Our Work

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2021 brought yet another campaign from the great Canadian organization Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals – this time to advocate for “broiler chickens.” In this clever PSA, we brought two actresses together in a park in Toronto to play two moms discussing babies. When their conversation turns to “fattening up” their kids, one mom can’t help but share with the other the abusive methods used to raise broiler chicks. They’re fattened up so fast they end up not being able to walk, and having crippling physical deformities. As one mom puts it: “it’s awful.”

This PSA showcases AWM’s ability to think of a high concept and execute with small budgets, but large amounts of creativity. This is an example of taking a sensitive issue and presenting and packaging it in a way that makes it relatable, and entertaining.

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In early 2021, Compassion in World Farming launched an app called Evaluate Your Plate, to be used to guide consumers as they made the tough choices about what foods to eat to be most mindful of animal welfare. Animal Welfare Media was asked to produce a short animated video to introduce the app, explain its use, and encourage people to download it. The result was this quirky and highly-entertaining video featuring the animation of Explainly and the voice over talents of Colorado’s Jessica Taylor.

The most challenging part of any explainer video, particularly an animated one, is to combine detailed explanations of the product with compelling and eye-grabbing visuals. We went with a simple yet sophisticated set of animations to let people know just how easy the app is to use and how you really can make a difference when you choose your daily meals.

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In 2019, we “roasted” a chicken for CIWF so we could to share, in a comedic way, the amazing qualities that chickens have that make them the amazing birds they are. So when we were asked to make another video in 2020 to promote a plant-based diet, we just had to work with a chicken again (as we found out, they’re great actors!). Once again, we asked our friends at Star Gazing Farm Animal Sanctuary for their most charismatic chicken. They sent us Henryka, and a star was born!

In this short film, we debunk some of the most common myths about plant-based diets with the help on Henryka. Pecking for “yes” or not pecking for “no,” Henryka helped us set the record straight about eating sustainably, making this a film to remember.

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Food is power. That’s the idea behind the California-based group Food Empowerment Project, which encourage a vegan lifestyle for ethical, health, environmental, and social justice reasons. Each year, FEP holds a food festival in Vallejo, California to encourage and promote access to healthy and ethical food choices in places where they don’t normally exist.

Located northeast of San Francisco, Vallejo is a rich, diverse and open-minded community, and each year FEP’s vegan food festival attracts a wide array of community members, vegan chefs, local healthy food leaders, and others who work in this field who are there to share their knowledge and passion for this critical work.

We were thrilled to get the opportunity to capture this event, tell FEP’s story and provide them with a useful tool as they continue to grow their plant-based and vegan outreach and refine their messaging.

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Sure, we all know about the many horrors of factory farming facilities, where millions of animals are crammed into small spaces, often abused, and killed in methodical and unimaginably cruel ways. But not as much is known about the way these animals are transported once they’re in the factory farming system.

Based in Toronto, the organization Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals is working to educate people about the horrific condition in which animals are often transported throughout Canada, allowed to suffer for hours on end in extreme heat and brutal cold on outdated trucks. There are better trucks available, and people need to demand that they start being used.

In this clever spot we created for CCFA, we explore the hypocrisy of how we demand “creature comforts” for our vehicles, but turn a blind eye to the suffering of our fellow creatures in the trucks that transport them. Hopefully, with increased pressure on the industry, things will start moving in a different direction.

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The work being done at International Bird Rescue is some of the most important in the world when it comes to protecting and educating people about the many marine birds living in the western United States.  IBR has a critical mission of rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing marine birds such as gulls, grebes and pelicans that have been injured, orphaned or otherwise harmed, most often because of human activity.

In addition to their hands-on work healing the many birds that come through their doors, IBR has another priority: educating Americans about how they can be stewards for the environment that so many species of birds call home. Using their own work as an example, this highly-successful organization is encouraging people who love birds to be vigilant in their own communities about the ways their activities can harm birds.

It was truly eye-opening to visit their rehab facility in the San Francisco area, where I interviewed some of their most dedicated volunteers and staffers, and put together this film that we all hope will be a successful tool as they look to the future.

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In July 2019, Animal Justice Project launched a campaign supported by never-seen-before footage they captured of the wanton abuse of chickens at two farms in the UK.  AWM supported the campaign by creating several stylized short videos to show people the “Foul Truth” of these RSPCA Assured farms. We worked closely with AJP to identify, exploit, and highlight the most egregious abuse in the many hours of footage they captured.

