The Leading Speakers Bureau

Award-winning Actress, Humanitarian, Film Producer & Former Fashion Model

Sharon Stone is an American Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress, producer and former fashion model. She came to international attention for her performance in the 1992 Hollywood blockbuster film Basic Instinct, and in 1996 she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Martin Scorsese’s Casino, and received an Oscar-nomination and won a Golden Globe for that same role.

“Sharon Stone is a much-in-demand star”

[expand title=”In detail”] When a pageant judge suggested she quit school and move to New York to become a fashion model, she quickly packed her bags and moved to New Jersey. Within four days, she was signed by Ford Modeling Agency in New York. After signing with Ford, she spent a few years modeling and appeared in TV commercials for such companies as Clairol and Maybelline. In 1990, her appearance in Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger gave her career a jolt. She has appeared in films that also include Sliver, Casino, Sphere and The Muse. She also owns her own production company, Chaos.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]An internationally recognised celebrity, Sharon Stone is a highly motivational and passionate speaker who has gained an enviable reputation for off-screen glamour and opinionated wit. She engages audiences from around the globe with her highly entertaining presentations and anecdotes.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Sharon Stone always displays a dynamic presence. She is a master at captivating an audience and has a powerful message, delivered with panache.[/expand]
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Award-winning American Film & TV Producer, Screenwriter, Director, Actor & Composer

J. J. Abrams is a real communication genius and an internationally renowned multitasking creator, scriptwriter, director and producer of cinema and television. He is a real one-man band. Now a major player in Hollywood, he wrote and produced many unforgettable feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity. He also created Alias and co-created Lost, Fringe and Undercovers. He directed the films Mission: Impossible III and Star Trek and produced the film Cloverfield. He is the founder of Bad Robot Productions.

“J. J. Abrams’ name looms large on the big & small screen”

[expand title=”In detail”] J.J. Abrams studied at Palisades Charter High School, Los Angeles, CA and then he attended the Sarah Lawrence College. The son of television producers, he spent his days in television studios, starting very early on his brilliant career as a scriptwriter. His first job in the movie business started when he was 16 when he wrote music for the film Nightbeast. While he began his career in the early 1990s scripting snoozy cinematic fare such as Regarding Henry, he hit his stride in TV with the collegiate dramedy, Felicity, and the spy serial, Alias. He has written all the musical scores of his television series, he sometimes even delves his hands in the grease of digital special effects and he’s also a talented keyboard player.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]J.J. Abrams enjoys the status of a major pop-culture player and one serious multi-tasker. He has become what we could consider one of transmedia’s pioneers and probably even one of its leaders, since he is today, one of the creators whose creation on multiple media is visible to the greatest number. He beguiles audiences with a masterful use of suspense, plot reversals, and special effects in his creations and his presentations to live audiences are just as memorable. He has spoken at the prestigious events worldwide, including the TED conference in 2007. He is still the best example of someone who puts his ideas down on multiple media as a practitioner and not a theoretician.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]J.J. Abrams’ enthusiasm – for the construction of Kleenex boxes, for the quiet moments between shark attacks in Jaws, for today’s filmmaking technologies and above all for the potent mystery of an unopened package – is incredibly infectious. He beguiles audiences with a masterful use of suspense, plot reversals, and special effects in his creations and his humorous presentations to live audiences are just as memorable.[/expand]
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Academy & Oscar Award-winning Actor, Activist, Humanitarian & Prominent Producer

Michael Douglas is one of the most successful and respected actors of our time. The son of actor Kirk Douglas, he has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975’s Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2009. He recently returned to the limelight having battled successfully against throat cancer.

“A Hollywood Legend”

[expand title=”In detail”] A powerhouse talent and household name, Michael Douglas started his film career in the late ’60s. He has been a familiar leading man of both small and big screen and his top films as a leading man include The China Syndrome, Romancing the Stone, Fatal Attraction, Wall Street and Basic Instinct. He has consistently chosen socially relevant films that reflect the most pressing issues of the day. Honoured at the Palm Springs International Film Festival with the Icon Award for his work in nearly 40 films, he joined the project Soldiers of Peace, a movie against all wars and for global peace. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Michael Douglas’ work has always been complex, thrilling, and contemporary. He is most passionate about his role as humanitarian and activist, serving as a vocal advocate for social and environmental causes. Honored with the title of UN Peace Messenger, he focuses worldwide attention on nuclear abolition and the vital role the UN plays in preventing small arms proliferation.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]A vocal and inspiring proponent of universal human rights, Michael has used his high profile and profound talent to draw attention to the plight of the less fortunate. In his candid presentations, a passionate weave of experiences and insights, Douglas speaks frankly and with great compassion in a distinctive voice that is known to millions worldwide.[/expand]
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Award-winning English Film, Television & Stage Actor

Colin Firth is a world renowned star of stage and screen who first gained wide public attention for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 TV adaption of Pride and Prejudice. He subsequently achieved film stardom with the international box-office success of Bridget Jones’s Diary. It was his leading role in fashion designer Tom Ford’s directorial debut, A Single Man, that garnered him awards attention like he had never received previously. His next work is in the 2012 adaptation of the John le Carré novel ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’.

