It’s that time of year where we sit back with a cup of cocoa and some vegan marshmallows and reflect on what we have achieved for animals, people, and the planet over the last 12 months. GenV’s aim is to support and grow the compassionate vegan community, and we do that by amplifying voices and messages, sharing diverse perspectives and experiences, launching or supporting high-profile campaigns, and providing resources, inspiration, and motivation. This is what our 2024 looked like …
Our Year at the Movies 🎥
As if we ever need an excuse to break out the popcorn, we made and supported a lot of amazing films this year. From writing and directing to producing and hosting premieres, we really went all out.
Sanctuary
First up is our very own animation, Sanctuary, written and directed by Isabel Siano, GenV’s Director of Brazil. Based on a true story, this is a heartwarming reminder of the power we have when we put our compassion into action. Narrated in four different languages by Evanna Lynch, Xuxa Meneghel, Marcela Kloosterboer, and Sneha Ullal, Sanctuary has already been viewed more than nine million times and its media reach has exceeded 44 million. Plus, it was shown at the Toronto International Vegan Film Festival, was a winner at the Nawada International Film Festival, and has been selected for multiple other awards. That’s what we call a hit! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pig Farms Against the People
Our next film was a documentary, which exposes the profound injustice of a pig farming corporation in Mexico, which is wreaking both environmental and cultural devastation in the Yucatan region. Powerful interviews with affected Indigenous communities and their allies who are uniting against Keken makes this David-and-Goliath tale a must-see. Filmed by Christopher Shoebridge and edited by Daniel Yáñez, Pig Farms Against the People brought the house down at the film’s test screenings in Mexico City. Follow us or sign up to our newsletter to find out details of its public release.
Christspiracy, 90 Days, and Test Subject V
Not only do we write, direct, and produce our own films, we love to support other filmmakers too. This year, we worked with Christspiracy to hone messaging and create social media films, and we organized their US and UK premieres too! Christspiracy is an astonishing, groundbreaking documentary that takes viewers from Rome to Jerusalem, Oxford to Nepal on a quest for the answer to one not-so-simple question: Is there a spiritual way to kill an animal?
It scored a whopping 98% on Rotten Tomatoes Popcornometer, and you can watch it for free here.
GenV also supported the production of two more films, the Brazilian 90 Days and the Indian Test Subject V. The former tells the story of the devastating cruelty case that united the Brazilian animal protection movement and its attempt to rescue and relocate 1,000 buffaloes in just 90 days. And Test Subject V is one man’s hilarious journey from couch potato to super-buff fitness fan. Follow us for the release dates of these two amazing films.
Our Year of Campaigning 📢
We don’t just lounge about watching movies, you know. Sometimes, we roll up our sleeves and get stuck in, and this year saw us working on some game-changing, headline-grabbing campaigns.
The Earthshot Prize
Our association with this prestigious environmental award is intended to ensure that plant-based food systems are adopted and promoted as we work to address the many environmental crises we face. In fact, we cannot protect the planet without adopting a plant-based food system and this is the message we continue to take to Earthshot. As an official nominator to the prize, we also put forward vegan solutions from all around the world, including companies that produce slaughter-free meat, farmers growing veganically, and advocacy campaigns that are driving change at the political level. The passion, depth, and expertise of the vegan movement inspires us every day and we will keep championing these visionaries until the last cows come home to rest.
The Buffaloes of Brotas
Not only did we support the documentary about the rescue of the buffaloes, we supported the campaign to rescue them, too. In the biggest cruelty case ever to occur in Brazil, a farmer decided he could make more money from a different ‘crop’ and abandoned 1,000 buffaloes to die. The Brazilian animal protection movement, including GenV, mobilized. We were able to harness the support of celebrities with huge audiences which meant this campaign reached right around the world. A huge thank you to Liz Solari, Nicole Neumann, Maria Casadevall, Emiliano d’Avila, Dani Moreno, and Rodrigo Dorado. And thank you to the 11,000 people who signed up to our vegan challenge as a result. Read more about the campaign.
Welfare Washing
How shocking is it that the world’s oldest animal protection charity actually endorses factory farming? The RSPCA in the UK runs an assurance scheme that stamps its seal of approval on intensive chicken, pig, and fish farms. When investigators from Animal Justice Project and Animal Rising filmed at these farms, they found conditions that were a world away from the high-welfare marketing claims. And so, with our founder Matthew Glover, we took the truth to the people, running ads on the London Underground and launching a new Welfare Washing website. Check it out.