Our hope is that by exposing this type of treatment at farms that are *supposed* to be humane, more people will think about their food choices, and more companies will eschew farms that show utter disregard for the animals they raise.

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We are all thinking animals, so it’s imperative that we spend more time thinking about what we’re doing to our planet and all the animals that share it with us. Thinking Animals United is a group based in New York City that organizes annual summits to bring together some of the sharpest minds in the animal welfare and environmental science fields. At the summit, these intellectual heavyweights share ideas, impart knowledge, and pledge to work together to save the planet.

AWM was excited to put together this short film, in which we stitched together interviews from these insightful individuals to impart one simple message: the future of the planet is at stake, so it’s time to unite as one, put our heads together, and create a better world for all animals.

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Project Chimps is an amazing sanctuary for former lab chimps located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia. They provide a much-needed forever home for chimps that were once being used for all types of lab experiments.  As of early 2019, PC has more than 50 chimps and they hope to take in at least 150 more over the next few years.

To do that, they need to expand!

That’s where we come in. Animal Welfare Media put together this Capital Campaign film to help PC raise the funds they need in order to build 3 new habitats to house the many chimps in need. By highlighting the life-saving work they currently do, and their ambitious plans for the next 3 years, we hope this film will help them attract the donations they need to make their expansion plans a reality.

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Compassion in World Farming is an international organization working to improve the lives of billions of animals through the promotion of plant-based diets and by educating the public about how to make their food choices less cruel.

Awarded the designation of “Standout Charity” by Animal Charity Evaluators, CIWF’s campaigns are effective, forward-thinking and highly proactive. We were thrilled to be able to develop and produce a video campaign that would put the focus specifically on chickens as sentient, smart and lovable animals. Our creative concept was “How To Roast a Chicken,” with comedians making pointed jokes about a friendly rooster named Floyd (all in good fun!), and then getting to know Floyd a little better at the end.

We rented out Drafthouse Comedy Club in Washington, D.C., brought in the brilliant minds of Grassroots Comedy DC, and this video took flight! (Sorry for the hackneyed metaphor)

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One of the greatest bonds a human being can experience during his or her lifetime is the relationship with a dog or cat. Our pets don’t just enhance our lives; in a lot of cases, they can actually save our lives. That’s the mission of Mutual Rescue, a forward-thinking organization trying to change the conversation from people OR animals to people AND animals.

MR understands that when communities invest in shelters and other rescue groups that save dogs and cats, they are also investing in people, and making those very communities stronger, more vibrant places to live.

In 2018, we were lucky to be given the opportunity to tell Mutual Rescue’s story, and the result is this emotionally-impactful film that highlights the many ways that MR is changing the game both nationally and locally.  It was an honor to make this film, so that MR could share the powerful approach they take to their work: turning the important mission of saving dogs and cats into a more visible and visceral experience.

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The Humane Society of the United States had a very specific goal in mind: to apply pressure to the Meijer grocery store chain to commit to selling only cage-free eggs in their 200+ stores. AWM’s concept demonstrated, in the most visceral way possible, what life is like for egg-laying hens in cramped battery cages to encourage Meijer to make the switch.

AWM took over the elevators at the historic Homer Building in Washington, D.C. for a day and put 15 dedicated actors through an exercise in patience and stamina. It was a long day, but everyone had a good time working for an important cause.

The result was a highly-shareable video that far exceeded its targeted goal. At the mere threat of HSUS releasing this video, Meijer announced they would be going cage-free by 2025.

Along with HSUS, AWM quickly repurposed this PSA to target Publix and its more than 1,100 stores – and they too soon announced plans to commit to selling only cage-free eggs.

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Of all the species on earth, very few compete with sea otters for pure charm. They’re playful, charismatic, expressive, and live in some of the most beautiful places on earth. But they’re also almost always in danger, because of careless people who take to the water without considering that it’s also sea otter habitat.

That’s where Sea Otter Savvy steps in. Their mission is to provide people with the awareness they need to engage in marine recreation while also being mindful of the sea otters with which they’re sharing the water. SOS hopes that through outreach and education, everyone who recreates in the coastal waters in California will become “sea otter savvy.”