“Colin has performed songs in many of his films, including the worldwide hit, Mamma Mia!”

[expand title=”In detail”] Colin Firth’s first acting experience came in infant’s school when he played “Jack Frost” in a Christmas pantomime. He spent two years at the Drama Centre in Chalk Farm where he was “discovered” while playing “Hamlet” during his final term. His first professional role was as “Bennet” in the West End production of Another Country. From this performance, he was chosen to play the character of “Judd” in the movie of the play. He went on to play a variety of character parts in both film and television. He’s had massive successes in Shakespeare in Love, A Christmas Carol, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Love Actually, Blackadder: Back & Forth, Fever Pitch and Conspiracy to name but a few.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Perhaps one of the most recognised English actors today, Colin Firth is a convincing speaker whose strengths lie in his precise thinking, careful craftsmanship and mastery of technical skills. He is a highly talented actor who has carried his adolescent sense of rebellion around with him to great effect.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Well grounded and pragmatic, Colin Firth is an exacting perfectionist with a clear, logical, analytical mind and an aptitude for hard work and an ability to talk candidly about his professional experiences as a globally recognised actor.[/expand]
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American Actor, Film Director & Political Activist

Danny Glover is the dean of African American character actors. He remains one of the top character actors working in cinema, constantly in demand, after almost thirty years since making his movie debut in the 1979 Clint Eastwood Escape from Alcatraz. He is very active in and strongly supports various humanitarian and political causes.

Arguably, Danny is best known for his role as LA police detective in Lethal Weapon

[expand title=”In detail”] Danny Glover has established a reputation as an outspoken political progressive, appearing in such productions as the stage production of Howard Zinn’s Voices from A People’s History of the United States and lending his voice to the aspirations of black folk in Africa and the Americas. Glover suffered from epilepsy in his second decade and as a young adult. Using his technique, which he describes as “a type of self-hypnosis”, he says he has not suffered a seizure since age 35. He has appeared in productions including Places in the Heart, Silverado, Witness, The Color Purple, Predator 2, Mandela, Bat-21, To Sleep With Anger, Grand Canyon, The Saint of Fort Washington, among others.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Widely respected both inside and outside the United States, both as an actor and as a humanitarian, Danny Glover has been an ambassador for the United Nations Development Program since 1998, has won a host of awards, including the NAACP Image Award five times and he is a four times Emmy nominee. An actor, producer, keynote speaker, and director, a versatile superstar, he has impacted stage, screen, and television during his distinguished career.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]A distinguished actor of the stage and screen and one of Hollywood’s most renowned and respected leading men, 6’3″ Danny Glover is a towering and quietly forceful personality.[/expand]
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Award Winning English Actor & Film Producer

Hugh Grant has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César for his work in his movies that have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. By the turn of the century, he had established himself as a leading man skilled with a satirical comic talent, having appeared in box office hits including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’s Diary, About A Boy, American Dreamz, Love Actually, Mickey Blue Eyes and Notting Hill.

Hugh Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in the worldwide hit Four Weddings and a Funeral

[expand title=”In detail”] Hugh Grant won a scholarship to Oxford, going up to New College in 1979. He studied English literature and graduated with 2:1 honours. After making his debut in the Oxford-financed Privileged, he dabbled in a variety of jobs, writing book reviews and working as assistant groundsman at Fulham Football Club. He had his own experience as a survivor of an unfortunate episode in his private life, which he managed to overcome thanks to having a pretty damn good outlook on life.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]With a distinguished media career spanning 20 years, Hugh Grant is one of Britain’s best known faces who has been equally entertaining on-screen as well as in real life, and had enough sense of humour to survive a media frenzy. His timing, his way of testing and savouring dialogue, and his obvious good looks, have made him in demand at prestigious international events.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Arguably the most persuasive romantic comedy lead in several decades, Hugh Grant has a mastery of timing and effortless style.[/expand]
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Multi Award Winning TV and Film Actress

Sigourney Weaver received worldwide recognition for her role as Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott’s Alien, Aliens, and two other sequels in the Alien series. She is also known for her roles in the Ghostbusters films, Gorillas in the Mist, The Ice Storm, Heartbreakers, Holes and in Avatar. In 2009, she starred in her first made-for-TV movie, Prayers for Bobby, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Called ‘The Sci-Fi Queen’ on account of her many science fiction and fantasy films

