Ross Ashcroft

Ross Ashcroft is a British filmmaker, broadcaster and entrepreneur.[1] He is the host of the weekly programme Renegade Inc.

Ross Ashcroft
Ashcroft at Kåkånomics in Norway in 2019
Born (1977-10-03) 3 October 1977 Liverpool, England
NationalityBritish
EducationSt David's College, Llandudno, Royal Agricultural University
OccupationEntrepreneur, filmmaker, broadcaster
Known forWriter & director of Four Horsemen, Co-Author of 'Four Horsemen: The Survival Guide', Host of 'Renegade Inc'
Spouse(s)Megan Ahcroft

Early life and education

Ashcroft was born in Liverpool and grew up in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. He attended St David's College, Llandudno where he excelled at sport and as Managing Director of the Young Enterprise company took it to the national finals. He is dyslexic and passionate about entrepreneurship. He graduated from Royal Agricultural University with a Bachelor of Science in Land Management.[2]

Career

Early work

Ashcroft worked briefly with the BBC and then went on to work at Everyman and Playhouse Youth Theatre in Liverpool as an Assistant Director. In 2002 he was Assistant Director for The New Shakespeare Company's 2002 season at Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park working on Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It and Oh, What a Lovely War! with Benedict Cumberbatch. Working with ACT Productions in London's West End his final Assistant Director role was on August Strindberg's play The Dance of Death in 2003 with Ian McKellen, Frances de la Tour and Owen Teale.[3]

As a comedian, he won the Comedy Café New Act Award 2007. He was a semi-finalist of So You Think You're Funny in 2007 and a finalist in the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year in 2009.[4]

Motherlode

In 2007 he co-founded the London-based production and strategy house Motherlode.[5] In 2009 Motherlode established an in-house brand 'Renegade Economist', as a response to mainstream economics and economist's failure to adequately explain the 2008 financial crisis.

In 2012 his directorial debut film Four Horsemen premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

Four Horsemen
Main article: Four Horsemen (film)

As a director/writer, Ashcroft's documentary feature Four Horsemen[6] premiered at IDFA in Amsterdam in the competition category 'First Appearance'. It was also nominated for the Oxfam Global Justice Award. The film won 'Best International Documentary' at the Galway Film Fleadh and 'Best International Film' at the Tehran Film Festival.

For film features 23 international thinkers including Prof. Joseph Stiglitz, Prof Noam Chomsky, Gillian Tett, Ha-Joon Chang, Prof. Michael Hudson, Lawrence Wilkerson, Satish Kumar, Prof. Herman Daly and John Perkins.

The film fundamentally attacks neoclassical economics and asks why the neoclassical ideology, after such systemic failure, is still taught in almost all universities today.

Reception

Cinesthesiac said that Ashcroft "may be the first documentarist working in this field to elicit viable solutions from his interviewees, rather than baleful shrugs: you can't fail to emerge better informed, and better prepared to make the kinds of changes and perception shifts we need to make if we are to move forward from here."[7]

Screen International said: "The refreshing thing about this film is that Ross Ashcroft also takes the viewer on a broader journey, linking in terrorism, global warming and poverty along with world finances to present a troubling picture of the world today."[8]

Renegade Inc

Renegade Inc is an independent media company created to make complex economic, business and geopolitical questions accessible to a broader audience. In 2016 Renegade Inc started broadcasting as a weekly television programme on Russia Today. Renegade Inc contributors are selected because they think differently about the challenges we all face. The programme covers current affairs, economics, innovation, creative leadership, entrepreneurship, banking scandals, terrorism, and geopolitical events.

Books

In 2012 the book 'Four Horsemen: The Survival Manual' was published which Ashcroft co-wrote with Mark Braund. It was the accompanying book to the documentary 'Four Horsemen'.[9]

Personal life

Ashcroft is married and lives in London. He is a keen cricketer and a cricket coach.

References
  1. "Ross Ashcroft: economics and Europe". RNZ. 20 June 2015.
  2. "About". Ross Ashcroft. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  3. "Dance of Death". Ian McKellen. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  4. "Ross Ashcroft". Comedy CV. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  5. "Motherlode". Motherlode. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  6. "Four Horsemen". IMDb. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  7. "Apocalypse now?: "Four Horsemen"". Cinésthesia. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  8. "Four Horsemen". Screen Daily. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  9. "Four Horsemen: The Survival Guide". Amazon.com. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
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