guessing you don't like gushing, and it's very tempting ;-) S

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Age of Stupid screening was amazing. I'm so proud, impressed and blown away by the whole thing. Especially watching 11th hour the next night, there's no comparison. Age of Stupid is the kind of film you want
everyone you know to see. Love K

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Hi Franny and Lizzie! Sorry it's a little bit belated, but I just wanted to say a huge congratulations for 'The Age of Stupid'. I felt really privileged to have been at the London premiere - I knew I was watching an important film! I wish you every success with getting it out there for people to watch. Very zeitgeisty (did I just ruin a word?), with really broad appeal - but grounded in real, credible science. It was, more importantly, also really moving - something I think other climate change docs just haven't managed to achieve yet and something people will surely connect with more than any pie-charts and ex-democrat presidential candidates. You've made a really powerful, inspiring film - so congratulations once again! Best wishes E

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I just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS and how much I enjoyed the film and to say a huge thanks for inviting me to the premiere and especially for ITN Source’s presence! The archive footage from ITN Source looked stunning and I can’t tell you how proud I was to see how you’d used it in the film!

The film itself was a masterpiece and a prime example of first class British film making from a very talented crew and cast. I will do everything I can to get word out across the industry about ‘The Age of Stupid’ and seriously wish you every continued success for the big autumn cinema release. Best wishes, K

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I was so impressed by the film. I loved the tonal balance of the story - to use climate change terms, which would seem fitting - not too hot, not too cold, just right - a real makes you laugh, makes you cry and most importantly makes you think kind of film.

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Congratulations to you both, the film has everything – emotion, (dark) comedy, goodies and baddies, great animation, and Pete Postlethwaite! Let’s hope there’s a happier ending in reality.

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I'm sorry I didn't write straight after the premiere as lots of other people did. I was just too overwhelmed for several days.

I loved the final cut. It's a tremendous piece of filmmaking not just for what is on the screen but the whole way you made it happen and involved so many people like me and Z and H who now all feel we were really part of the project, even though our contribution was only a few seconds!

But I was so shocked by the urgency and seriousness of the film that I couldn't really celebrate in the way you would a normal film. I sat in traffic jams on the M25 and A3 for three hours driving to a school reunion and was overcome by the sense of how much and how fast we have to change our lifestyles  to make any difference.

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Can I say with complete sincerity that you are both so fucking clever! What an amazing film and what an amazing response! All I can add is that seeing Age of Stupid finally completed on a big screen was probably the proudest moment of my career, better even than winning my BAFTA. So powerful and so moving, I seemed to blubbering most of the way through. The ground you've (we've) covered since I first saw the film last September is phenomenal, everything worked, all the loose ends tied up and as a maker of much smaller films I know how hard that is to achieve. Hats off to both of you! I'm so happy that you asked me to help on what is definitely the most important piece of work I've ever been involved with - apart from my kids that is. See you soon and much love, Jx

Watch the viewers blub after the crew & investor screening at the Curzon Soho cinema.
http://www.oneclimate.net/2008/05/25/two-days-to-the-age-of-stupid/

Franny's dad nipped into the Farm post-production studio and whipped out a quick report.

http://www.oneclimate.net/2008/05/25/final-touches-to-the-age-of-stupid/

Our everything-you-need-to-know-to-make documentaries film school on May 3rd and 4th 2008 in London. For more details see http://www.spannerfilms.net/?lid=1029 or contact swots@spannerfilms.net

The Age of Stupid was sent to Cannes today.  Fingers crossed...

Who proposed carbon rationing 18 years ago

Franny and Lizzie show clips of The Age of Stupid, followed by an inspiring Q&A session.

We've got to be doing something right

.. & explaining to French producers how to raise £350K

The Age of Stupid team is seeking volunteers and work experience students to help us wrap up the final stages of production. Please send a CV and cover letter to sylvia@spannerfilms.net.

Watch clips and join Franny live now in Second Life or live on One Climate Island.

To join us as an avatar in Second Life: http://slurl.com/secondlife/OneClimate/128/128/26

Our drama shoot with Pete Postlethwaite made it onto Channel 4 News last night , alongside mentions of Leonardo Dicaprio and Al Gore's eco docs.

We're showing the film in London on Feb 25th. Any potential investors very welcome. Please contact Lizzie  07789 862 011

Composer Chris and our very own Age of Stupid Orchestra have spent two days at Devas Recording Studios (thanks Johnny ) recording a wonderful score for the film.