Guinness World Record
We love a challenge, so when Chef Supreme Dow decided to go after the world record for the largest number of community meals delivered in under an hour, we were right beside him. The Los Angeles Boys and Girls Club provided the muscle as together we packed more than 1,000 boxes of delicious vegan food and delivered them to residents of Boyle Heights, and all in an incredible time of 37 minutes. Did we break the world record? Of course we did 💪
Sharing, Connecting, Learning
This year, our team could be spotted out and about at lots of inspiring events. We attended the Vegan Business Summit in Mexico City where Jessica Gonzalez Castro, GenV’s Director of Hispanic America, gave a talk on the impact of marketing on audiences. We also screened Sanctuary and test-screened Pig Farms Against the People both there and at La Ola Festival, also in Mexico City.
Members of our Latam team also attended the Animal and Vegan Advocacy (AVA) conference in São Paulo—one of the largest vegan events in the Americas—where Laura Sainz gave a talk on Veganism as a Tool for Decolonizing Food and, again, we showed Sanctuary to an emotional audience.
GenV’s Director of India, Rithika Ramesh attended the Asia Farm Animal Day in Vietnam and gave a talk about online advocacy, while in the UK, Director of Communications Kate Fowler led a workshop on vegan recidivism at the Vegan Party Conference in London.
And at the end of the year, we welcomed the super talented Camila Cortinez, co-founder of Te Protejo to our Board.
Supporting Our Community
As we know, lots of people struggle to stay vegan in the face of powerful marketing, the ubiquitous nature of animal products, and peer pressure. We get it! And so we always work to support new vegans, nurture and advise wannabe vegans, and stay in contact with those who may have fallen away. We do all that through media and social media collaborations, creating a safe community for people to be heard and accepted, and by providing valuable information and resources.
Collaborations
2024 was officially The Year of the Collaboration. Our Spanish Instagram page alone had collaborations with around 500 vegan and non-vegan accounts from right across Hispanic America, including in Mexico where we collaborated with Malvestida, a non-vegan media outlet that reaches a huge Gen Z audience.
Some of our biggest collaborations were with former dairy farmer Menkay, Brazilian actress Xuxa Meneghel, Argentine actress Liz Solari, Indian-Australian actress Amy Aela, Irish actress Evanna Lynch, Argentine model Nicole Neumann, Argentine actress Marcela Kloosterboer, Mexico television personality Marco Antonio Regil, Indian actress Sneha Ullal, and American athlete Dominick Thompson. The combined reach of just these 10 supporters is in excess of 28 million, which ensures our compassionate message is shared right around the world.
New Resources: Parenting Podcast and Spirituality Challenge
Recorded in 2024 but launching in January 2025 is our brand-new vegan parenting podcast, Raising GenV. Hosted by CEO Naomi Hallum, Raising GenV invites guests to share all things vegan as they raise kind and conscientious children in a non-vegan world. From the worlds of advocacy and activism, healthcare, music, and more, guests discuss the challenges, celebrate the joys, and pass on their hard-won parenting wisdom. The first episodes drop on January 21st and you’ll find them on all the main podcast-hosting platforms.
There are lots of reasons people come to veganism, but we noticed that there are very few resources for people who see it as an expression of their spirituality. And so we created a brand-new, completely free, 7-day course which introduces veganism through the universal principles of love, compassion, altruism, awe, wisdom, truth, and forgiveness. It’s a beautiful, eye-opening, soul-enhancing journey. Sign up for free here.
Raise a Glass to the Best In Class 🥂
Our social media films and blogs are intended to dispel myths, inspire change, and support our community, and we are delighted to bring you the most popular from 2024.
- Formula for a Healthy Heart was our best-performing film in India, and in fact, anywhere with almost 10 million views!
- Truck Driver’s Path to Veganism was the most popular film on the English channels with 165k views
- In Brazil, two films really fired the imagination: the buffalo campaign launch at a whopping 480k views and our own animation Sanctuary at 437k views
- In Hispanic America, a beautiful film reminding people of the impact of our food choices on wild animals took the crown with close to one million views
This year we also published 56 unique blogs covering an array of educational, inspirational, and self-care subjects which were read tens of thousands of times. Our English-speaking audience wanted to know What is the #1 healthiest food? Our Spanish-speaking friends asked What is marine life and why is it important? And in Brazil, the question everyone wanted the answer to was What does the Bible say about eating meat?
Thank You
So, that’s 2024 wrapped. Thank you to our supporters, followers, friends, and community for being with us on this journey as we work together to create lasting, impactful change. We have so much more planned for 2025. But for now, we’ll take a moment to acknowledge what we have achieved over the last 12 months and give thanks for all those who defend our planet and fight for the rights of everyone who lives on it.
Happy New Year, friends!