[expand title=”In detail”] Born in New York, she was named Susan Alexander Weaver and later chose her name Sigourney Weaver; she graduated from Stanford University with an English degree. She spent some time living in Israel on a kibbutz before enrolling at the Yale School of Drama. One of the very few actresses so honoured for a role in a science fiction movie, she is a three-time Academy Award nominee for her performances in Aliens, Gorillas in the Mist, and Working Girl winning Golden Globe Awards in the latter two films. She has done voice work in television and film and also hosted two episodes of the long-running NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Three times Oscar-nominated Sigourney Weaver is a great keynote speaker and host for tech. companies, women’s events or anything environmental or SciFi related. Sigourney speaks on many platforms, but is uniquely able to speak about technology and its impacts from a celebrity point of view. She is also available for personal appearances and endorsements.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Sigourney Weaver has a unique presence and charisma, adding prestige and glamour to any event. She gives a human face and personal perspective to the changing landscape of the film industry.[/expand]
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Actor, Author

Often named the funniest man alive, John Cleese is both a versatile comedic actor and a leading business motivator. John is one of the most influential comic writers and actors of the past 40 years and can show you how elements of creativity in the business world can reap untold dividends, from recruitment, training and retaining employees, to better and more enjoyable customer service, to helping businesses innovate and accommodate change.

“Undoubtedly one of Britain’s best loved comedians”

[expand title=”In detail”] It was during his time at Cambridge that John discovered he could create comedy material. He began to notice certain patterns to his creativity. Subsequently, a good friend who was a professor of psychology at Sussex University showed John all the relevant creativity research. John then realized that current business ethos worked against creativity, and he began to study how people could become more creative within such an un-helpful environment. John started his professional show business career in 1966 when he joined in The Frost Report at the BBC, as both a performer and writer. John played his part in creating such comedy classics as Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, The Meaning of Life, Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]John helps businesses understand the importance of creativity and its direct relationship to all aspects of the corporate spectrum. His speech is based on his belief that creativity is fundamentally, allied with the ability to play – that is to relinquish intellectual control, so that ideas can emerge from the part of the brain which can supply them – the unconscious. He shares with audiences his comprehensive and specific messages on how to create the conditions in which one’s creativity can best flourish.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]John’s creativity presentations are a unique blend of humour and corporate business acumen. As a speaker he is unrivalled with his exceptional use of humour leaving audiences with a highly memorable and rewarding performance.[/expand]
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Actor, Director, Producer & Entrepreneur

Robert Redford is an award-winning American actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. He is best known as one of Hollywood’s biggest superstars but has recently been involved in onsulting and speaking for a wide range of global organizations, including computer giant IBM.

“Stay loose and place creativity at the forefront when you do anything” Robert Redford

[expand title=”In detail”] Robert has starred in an array of award winning films and has received a huge number of awards. In December of 2005, he received honors at the Kennedy Center for his contributions to American culture through the performing arts. He founded The Sundance Institute in 1981 in order to help emerging and aspiring producers, directors, writers, and film composers attend highly competitive programs run by the Institute, to assist them in developing their craft. The Sundance Institute celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2006. The Institute also owns and runs the annual Sundance Film Festival.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]One of the most influential creative voices of our time Robert Redford encourages audiences to think creatively, take risks and champion new ideas. He draws upon his own experiences to demonstrate the power and importance of creative diversity.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]A highly professional and passionate speaker Robert is in great demand at events across the globe.[/expand]
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British Actor, Writer, Comedian, TV Presenter and Film Director

Stephen Fry is one of the few living legends of acting and comedy and a great after dinner speaker and host. As a solo actor, he played the lead in the film Wilde, was Melchett in the Blackadder TV series and is the host of the erudite, but comedy-based quiz show, QI. He also presented a 2008 television series Stephen Fry in America having become known to American audiences for his recurring guest role as Dr. Gordon Wyatt on the Fox crime series Bones.

Stephen has been described as a “national treasure”, “a phenomenon”, and “an epitome of the Renaissance man”

[expand title=”In detail”] Stephen Fry first came to attention in the 1982 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation, The Cellar Tapes. Apart from his work in television, he has contributed columns and articles for newspapers and magazines, and has written four novels and an autobiography. Stephen is enormously well-loved for his numerous television appearances, including The Young Ones, Blackadder, Saturday and Friday Live, Alias Smith and Jones, The Lenny Henry Show, A Bit Of Fry And Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster, The Wind in the Willows, The Thin Blue Line and Fortysomething among others. His film credits include Peter’s Friends, The Good Father, The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball, A Handful of Dust and A Fish Called Wanda.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]His presence at any event adds prestige and good humour, delighting fans and non-fans. Now in demand as an after dinner speaker at corporate entertainment events, Stephen is able to use a mix of humour and wit to offer his audiences a memorable and entertaining evening.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Britain’s best-loved comic genius, Stephen Fry is a wonderfully funny and highly informative speaker and presenter.[/expand]
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