Andy Stepanian @andystepanian - Tumblr Blog

View this post on Instagram

The Animal People releases today on iTunes, Amazon, and most cable television providers’ on demand services. It’s hard to reflect on my once hopeless moments in prison and internalize that 10 years later this story would become a film that, God willing, has some positive impact on the way we treat animals, each other, and the environment we share. . I hope that folks watch it with an open mind, use it as a roadmap for your own thoughtful and tireless advocacy, and then encourage others to do the same. . #TheAnimalPeople, #Documentary, #iTunes, #SHAC7, #JoaquinPhoenix (at Huntington Life Sciences) https://www.instagram.com/p/B55xGUsH_6W/?igshid=1jenqp97qm7uo

#theanimalpeople #documentary #itunes #shac7 #joaquinphoenix

at Third Street Promenade https://www.instagram.com/p/B50_gWfHaep/?igshid=1555c1xe3k9if

I just got back from 3 days of screenings and promotion for ‘The Animal People.’ I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the upwelling of complicated feelings associated with the release of this movie. It was a joy seeing so many old friends and activist accomplices and at the same time it was extremely difficult immersing myself in footage of some of my saddest and scariest memories. I cried a lot, wiped my tears, answered questions as best I could, did my best to eschew accolades and my best to underscore that the hundreds of amazing activists who attended this weekend’s events are the heroes the animals suffering in laboratories need right now. On Saturday Jake, Josh, Will and I joined Joaquin Phoenix and the documentary’s directors and producers as the film closed the Santa Monica Film Festival. The film won the award for best of festival. At the following day’s screening I was amazed by the outpouring of so many heroic activist collaborators from my past. It was humbling to see all of you, it would be impossible to list everyone here but please know you all help to keep this fire alive; and in a very literal sense, many of you helped me to survive my time in prison. I am so thankful for each of you for that. The film is heavy as fuck and will likely make you cry, but it also does a very good job of explaining in 90 minutes what actually happened when a handful of friends ransacked the warchest of a multinational cooperation that peddled in wanton animal abuse. You can preorder it via iTunes and Amazon now and it will be available on video on demand services starting on December 10th —other streaming services will follow shortly thereafter. Photos courtesy of @MariaFoto @anne.a.sullivan @TheAnimalPeople @sashaedge @gettyentertainment #theanimalpeople #shac7 #joaquinphoenix #documentary (at Third Street Promenade) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5ow0MOHLvX/?igshid=1cvamp60snx59

#theanimalpeople #shac7 #joaquinphoenix #documentary

Almost two decades ago I learned that a Huntingdon Life Sciences was killing 180,000 animals each year to test things like household products and agrochemicals that were making communities sick. I immediately knew I wanted to drive them out of business —and in 2004 a small group of activists I was involved with almost did. Then Chris Christie and the FBI knocked down our doors... . It’s hard to write a caption for something that's been 15 years in the making. Worse yet it’s becoming clear that my old wounds never fully healed and I have been reticent to address them —let alone share them with the whole world— but hey... Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Suchan, Sasha Perry, Dennis Henley, and Mikko Alaine made a thoughtful and dare I say good film about the 2004 arrest, trial and eventual imprisonment of myself and five of my friends on dubious federal charges alleging we brought this notorious multinational contract animal testing to brink of bankruptcy. . The film will be available on streaming services before the end of the year, and there will be several public screenings between now and then. At the end of the month I will be heading to Los Angeles to play a small part in helping them promote the film. If you are near LA and want to go to a screening send me a DM. . . . . #TheAnimalPeople, #joaquinphoenix, #animalrights, #truecrime, #documentaries, #SHAC7, #StopHuntingdonAnimalCruelty, #SHAC, #FBI https://www.instagram.com/p/B4ysQ_6n8Pd/?igshid=panbfk8k1s27

#theanimalpeople #joaquinphoenix #animalrights #truecrime #documentaries #shac7 #stophuntingdonanimalcruelty #shac #fbi

Condemned institutions and freight train tracks consumed and digested by nature. I’ve said it previously but the Edgewood preserver is like the antithesis of Joni Mitchell’s “Paved Paradise.” Always grateful to ride there. (at Edgewood Preserve Mountain Bike Trails) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4GqUxQHt-X/?igshid=6h76h1uxiksx

View this post on Instagram

Today Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s announced they will no longer sell fur products in their stores. I could not help but be nostalgic about the Animal Defense League’s tireless campaign against Macy’s and the righteous shenanigans we got ourselves entangled with to make business as usual impossible. #TBT to me getting arrested in a golf visor. #animalliberation #nycfurban #furfreenyc (at Macy's - Herald Square, 151 West 34th Street, New York. Nyc.) https://www.instagram.com/p/B36AUv4nKvz/?igshid=7yr7fh2wi4s3

#tbt #animalliberation #nycfurban #furfreenyc

I know I’m late to the “distracted boyfriend” meme, but did I do this right? . . #maga #kag #impeachtrump #impeachment (at The White House) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Lngj0nQzM/?igshid=1qsboqwkuzaq2