AWM was proud to be able to make this film to share their story, their vision and their methodology. We hope that as more and more people see this film, and find out about what SOS is doing, the more aware everyone will be about the otters – and all the other wildlife – that share our most treasured spaces.

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Oceana is the largest organization in the world dedicated to protecting our oceans. In 2018, they achieved a major victory when they convinced the Fishery Management Council to protect 140,000 square miles of ocean floor off the West Coast from bottom trawl fishing. Bottom trawling is a particularly nefarious form of fishing that destroys everything in its path, and because 98% of ocean species live on the sea floor, this victory by Oceana was critically important.

In 2018, Animal Welfare Media was fortunate enough to make a film all about this monumental victory.  With beautiful Monterey Bay as our backdrop, we interviewed three of Oceana’s hardest-working west coast staffers to tell the story of how Oceana campaigned for this achievement for almost a decade, using hard science to support this important initiative. Without healthy oceans, our planet will not survive, so the work of Oceana is nothing short of critical. We’re thrilled to tell their story.

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Animal Welfare Media was fortunate enough to spend a couple of days filming in and around Toronto with Animal Justice, a group of young, passionate animal advocates working within Canada’s legal system to change laws and minds across the country.

We were struck by the intelligence, tenacity and legal prowess of this group of animal heroes, and were thrilled to be able to tell their story.

Before filming in Toronto, we met the gang from AJ at Wishing Well Sanctuary, about an hour’s drive north of the city, where we were also greeted by Brenda Bronfman, the proprietor of the sanctuary. Brenda showed us around her beautiful and peaceful farm, and we were introduced to some truly charismatic residents, including a host of pigs, sheep, cows, chickens and one sassy llama. Jinx the goat really hit it off with our Director of Photography, and a lifelong friendship was formed.

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When the Humane Farming Association teamed up with us to create an ironic PSA to educate taxpayers about an overlooked government program that all but encouraged animal abuse, the response was overwhelming.

Using humor and highlighting the interesting people that hang out in Times Square on a daily basis, the PSA garnered over 2 million views on YouTube in just 2 short months, exposing the real truth about how some questionable public dollars are spent.

This unique PSA  continues to encourage people to look at the ways in which our own government – and the institutions it supports – turns a blind eye to animal exploitation and abuse. We hope it will continue to keep people thinking about ways they can make a difference to save the lives of countless sentient creatures.

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We were connected to the South Florida Wildlife Center through the Humane Society of the United States, which supports the great work that SFWC is doing to rehabilitate and protect animals in their state.

Using interview bites and cinematic b-roll of the animals they rescue and release, the goal of this film was to help SFWC raise money to fund a much-needed new facility. Groups like SFWC, that are doing such critical work to rehabilitate native wildlife, need state-of-the-art facilities that protect animals from inclement weather, help veterinarians give them proper care, and provide a more collaborate environment for their tireless volunteers.

AWM was thrilled to be able to help SFWC with their campaign to build a better future for wildlife in South Florida!

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The work that Faunalytics does is unique, impactful and a critical tool used by many organizations in the animal welfare community. By providing crucial data and research to a wide array of animal welfare organizations that are fighting to have their important messages heard by an increasingly crowded and confusing landscape, Faunalytics is changing the way non-profits approach their work.

We were really pleased to be able to tell Faunalytics’ story in this short film, for which we cast actors to portray animal advocates revealing what special insight they learned after working with Faunalytics.

Filmed in a loft in downtown Washington, D.C., we hope this PSA will encourage a wide variety of animal groups to seek out Faunalytics’ expertise, knowledge and guidance when planning their future campaigns.

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For more than 40 years, Alex Hershaft has been at the forefront of the animal welfare movement, having founded FARM all the way back in 1976. As a Holocaust survivor, he is a unique and powerful voice advocating for the end of the “oppressive mindset,” particularly as it relates to factory farmed animals.

International animal welfare organization ProVeg commissioned us to make a film following Alex as he returned to his homeland of Poland, where members of his immediate family were held in concentration camps and killed by the Nazis. As he explored some of the most harrowing sites from that era, he was able to connect his animal welfare work to the atrocities he remembers from his childhood. It was powerful stuff.

With this film, we hope to help people connect the dots between all forms of the oppressive mindset and start living a more compassionate lifestyle.