Double page spread about the film in a movie mag, with embarrassing photos aplenty.

Surely the most thrilling 24 hours of all time, filming an A-list actor in a carpet warehouse in Willesden.

Carpet warehouse + set builders, drivers, lighting crew, 10,000 pounds of props & two production designers = The Global Archive of 2055.

Location			Set Builders and Lighting Crew
Over-night Accomodation			Production Designer David
The props arrive			David
Last minute changes			Catering

Design, prepare and assemble set; tick.

London street artist gives his permission for us to include one of his pictures in our set.

Pete will use graphic designer Taiyo's interface design to watch 'archive' films from 2008.

Anyone want to buy a fibreglass Easter Island statue after the shoot?

Where should our old man of the future live? A disused hospital in Hackney or huge carpet warehouse in Willesden.

Location One: Hackney

Location Two: Willesden

Director Franny and Drama Production Designer David

The RNIB made a lifesize replica of Rodin's Thinker for an exhibition and have kindly agreed to lend it to us for our set. Also just heard that a certain fantastic modern artist might lend us an original painting.

Signed up Production Designer, David Bryan. Now got to find some Easter Island statues, Rodin's Thinker and a pickled Zebra.

Heavy Metal band meeting to write new track for the film.

Entertainingly embarrassing article in this week's Ham & High.

Signed up DOP, Lawrence Gardener, Camera Assistant Dan Shoring, sound man Ron Bailey and 1st  AD Paul Judges.

Carbon Rationing lesson from Franny's first boyfriend, who happens to be a carbon trading expert. Followed swiftly by a directing master class from Bruce, who is sadly now going to be filming a BBC drama in Jordan on our shoot day. Eek, who's going to direct?

Signed up costume dept Heidi Miller and makeup / hair Astrid Kearney.

Leeds-based Peter Richardson, fussy vegetarian Steve Cassar and East London rocker James Feeney are all fresh on the Crude team.

Signed up an internationally fabulous writer to turn Franny's clunky just-make-the-point script into a subtle masterpiece. But we're sworn to secrecy about his identity.

Screened the film to ourselves at the Curzon yesterday (thanks Rob) and even John agreed that we've almost cracked it.

Our first choice, A-list actor has agreed to play the old man in the future. Tell you who soon.

Weren't we doing this 6 months ago?

Franny signs up her old band's producer, Paul Sampson, to record and mix the Crude orchestra.

We're in need of another After Effects Compositor to join the animation team. See the Jobs page.

Location scout Kate Cook has found a cracking power station which allows filming. Click here to have a look.

Despite being a bunch of immigrants, Franny-excepted, and after weeks of form-filling, we've passed the Britishness test and qualified for a loverly fat tax break.

Decided to film The Archive in a real location, rather than making a digital world for our Old Man to live in. Signed up Kate Cook to scout something suitable.

Fantastic screening at Be The Change yesterday. Mostly cos of the positive feedback, but the cash will come in handy too.  

Ace political comedian Jeremy Hardy just so happened to be in the audience watching our rough cut at the Sheffield DocFest yesterday. As he was one of precisely two people listed under "Get Comedian" on our To Do list, we immediately signed him up to the stand-up comedy bit. (Stand-up comedy bit? Fear not, it'll all make perfect sense. Should we ever finish it.)

We, perhaps foolishly, showed the first 45 minutes  at a big industry do yesterday. A surprisingly pleasant experience.

Check out new boy Greg McKneally. He's got his own studio and everything. 

Lovely local actor Rob Inglis volunteered to be our stand-in Old Man In The Future. We filmed him reading the whole script tonight, but unfortunately missed the bit where he (accidentally) snorted coffee through his nose.  Immediately cut him into the edit and proved that Old Man is going to work tonnes better than Annoying Kids.

The Documentary Channel interviews Spanner Films' Franny as they're playing both McLibel and Drowned Out this week.

Franny's been banished to a friend's caravan by the sea to re-write the script.

Fascinating insights from George Marshall, founder of Climate Denial,   who's been studying the psychology of climate change.

"You think documentaries are made by fakers? Read the Crude Diaries and see that you're wrong (well, in this case anyway)." Channel 4's FourDocs hearts Crude.

The future of the species is in our generation's hands, said George Monbiot, in the interview he did for Crude today.  Blimey.