#maga #kag #impeachtrump #impeachment

Found this in some old files. Not sure who the illustrator was. . . #illustration #design https://www.instagram.com/p/B3IxUHCnAPr/?igshid=1x3wtp0iwoe7n

#illustration #design

#newprofilepic https://www.instagram.com/p/B2fk8sTnze7/?igshid=g8q09cla7y1l

#newprofilepic

Twitter has suspended my account for linking to a public document filed in the DC District Court and currently available via the ECF system. Funny how Twitter contorts itself to protect the speech of fascists plotting real world violence while simultaneously chilling public interest information activism. Nevertheless I am appealing. If you feel inclined you can tweet at @TwitterSupport and @Policy voicing your concern the company has banned an acrostic account for linking to information in the public interest. https://www.instagram.com/p/B2QtXohniBd/?igshid=19fsdwrewmo53

In April, after being diagnosed with dangerously high blood pressure and feeling like my work was nearly killing me, I bought myself a bike as a means to both improve my cardiovascular health and hopefully reduce some of the stress piling up from years of chaotic activism. Needless to say if you know me I never do anything 1/2 way —so I mumbled to myself I would get fit enough to race the bike by the end of the summer …and I did. Many thanks @jaybelsky and @clifbar for the 📸 and even more thanks to @backwoodslowlife, @will.yandell, @flow_lines, and @theviciouscycleny for putting together an amazing event, I cant wait to see what ya’ll have coming next for #tnrl ! Also, @tylerlang687 and @sashaedge I’m gonna get good enough to ride with ya’ll one day! (at Meadowlark Mountain Biking Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/B10M4kDnmqf/?igshid=174uqq0vbzzwa

#tnrl

#FBF to me 11 years ago painting with my watercolors behind the wall at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina. . The multi-talented @malikthemovement took this photo on the yard and I am grateful to say that he too is home from that fucking place and currently living his best life. Godspeed, Malik. . #Watercolor #Art #Painting #Prison #CriminalJusticeReform #FCIButner #fbop (at Federal Correctional Complex, Butner) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0Yk7uhHmvt/?igshid=1beohawa1rd3

#fbf #watercolor #art #painting #prison #criminaljusticereform #fcibutner #fbop

An hour in July, 2019 . These are fireflies compiled from an hour of truncated footage spanning approximately 7:30pm - 8:30pm on July 18, 2019 behind my house in Long Island, NY. Part of me thinks this could have been easier with a DSLR but I wondered what I could make if I shot 1 hour of footage at 24fps, then compressed that footage down to 60 seconds, and then create 1440 jpegs from it. I realize this misses a lot because my math essentially skips 59 frames for each one I kept, but gosh it really helps to underscore that there is a whole brilliant little universe right out there in front of us. . Posting the video along the final merged files edited in photoshop using the lighten blend mode and some knockout to stop the blurry leaves caused by the wind. . #FireFlies #Photography #CanonC100 https://www.instagram.com/p/B0OWcV2HkJG/?igshid=yypfz6ayoola

#fireflies #photography #canonc100

Each year by way of my work I become aware of spaces on the internet I never new existed, and each year I am disgusted —frightened even— by the depths and scale of the depravity in it’s most extreme corners. I am however also inspired by people’s ability to combat darkness with creative selflessness and by the nascent movements to make righteous things viral. . This image is a response to a horrific act. It in no way will reverse that act or even make a portion of it right, but maybe it can help drown out those negative spaces with something she loved. . I know it sounds hokey, but be good to each other, and be decent to those you don't like. https://www.instagram.com/p/B0AFPnyHkXx/?igshid=webwqweh3n7g

Rosaries confiscated from children detained in one of Trump's migrant internment camps along the southern border. #NeverAgain #CampAmerica #ConcentrationCamps #Immigration #FamilySeperations https://www.instagram.com/p/By8gnL3HvfJ/?igshid=100thxin0p4cn

#neveragain #campamerica #concentrationcamps #immigration #familyseperations

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead #MargaretMead #ClimateChange #GretaThunberg https://www.instagram.com/p/BydBsiQHP8w/?igshid=cr4jrn7rvwx0

#margaretmead #climatechange #gretathunberg

Typically when a consequential film like this premiers the production company asks the subject to be available for press, junkets, screenings, Q&A’s, etc —but there is nothing typical about the release of XY Chelsea… . @TimTraversHawkins did a brilliant job documenting the person who Chelsea is and the 7 years of tireless activism that mobilized a groundswell that ultimately informed President Barack Obama’s decision to commute the remainder of her sentence but as XY Chelsea premiered tonight on Showtime, Chelsea sat in an Alexandria jail cell. Her confinement a byproduct of judicial debris left in the wake of a draconian Grand Jury to which she was not a target but conveniently served the Trump administration as a vehicle to re-litigate her freedom and erase yet another piece of Barack Obama’s legacy. . Chelsea should be here with us tonight. (at Alexandria, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BycAggKnzka/?igshid=1jt1f6zeirj8a

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Andy Stepanian