Shaun Monson is writer, director, and producer of documentary films.
His debut film, EARTHLINGS (2005), was narrated by Academy Award Nominee Joaquin Phoenix and is considered a milestone in documentary films for animal welfare organizations around the world. His follow-up film, UNITY (2015), which took 8 years to complete, features an astounding cast of 100 celebrity narrators.
In 2018 he co-produced the documentary DOMINION, narrated again by Joaquin Phoenix, along with Rooney Mara, Kat Von D, Sia, and Sadie Sink. The film is an updated look at modern-day factory farming.
During the pandemic in 2020, he released a series of short films beginning with GUARDIANS OF LIFE, about the wildfires in the Amazon and Australia. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Rosario Dawson, Oona Chaplain, Matthew Modine, Adria Arjona, Albert Hammond, and Q’orianka Kilcher.
He also directed the short film LIBERTY, again starring Joaquin Phoenix, which was filmed the day after winning the Academy Award for JOKER. The film is about the release of a mother and calf from a slaughterhouse.
Monson also produced and directed the film THERE WAS A KILLING, about the death of animal activist Regan Russell in Toronto.
In 2021, he produced and directed a follow-up to LIBERTY called INDIGO, released on Earth Day, where Phoenix visits the animals he rescued at a sanctuary one year later.
Monson, Phoenix, and Rooney collaborated again on a public service announcement called A CHECKERED PAST, which is about 42 primates at a sanctuary that closed, and they all needed to be re-homed.
In 2022 he began adapting Dr. Michael Greger’s New York Times best-selling book HOW NOT TO DIE into a documentary film, a project that is ongoing.
He also directed the short film THE HEART WHISPERER about activists who are unsung heroes.
In 2023 he produced and directed THE DEER OF CATALINA, a short film about the plight of mule deer on the island.
He is currently developing a new project on alternative proteins that will help eliminate climate change, world hunger, and factory farming, but are dismissed through misinformation campaigns funded by animal agriculture. The film is entitled MASTERS OF CREATION.
