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Jian Yi, internationally acclaimed filmmaker and Founder of the Good Food Fund, and of the China Vegan Society, CBCGDF, China.
He is a Yale World Fellow (2009), India-China Fellow (2008), Asian Cultural Council grantee (2008) and Cambridge University visiting fellow (2007). Jian’s films have won international awards and been shown around the globe including at New York’s MoMA.
Jian made What’s For Dinner? in 2009, China’s first documentary looking at the environmental costs of meat consumption. Jian led GFF to be a leading organization on food system transformation in China and have launched the Good Food Summit, the Good Food Festival, the Good Food Roadshows and the Food Forward Forum with Yale University.
He got his masters in Journalism (’98) from the Communication University of China, where he subsequently taught for fiver years and in Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame (’97), where he got a Distinguished Alumni award in 2005. Jian is currently an MPA candidate and a Mason Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Gleitsman Leadership Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership.
Born in the Fiji Islands, Kamal grew up speaking Hindi and English. Growing up, he often spent school holidays on relatives’ farms where he developed an appreciation for nature.
Kamal became interested in filmmaking in 2009. At the same time, he became a vegan for environmental reasons. Seeing a lack of media about how breeding animals for humans negatively affects the environment, he decided to use what he was learning about videography and editing to create short videos on the relationship between animal agriculture and the environment.
This led to him partnering with co-directors Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn to do some videography for the groundbreaking documentary, Cowspiracy.
In addition to his own videos, he’s done short films for Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, United Poultry Concerns, and Compassionate Living.
Kamal is also the creator of Angry Vegan Sock Puppet, a tongue-in-cheek take on the passionate and intense vegan activist that most people imagine when they think of an animal rights activist.
A strong proponent of the power of films, he founded Vegan Filmmakers, to help vegans find each other for collaborative, pro-animal film projects.
Kamal believes the time is ripe for a documentary like A Day in the Life… People are waking up to the facts about the destruction animal agriculture causes to the planet, new plant-based foods products are on the rise, and many people are already cutting animal products from their diet. He thinks this film could help tip someone on the fence about going 100% plant-based and will add to the critical mass we need to save the planet, animals, and humans.
Kamal loves learning about diverse cultures and places, and loves traveling having visited Australia, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, among others. He currently resides in northern California.
Zehra has had a keen interest in exploring how to make the world a kinder place since her time volunteering for organizations like War Against Rape and The Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture in her youth.
Zehra is the Executive Director of Umano, working to actively inspire holistic empathy and advance story-telling for humans, animals, and the environment. Umano funds non-profits who are also seeking to build empathy along with sustainability through social enterprise.
Zehra is also the founder of and volunteer at President of Youth Troopers for Global Awareness and its social enterprise, Studio.89, a non-profit community hub and fair trade, vegan cafe providing a free space for events, workshops and resources with a specific focus on activism and youth leadership development.
While travelling, Zehra enjoys narrow cobblestone streets, ancient architecture, cuddling street animals, and volunteering with various charity organizations to advance her knowledge about community care from a holistic lens.
Sheryl Leighton was a lawyer for over 25 years and has counseled many businesses. A joyful vegan, she has served as a volunteer event organizer for the nonprofit Compassionate Living during the past several years.
As a young teen, Sheryl had a summer job as an agricultural field worker. That experience gave her an enduring respect and appreciation for all the world’s workers who bring us nutritious, delicious food from the earth.
Sheryl’s international travels have included a Global Exchange Reality Tour to post-apartheid South Africa and participation in the cross-cultural Bali Institute for Global Renewal.
Sheryl happily joined this film project to help promote radiant health for all, environmental wellness, and respect for nonhuman animals. She currently lives in northern California.