James Hoot (@jamesahoot) is on a journey creating and directing ‘Planet Vegan’ a 5-part documentary series taking a deep dive into the fastest growing social justice movement of the 21st century. You can watch the trailer here and follow the official page here @planetvegandoc.
Hi James! It’s so exciting to be talking with you today! Let’s begin with this — When did you go vegan and what was the drive behind that decision?
I went vegan in April of 2017. I was vegetarian for a year and a half before that for ethical and environmental reasons, but when I was backpacking in Latin America, I saw some pretty horrific things happen to cows one day in a street butcher shop in Bolivia and I immediately turned into an animal rights activist.
What is the idea behind the ‘Planet Vegan’ series?
The whole idea behind Planet Vegan is to offer nonvegan and vegan-curious viewers an outlet where they can come learn more about veganism without having to cry their eyes out. I was personally convinced to go vegetarian back in the day when I watched cowspiracy, and then as an activist, my beliefs were even further engrained by watching Dominion, but I also realize that films like that won’t reach everyone. I wanted to create something that created a more positive headspace around the vegan movement and so Planet Vegan was born.
You are currently raising $10,000, what will this go towards and how can people get involved?
We set our goal of $10,000 with the hopes that we’d be able to blow past that amount and so far so good! We’ve raised just over $11,000 now and are hoping to reach $20,000 before the end of the campaign. I’ve covered the majority of the expenses for the series so far, but covering a full set of cinema gear on top of a year of international travel has me looking for other funding resources. I’ve also hired an editor full-time now so that he and I can ramp up production and have Planet Vegan available for viewers by the end of 2019. There are many costs to get us to this goal including paying Lars for his incredible editing talents, marketing the series, paying for lawyers to work their magic, paying a distributor to help get the series onto Netflix, etc etc. I have yet to take a cent from the series (that might because it hasn’t made any money) and will continue to do so. Any profits from the crowdfunding campaign will go directly into funding Season Two!
You travelled to 10 different countries, how did people’s views on veganism differ?
Great question! The most inspiring part about filming Planet Vegan was seeing the rise of the vegan movement from a global perspective. It can so often feel like we’re alone in this when we’re at home with our nonvegan family and friends or in our own cities, but watching amazing vegan companies and people all around the world showed me that this isn’t an isolated event: veganism is growing quite literally everywhere. I found that around the world, people are relatively accepting to the idea of veganism, although each country is innovating in their own ways.
What exciting vegan events did you get to visit whilst filming?
The Vegan Camp-Out in the UK was an absolute BLAST. It was so cool to kick it with 5,000 amazing vegans for a long weekend in Nottingham. However, the event that I’m the most excited for has yet to be filmed. At the end of April, the Planet Vegan team has been invited to a week-long all-vegan river cruise through Cambodia and Vietnam with a company called Vegan Travel which is going to be such an incredible place to film. Beyond that I also filmed at Vegfest and Eat Drink Vegan.
Was their anyone you met during your travels who is doing something unique or powerful to help fuel the vegan movement?
Yes! So many amazing people! I honestly think that everyone featured in the series is really unique and powerful. From Earthling Ed’s creation of Unity Diner, plant-based meats with Ethan Brown of Beyond Meat, to Meat the Victims with Leah Doellinger, so many incredible human beings are featured!
Can you share with the readers a way in which eating animal products is harming our health/the environment, that they might not be aware of?
Well, first and foremost, even if it was good for our health and even good for the planet, if we are slitting the throats of 70 billion land animals and 2.7 trillion sea creatures every single year, it needs to be questioned and the animal’s point of view needs to be considered. However, there is literally zero requirement for modern civilizations to be ingesting animal products and doing so does our body more harm than good. Fish are filled with PCB’s and mercury, eggs are cholesterol and saturated fat bombs, bacon is a known carcinogen, the list goes on. And on top of that, going vegan is the quickest and easiest way to have the biggest impact on your environmental footprint. Animals are responsible for 18% of calories yet take up 83% of land. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species loss, rainforest destruction, ocean dead zones, water depletion, deforestation, and more. We don’t have time to stick to our old habits; we have to change now.
I am sure the readers are excited for the launch of this series, when can they expect it hit their screens?
Winter 2019!
Be sure to share the trailer with friends and follow the official page here @planetvegandoc. You can find details on how to support the crowdfunding campaign on the same site as the trailer!
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