"Franny Armstrong is seeking a second capital injection for her latest global project. " Crude article in Netribution.

As is the way with Crude, any relatives with any relevant skills, are cajoled to join the Crude circus. So David-the-editor's brother Peter is now making us a 3D graphic showing the formation of oil.

Martyn floods London, sets fire to Sydney, melts the Alps, heats up the Taj Mahal and covers Las Vegas in sand. All in one afternoon. Now he has to smooth over the lines and find some compositors to add bits of moving video in to trick the eye into thinking it's real. Ish.

Our archive researchers' burrowing begins to produce results - we can use a clip from Walking With Dinosaurs in our evolution-in-20-seconds sequence. Well done Beth and Paul.

Fantastic young animator, Dan Haskett , fresh out of college and immediately signed up to make the wasting energy animation. There'll be no sleep till Xmas for him.

Drama script totally rewritten this week and now stars an old man in the future, rather than two annoying kids. Franny's dad roped in to play him in a test run. 

130 friends, family, crew and funders (most in two or more of those categories - Franny's dad in all four) watched the Crude rough cut on the big screen today. And then didn't hold back with their opinions. Very painful it was too. 

Funny little feature about the Crude equipment in Sony trade mag. Strictly for filmmaking nerds.

The Autumn edition of Positive Youth News promotes the search for Crude investors.

Got our boys installed on three computers at  Passion's workhouse in Soho today. They've got nine weeks to make nine minutes. 

Plane Stupid co-founder Leo Murray happens to be studying animation at college and is definitely the man to make our opening sequence. John Munro is onto designing The Global Archive, final storage place of all humanity's achievements.

The very same day we first meet, Martyn's sends his first photoshop efforts through. Looks like something you'd see at the cinema.

"The director of McLibel, is making a new genre-busting film. Crude is big, ambitious and probing." Friends of the Earth love Crude.

Yahey. McLibel  has been picked as one of only two UK docs in the BFI's  "Ten Documentaries Which Shook The World" season. The other being no less than Michael Buerk's Ethiopia report which led to Live Aid. The season also made it to the front cover of Sight and Sound. Very exciting for film buffs.

Has been proving tricky to persuade a top-of-the-pile animation director to work for three months for Crude slave wages, but Martyn Pick eventually fell for our charms. Or for the chance to get his work onto the big screen.

Wahey, Crude's first press article in the British Film Magazine. "Fingers crossed for the fund raising. Meanwhile, documentary fans wait breathlessly while, presumably, oil execs quiver at the prospect of a McLibel-type grilling."

They hesistated a while, but the BBC have now followed ITN's lead and given us access to all their archive for a ridiculously small amount of money. How we're going to wade through 10 squillion tapes, I know not.

July - September: Editor David and Director Franny lock themselves in a small room for eight weeks for the 7th editing session. Will they ever finish the film?

After three weeks of round the clock shifts - and with enormous thanks to the lovely Torchbox, who made it for free to support the film - Crude finally has a website.

Oscar Wright onboard as storyboard artist.

Franny and Lizzie spend three eventful nights in a tent at the Hay Festival, along with three eventful days running around trying to film interviews with Eric Hobsbawn, George Monbiot & Jeremy Leggett.  

Script problems alleviated by the arrival of Emily James, the filmmaker behind "The Luckiest Nut In the World".

Our documentary seems to have morphed into a documentary-drama-animation hybrid. As we have no idea how to shoot drama, Franny signed up her old pal Bruce Goodison to do the honours over a game of tennis.

Enthusiastic music clearance specialist Daniel Cross almost fell off his chair when we first showed him our  music wishlist. Shakira, Abba, The Smiths, Frank Sinatra, what could be easier? Bless him, he still took the job.

Extra-keen volunteer Sylvia's dreams come true: she will now get paid to file receipts, cycle round London picking up equipment, transcribe interviews, back up tapes, cook vegetables, empty the compost, feed Franny's cats and dress up as an environmental refugee.

Negotiated a brilliant all-in deal at The Farm today. They will do a whole month's post-production - conform, grade, record narration, tracklay, mix, even some special effects - for only slightly more than we paid for two days sound mixing of McLibel. Yippee.

Decided not to fly home and recuperate between filming trips to Nigeria and India. Less emissions, but far more stress.

