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JOAQUIN PHOENIX, Narrator Lifelong vegan, Joaquin Phoenix is an award nominated actor with a distinguished career that includes films like TO DIE FOR, 8MM, GLADIATOR, SIGNS, THE VILLAGE, LADDER 49 and the recent Johnny Cash biopic WALK THE LINE.
"I was particularly impressed," says writer/director Shaun Monson, "with the manner in which Joaquin delivered his narration for the film. And I didn't really comprehend what he was up to until I was in the editing room many months later. Each time we recorded narration, which actually took a couple of years, Joaquin opted to read in a calculatedly matter-of-fact tone. This is brilliant because he was allowing for the facts and statistics alone to convey the subject matters' complicated emotions, their depth and severity."
Phoenix and director Shaun Monson met in July of 2001, where they recorded the first session of narration for EARTHLINGS at the Pennisula Hotel in Santa Monica. In October of that year, the two met in Philladelphia, where Joaquin was shooting the sci-fi thriller SIGNS, to record additional narration for the film. The following year, in August of 2002, the two met again in New York to record some final pieces of dialogue. In April of 2004, unbeknownst to the audience, Joaquin attended a screening of EARTHLINGS at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood. He also attended a screening in January of 2005 at the Creative Artists Agency in Beverly Hills. Despite a rather busy film career, Joaquin continues to support EARTHLINGS today. In September 2005 he attended the film's San Diego Film Festival premiere, where he was also honored with their Humanitarian Award for his work on EARTHLINGS.
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 MOBY, Soundtrack
Critically acclaimed platinum artist, and outspoken animal rights activist, Richard Melville Hall (aka Moby), is one of the most recognizable figures in techno music and purveyors of electronica-pop. His albums include 1995's EVERYTHING IS WRONG, the appropriately titled ANIMAL RIGHTS (1996), I LIKE TO SCORE (1997), the enormously popular 1999 album PLAY (which made Moby a genuine breakout pop star), followed by 18 (in 2002) and most recently, the beautifully eclectic HOTEL, (2005).
Moby met director Shaun Monson at The Grove in West Hollywood in 2003. At the time, EARTHLINGS featured a classical "temp-track," but the filmmakers were unable to later secure worldwide music rights. So in the fall of 2004, producer Libra Max approached Moby about the use of his music in EARTHLINGS. When Moby learned the documentary was about animal welfare, he said, "I will be honored to have my music in such a film." The artist went on to provide no less than 16 different tracks to EARTHLINGS, making up more than two-thirds of the film's overall score. Thank you, Moby! |
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 SHAUN MONSON, Director
Shaun's credits include the comedy BAD ACTORS, a certified Dogme 95 film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001. After September 11, he directed a one-hour documentary on the rise of the Taliban called HOLY WAR, UNHOLY VICTORY, hosted and narrated by veteran actor and Academy Award winner George Kennedy (COOL HAND LUKE). Shaun has also written a number of screenplays, his most recent being a biopic on the life of legendary filmmaker Orson Welles entitled MAESTRO. He spent five years making EARTHLINGS. He also has two more documentaries in the works; both part of his EARTHLINGS trilogy.
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 BABAK CYRUS RAZI, Executive Producer
Babak and Shaun partnered up at Nation Earth in 2005 and have become friends ever since. They will be developing all future projects together. |
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 MAGGIE Q, Co-Producer
Maggie Quigley is a devoted activist who dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, but modeled and found herself bursting onto the Hong Kong movie scene - eventually becoming a star in Asia. She changed her name to the easily pronounceable "Maggie Q" (for the Chinese audience). She appears in RUSH HOUR 2, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III and this summer's LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD. |
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 NICOLE VISRAM, Executive Producer
Nicole is an experienced advertising and commercial producer working in Santa Monica, CA. Ms. Visram generously worked with Shaun to make EARTHLINGS into a commercial reality from the onset. She is the only producer to have been on the project with Shaun since the film's inception. |
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 BRETT HARRELSON, Producer
In the fall of 2004, Brett Harrelson attended a private screening of EARTHLINGS in the Hollywood Hills. Deeply affected by the film, he came on board as a producer to facilitate the film's release. Brett later hosted a special screening for distributors at the Creative Artsists Agency in Beverly Hills with his brother, actor/activist Woody Harrelson. Brett was also instramental in making EARTHLINGS available on DVD, and represented the film at the 2005 Boston International Film Festival. |
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 PERSIA WHITE, Co-Producer
Activist. musician, and actress Persia White (GIRLFRIENDS) became involved with EARTHLINGS in the Fall of 2004. A vegetarian since the age of 12, Persia contributed several pieces of music to the film, but was even more instrumental (and fearlessly determined) to get promotional DVDs in people's hands. Persia champions EARTHLINGS every chance she gets, not only in interviews, but by donating copies of the film to events such as the Genesis Awards, for IDA (In Defense of Animals) as well as at screenings and Animal Rights Conferences. |
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LIBRA MAX, Executive Producer, Music Supervisor
Libra Max became involved with EARTHLINGS in the winter of 2004, and was the primary force in getting Moby involved with the film's soundtrack. She is a devoted animal activist and life-long vegan |
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DAVID & SEAN AMATO, Associate Producers
The Amato brothers have been friends with Shaun since the 4th grade, and have shown support for one another ever since. In 2004, Sean (top photo) and David (Lower photo) decided to help complete EARTHLINGS by coming on board as Associate Producers. |
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 JEFFREY DAVID SINCLAIR, Associate Producer
Jeff and Shaun were introduced through fellow Associate Producer Sean Amato in the spring of 2005. Jeffrey and business partner Linda Sparling had just seen EARTHLINGS and immediately wanted to get involved in marketing the film through Nation Earth's DVD division. Sinclair and Monson are now working on the finishing touches of the ambitious new EARTHLINGS DVD, premiering this fall.
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Synopsis
Earthlings in the Making: A Look Behind the Scenes of this Extraordinary Film!
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Awards
Film Festival wins and recognition |
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Watch the trailer
Watch a promo trailer for the EARTHLINGS Trilogy |
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The screenplay
Earthlings the annoted documentary screenplay.
Download it now (.pdf) |
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