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Chickens are highly-intelligent animals. But not everyone knows that.

In this PSA for The Humane Society of the United States, pedestrians in New York City’s busy Madison Square Park found out first hand. We set up a booth promising them “free chicken,” but what they didn’t realize is that they were not getting a free lunch, but a once-in-a-lifetime experience to make a new friend. They learned that it’s much more compassionate to “meet a chicken, not eat a chicken.”

The heartwarming and quirky PSA quickly generated nearly one million views in the first month after its release, and created a deep connection between two sweet chickens and some tough New Yorkers!

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It’s easy to become fascinated by birds. They’re beautiful and almost magical animals, and they live almost everywhere. When we were lucky enough to receive a grant to produce two animal welfare films, we knew that we wanted one of them to be about birds.

We reached out to the DC-based organization American Bird Conservancy and discovered that they have a long-standing campaign to mitigate deadly collisions between birds and windows on houses and buildings. Sadly, and shockingly, almost one billion birds every year die from these collisions.

Our idea was to use drones to simulate what it must look like from birds’ POV when they become confused by reflections in the glass and slam into plate glass windows flying at full speed.  Filmed in an open field in Maryland, the result was this impactful PSA that we hope will encourage people to take much-needed steps to protect our feathered friends.

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In the summer of 2017, we found Jeffrey Morgan, the Executive Director of Ocean Protection Advocacy Kids (OPAK) tabling for donations in Chatham, MA. We talked to him about the work they were doing, and became compelled to find a way to make a film that would spread the word about the advocacy they’re doing on behalf of our oceans. We worked together with Jeffrey to find a grant that would provide them the funds they needed to make this video.

Fast forward to the spring of 2018, when the long, cold Cape Cod winter was finally starting to recede. We flew up to Provincetown to interview Jeffery, Melanie and to see them in action as they presented their unique, art-infused program to a classroom full of eager middle schoolers.

The result is this film, which OPAK can use to share their work with the Cape Cod community and beyond.

The hope is that when this current generation is educated about the perils our oceans face, they’ll become advocates themselves, and will work hard to change the course of this profound threat to our ecosystem.

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We love when we can help a group that is doing truly grassroots work on behalf of factory-farmed animals, and we couldn’t think of a group more deserving than Factory Farming Awareness Coalition. FFAC gives presentations to schools, corporations, and other organizations to educate people about all the ways in which factory farming is harming the planet, making us sick, and abusing animals.

We filmed two different presentations in Berkeley, CA and San Jose, CA. The audiences were small, but they were enthusiastic and eager to support FFAC’s important mission of informing and educating about the impacts of our food choices.

We hope that FFAC is able to use this film to encourage teachers and corporate engagement officers to sign up for their presentations so that more people will be mindful of what factory farming is, and how to take action against it.

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In New Hampshire, there’s nothing quite as brutal as the pressure coyotes are under from hunters. They are killed in a variety of barbaric ways, including trapping, baiting, hounding, and even being shot in the dead of night.

Thankfully, there are groups like Voices of Wildlife in New Hampshire to advocate for these mistreated animals. VOW in NH is working hard to promote legislation to help protect some of New England’s most cherished wildlife, including the Eastern Coyote.

Animal Welfare Media was proud to help promote HB442, a bill introduced to prevent the hunting of coyotes while they’re raising their pups. Coyote pups need their parents to teach them how to be coyotes, what their prey is, and how to avoid human-coyote conflict.

We love the work VOW in NH is doing locally and were happy to promote such an important grassroots campaign with this animated short.

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Bear baiting and hunting are cruel and sadistic practices. One Protest has been working tirelessly for years to put an end to these atrocities, so when they came to us to create a PSA we were excited about helping them with their crucial mission. AWM worked collaboratively with OP to come up with a concept for a PSA that would resonate with and have an emotional impact on viewers, and we decided on an animated treatment.

The premise: we grow up loving bears, so why do some of us end up wanting to kill them?

AWM worked with South African animation house Impact Animated Video to come up with an artistic yet simple approach, and together with some powerful messaging, the result was this moving PSA.

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Animal Charity Evaluators is a unique organization working hard to promote smart choices in charitable giving. When they told us they were in need of a PSA that matches their important mission, we were excited to come up with a concept that would cut through the clutter. We needed something humorous, yet insightful.