One of our lovely stars accidentally suggested a new title for Crude mid-interview yesterday.  Whaddyallreckon? See our Q&A

Couldn't resist a New Orleans jazz club scene to accompany Al 's "consumerism aint the stuff of life" realisation. Good job we didn't think through the implications: two sound recordists, a steadicam operator, a trumpeter, a singer, a bass player, a drummer, a keyboard player, permission from the club owners, clearance from the composers and 45 release forms for the audience. But with Lizzie's organisational skills and Franny's dictatorial tendencies, we pulled it off. Two days later, it looks and sounds absolutely brilliant.

ITN Source want to get their archive into high profile feature documentaries so have agreed to an incredibly cheap all-inclusive just-for-Crude deal. Unlimited access to ITN, Pathe, Reuters and Fox archive. Burrowing here we come.

Piers (Mr Windfarms) and Fernand (French mountain guide) coincidentally meet on a glacier in Chamonix and we attempt to film them chitchatting about climate change after hiking vertically for eight hours with three tonnes of camera equipment.

I have a feeling there's one out there which will solve the animation/overall message question.  See the Q&A page to have your say.

32 long, difficult days in Amman, but we came away with a complete final story, starring our final characters, Iraqi refugee kids Jamila and Adnan .

Where's the biggest-maddest highway junction? See our Q&A page .

Anyone got any ideas for our latest conundrum...?  See our Q&A page .

After 6 fretful days in New Orleans, Shell paleontologist and hero of Katrina, Al Duvernay, became the 5th Crude character. Paleontologist and hero of Katrina , Al Duvernay

Signed up Tamsin Allen from Bindmans today. Her legal brain saved us from lots of trouble in the McLibel era, so thankfully she's up for doing the same for Crude. At much reduced rates, bien sur.

Nigerian wannabe medical student Layefa Malin

Full house at our second Funding Event. Screened the trailer, did some chat and raised £37,500. Should keep us going for six months or so.

First time round each "share" in Crude cost £500. Now they're £5,000. Does anyone have that kind of spare cash? Will they give it to us tomorrow?

An intercutting Christmas-day scene with all five of our characters would be good, yeah? So this year Franny is filming Fernand in France and Lizzie is with Piers & Lisa in Cornwall. Next year we'll film another two characters. Time off, who needs it?

 Climbing Mont Blanc on your 79th birthday?!? Took a while to find him, but Fernand is definitely our man.

Signed up McLibel editor David Hill for Crude today. Only problem is that he's very expensive. But explained the concept of all the crew owning shares instead of getting paid normal rates and he seemed to agree. 

Put an ad in the local Morzine newspaper looking for someone to go to our box on the ski slope three times a week for a year. Yvan was far and away the best man for the job.

Working on a tight budget, should we be trying to cut our costs as much as possible, or cut our carbon emissions?  See our Q&A page.

Seemed like we trawled through everybody working in the UK wind industry, until we struck gold with Piers & Lisa.

We love it. Two people fighting over the last £500  share. But they managed not to get physical - tossed a coin instead. Very civilised.

Jeh is planning to get a million Indian people off the trains and into the skies.

Been talking about the animation for, ooh, several years now. But today it started to become a reality. Tho there seems to be a hell of a lot of jargon to learn before we can get started.  Do we want 3D, 2D or two and a half D?

Only met the first star of Crude - our lovely French mayor - two weeks ago, but now we're off to film his daughter's wedding up a mountain.

Bought an HDV camera yesterday. Set off to Paris air show on first Crude filming mission today.

Moved out of Franny's front room today - into a spare room in her stepmother's flat. Is this progress? Or regression to childhood?

Lizzie whittled down 87 applications and chose Maya, James, Sadaf and Charlotte to be the Crude research team.

Looks like our cunning funding scheme might just work, as we raised 17,500 pounds at our Funding Evening last night. Got to be easier than six months kissing commissioners' asses. 

One Off Productions is up and running. Now, let's make that film.

After failing to get any of the 300 media jobs she applied for after arriving in England from New Zealand, Lizzie  stalked Franny on the internet, volunteered at Spanner for three months and then agreed to give up playing hockey and having any kind of social life to take on the job-of-a-lifetime: co-producer of Crude.

Signed up John Battsek as Producer today. Fantastic to have a proper industry type person on board. And an Oscar-winner to boot.

Franny thinks of an idea for a film and the next five years map themselves out alarmingly