British documentary film director
Franny Armstrong (born 3 February 1972) is a British documentary film director working for her own company, Spanner Films, and a former drummer with indie pop group The Band of Holy Joy. She is best known for three films: The Age of Stupid, a reflection from 2055 about climate change, McLibel, about the McDonald's court case and Drowned Out, following the fight against the Narmada Dam Project.
Armstrong pioneered the use of crowdfunding for independent films and developed an innovative form of film distribution known as Indie Screenings. Her most recent project is the carbon reduction campaign 10:10 which she founded in the UK in September 2009, and which is now active in more than 50 countries. On International Women's Day, 8 March 2011, she was named as one of The Guardian newspaper's "Top 100 Women", in a list which included Aung San Suu Kyi, Gareth Peirce, Doris Lessing, Arundhati Roy and Oprah Winfrey. Her father is the television producer Peter Armstrong.
I think you just have to turn it around and say we are at this absolute historical moment. No generation has ever been as powerful as us. We have the future of our species in our hands. We could be the generation that people look back on and say, 'They bloody did it!', not 'They didn't bother.'
Doing nothing about climate change is still a fairly common affliction, even in this day and age. What to do with those people, who are together threatening everybody's existence on this planet? Clearly we don't really think they should be blown up, that's just a joke for the mini-movie, but maybe a little amputating would be a good place to start?
I was about seven years old. In my mother's garage I used to create plays and star in them and charge the neighborhood kids five cents to see them. It was a lot of fun.
After I published my first book, my sister, known as Kali Willows, began writing. She fell as in love with it as I did. She has a number of short stories.
I have precognitive dreams such as the year my brother's apartment caught fire and he lost everything. I'd dreamt it two months before. Alas, though I warned him, it still happened. Thankfully no one was harmed. I also read Tarot cards, mostly for fun.
I always carry a notepad with me, even on vacation. If I'm on the computer when the story 'hits', I open a Word document and start typing until I get it all out. I've got tons of notes that I never throw out. You never know when a story will strike!
I have my favorite authors, but in reality, my mother did. Though she's never written a book, she paved the way for me to.
I love using unique names, so I go to a baby names site on the Internet and use the unique names. Sometimes my names have meanings such as 'strong', 'fire', and Phoenix which means dark red and is Greek. It's fun to think of a name meaning and matching it with a name. Even Frances means Victory.
If you are an intelligent human being then you are interested in climate change because it's the most important issue of our time.
I made my first film McLibel independently but only by accident. I tried to get a commission from all the standard TV broadcasters but because they had been sued by McDonald's in the past none of them would commission me so I ended up making it by credit cards and rich boyfriends (I'm joking - about the boyfriends).
I realised what a powerful position you are in if you own the rights to your film because then you control the distribution and I ended up getting 25 million viewers for McLibel and that's what it's all about for me.
I am not interested in having somebody telling that what I have to water down my message or that some advertising person would not like it.
We have got a very short time to turn climate change around otherwise we will all die.
When I was ten, my mother told me to write down my feelings. I eventually started writing a book. I wish I'd kept the handwritten text. I recall some of the story, but it was a start into the world of writing.
I love writing about the military, as I live near an air force base and am inspired by the sacrifices our soldiers make for us. I like to give them a lot of challenges to beat, and show how they live with intrigue and danger.
As a graphic artist, my job on a local paper was creating the advertising as well as working as a journalist on sports and community issues. There are many more jobs I've done in my day, I can't remember them all.
I'm usually a panster and throw ideas down on computer the second they hit my brain. I even had to get off the treadmill to write down my ideas. It's a great place to 'zone out' and think about my plots and characters.
I've always loved J.R.R. Tolkein and recently, Christine Feehan and J.K.Rowling. There are many as I'm an avid reader, but those three come to the fore.
I am a true psychic. In my family it's the norm. My sister and mother are always 'in my head' and say or do the same things I'm doing at the same time.
I do a lot of research and yes, do know quite a few police officers, friends of mine and my husbands. However, most of my books are researched based on Canadian laws or the laws of each country (ie: Mexico and USA) and I do my best to make them accurate.
Silence is golden for me. I live in the country and hear only my pets, birds, crickets, and the wind in the trees.
I relish the time I have when there are no interruptions. Most often the best time for writing is late at night.
I'm on Facebook and the Internet EVERY DAY NUMEROUS TIMES A DAY.Sorry about the shouting but I can't help myself. My mother said her dog (a lapdog) never sits on my lap because I always have the laptop on it.
Franny Armstrong is a mother of three and a grandmother of four. Her husband supports her imagination and has the patience of a saint. She's been writing since she was a child, creating plays to act out in front of the neighborhood children.
I have always thought that the role of the film-maker is to present the argument persuasively, emotionally and coherently and then it is over to the viewer, they are either convinced or not convinced, moved or not moved and they decide whether they will take action or not.