At a Washington, D.C. studio, we gathered a group of filmed talented actors – human and animal alike – to help guide people who care deeply about animals towards charitable donations that will make a real difference for millions of suffering animals.

The result was this clever and effective spot.

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When PETA and AWM teamed up to do a PSA about Sea World’s inhumane practices, the problem of orca exploitation was already widely known. So it was a challenge to figure out how to keep the issue in the public eye.

Conceiving and filming an original and shocking piece of performance art in New York City’s Washington Square Park was a fresh approach, and demonstrated in real time what it’s like when baby whales are separated from their mothers. A committed group of improv actors pulled no punches in depicting the heartbreaking brutality of these practices for an unsuspecting audience, who learned first hand about how they can help end this shocking display of animal abuse.

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In the election of 2016, there were a few bright spots: one of which was that Massachusetts passed a state-wide law to ban farm animal confinement known as “Question 3.”

As part of the “Yes on 3” campaign, Citizens for Farm Animal Protection and The Humane Society of the United States hired us to create a PSA promoting the passage of the bill.

Our concept was simple: we wondered what would happen if we crammed 15 Bostonians into a tiny cage in front of Faneuil Hall. The answer was equally as simple: they didn’t like it.

The result was a PSA that did its part to move the needle towards passage of the bill, and a better life for all farmed animals in the state of Massachusetts.

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What is the best way to demonstrate how cruel the wool industry is? When PETA tasked us with this mission, we knew we had to approach the issue directly and with an unflinching eye. So we decided the best place to spread the message was one of the most densely-populated places in America: Times Square.

When our dedicated group of improv actors donned sheep outfits to show unsuspecting passersby in Times Square just how cruel wool manufacturers can be, we were not surprised by the looks of horror and surprise we received.

We used a couple of well-placed Go Pros to get that immersive, “in-your-face” perspective, and result was this honest PSA that created the buzz PETA was looking for.

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When Cy Young winner Max Scherzer agreed to do a PSA for the Humane Rescue Alliance, we were thrilled to be able to produce it. Max was not only great to work with, but so was Glee, the rescue dog-turned-TV star featured in the spot. To add extra cuteness into the mix, Max and his wife also brought along their three dogs, and filming the whole family for the end of the piece was the highlight of the shoot.

The HRA’s mission is so critical: to care for and find homes for Washington D.C.’s most unwanted and neglected animals. And AWM was honored to help them spread the word!

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Responsible Policies for Animals mission is simple: to educate people about the myriad ways we abuse, exploit and take advantage of animals. When RPA asked AWM to come up with a PSA that would cover a lot of ground as quickly as possible – with a very limited budget – we were glad to have the opportunity to create something that we knew would hit the viewer like a ton of bricks.

From eating meat to paving roads to cutting down trees, human beings exploit and abuse animals in almost everything we do. This PSA expresses that idea directly and asks us to change the “animal abuse culture” all around us.

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On the court, John Wall is a shining star of the Washington Wizards. But off the court he has a soft spot for rescue dogs, which is why the Humane Rescue Alliance asked him to be a part of their 2017 marketing campaign, and this PSA that AWM produced.

Directing an NBA star and skittish rescue dog at the same time was a challenge, but by the time that we were done, you could feel the love as the two “actors” bonded on and off the screen.

We made this PSA with just one hope: that it results in the adoption of many dogs and cats that so desperately need to find their forever homes.

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Before Nonhuman Rights Project was a household name, and before the 2016 documentary about their remarkable work, NhRP came to AWM to do a PSA to help introduce their mission to people. We thought: who better to spread the word about the universality of animal rights than a group of precocious kids?

In a New York City studio, these caring and talented kid actors came together to tell us what they think when they hear the phrase “animal rights,” and why all living things should be considered equal.

The result was this charming and highly-shareable PSA.

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For years, NYClass has been working hard – against all odds – to rid the streets of New York City of the cruel and inhumane carriage horse industry. Animal Welfare Media has long supported their mission, and in the late 2000s we were asked to work on a PSA for them.

While the budget was very limited, our imagination was not. The concept was to suit up an actor in a horse outfit, so he could show viewers first hand exactly what life is like for horses on the busy streets of Manhattan.

The moment our costumed actor locked eyes with one of the actual carriage horses is still one of the most touching moments on any of our shoots.