Interview: Chris Cooney
On vegan zombies, horror movies, and bringing a dream to life
Welcome back to another Wizard of Claws interview!
Perhaps better known as The Vegan Zombie, Chris Cooney’s YouTube channel was among the first I found after going vegan. Though I’d been too afraid to watch scary movies at the time, there’s always been something about horror that drew me in, begging me to look, inviting nightmares with just a glance at a monster. As many times as I went to bed terrified of beasts beneath the bed or crouching in the closet, I kept daring myself to watch more. The Vegan Zombie YouTube channel let me safely enjoy the horror aesthetic without scaring myself silly.
Years later and now desensitized to even the scariest stories, I can’t help but see links between the horror genre and animal rights; it’s one of those timeless pairings. You can’t watch The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or Jaws without thinking about the violent connections between humans and other animals. And this year we’ll have Chris’s debut feature film, A44, to add to that list.
General Questions
Can you share a little bit about yourself, including how you came to care about animals and filmmaking?
I was born and raised in a small town just outside of Syracuse, NY, and I’ve been around cameras all of my life. My father had a Super 8mm movie camera and he would take movies of me and my siblings as we grew up. That was originally what got me interested in videos and movie making. When I was 6, I went and saw E.T. in the theater and immediately fell in love with the movie. I think it was probably the bond between E.T. and Elliott that made a huge impact. To me, that connection was similar to what humans had with animals. I was a huge animal lover and have been ever since. I remember one summer as a young boy, I saw an animal on the side of the road that had been hit by a car. I picked it up and put it on the handlebars of my bike (like in E.T.) and immediately took it home and begged my mother to take us to the vet to help him. We got in the car and went to the vet and dropped him off there and that’s all I remember of that.
When I was 16, I saved up all my money from my summer job to buy a car and then when I had enough I changed my mind at the last minute and bought myself a camcorder. Back then we didn’t have digital cameras or cell phones.
Why did you start your YouTube channel, and what’s the story behind “The Vegan Zombie” moniker?
It was early spring of 2009 and I was working my full time job as a special investigator. I was driving the back-roads of upstate NY and feeling pretty bad about my job. I thought to myself, this can’t be it. I don’t like my job anymore and I don’t want to do this the rest of my career and then retire. I didn’t feel anything for it anymore.
Instead of sulking over it, I simply told myself to start thinking of things that I do like. I wanted to be able to wake up every day and be passionate about something. So I began to brainstorm things that I loved. I have always had a love for movies, especially horror movies and I had been vegan for the majority of my life so how could I incorporate those three things. I began thinking of vampires, werewolves…no. ZOMBIES! Almost immediately I had come up with a concept of a zombie apocalypse with a vegan twist. I called it The Vegan Zombie. I went home and began writing the script. Once it was done, I knew I had to start somewhere but I wasn’t quite ready to produce the film.
Up until this point, I had made several short videos and movies with friends and family using two VCRs to edit with. But now I needed to learn to do it like the pros. So there was only one thing I could do, and that was to just start making videos to upload to YouTube. At the time there were no vegan cooking channels or anything like it. So I thought I would do apocalyptic scenarios and incorporate some vegan cooking. I had no idea if anyone would watch them or not but I was practicing my editing and special effects and at the same time sharing delicious vegan recipes. It ended up doing very well and getting thousands of subscribers. Because of it, I have an award-winning vegan cookbook and now a feature-length pro-vegan horror movie. These are both beyond what I ever thought I would be able to do for veganism as just one person.
Some people may be surprised that a vegan would like the horror genre, as it’s associated with violence and terror. Why do you like horror, and what connections, if any, do you find between veganism and horror?
I mean, like I said before, I am a 30-plus-year vegan and it doesn’t change who I am or what I like. Not everybody loves horror but a lot of people do and that doesn’t change just because they happen to go vegan. I found a very successful way to promote veganism through comedy and horror elements. There are definitely connections to veganism and horror. For example, in my movie concept alone, zombies eating flesh is adjacent to humans eating meat. There are deeper connections such as mindless zombies being symbolic of cognitive dissonance. But yeah, I have been fascinated with horror ever since I was a little kid.
Aside from your own, are there any movies that you feel have a vegan message, however subtle?
There are many movies that have subtle vegan themes or characters that are implied to be vegan. For example, E.T., even though he was given foods that weren’t vegan, I heard somewhere, maybe an interview I watched or read, that he was a horticulturist from another planet collecting plants. Inside his ship you only see plants. Spock from Star Trek did not eat animals. There is much debate that highly intelligent beings such as aliens that can transcend vast distances of space would not consume animals. Superman is said to not eat meat, I don’t know if he is a vegan though. Okja has some ties to things vegans talk about and try to change but I don’t know if I would call it a vegan movie. But yes, there are many movies that have little hints here and there but there are also many movies that poke fun of vegans and mention vegans in a negative way. I wanted to change that with A44.
Zombie films are rife with metaphor. What most appeals to you about the zombie subgenre?
Well, I think I mentioned this earlier but the whole cognitive dissonance thing. People get in the rhythm of doing the same thing over and over without questioning anything just because it’s the way they’ve always done it. To me that is a lot like the concept of a mindless zombie just walking around existing. There is always so much more to things. Sometimes you just have to open your mind and take a deep look and question things.
Most animal advocacy focuses on creating tangible changes in the real world. What role can the arts play in changing how people think about animals?
This is something I put a lot of thought into. We have countless YouTube videos and short movies and documentaries which are great for educating people on the horrors of consuming animals. But something that we lack are just some fun, fictional, entertaining movies that might just have a message that would resonate with some people better than the alternative. My goal was to make a fun and entertaining movie that didn’t shove the message hard enough for them to not want to watch it but just right and at the right time for them to be like “oh, I never thought about it like that” and possibly change the way they think going forward. I’m not expecting everyone to go vegan after watching this but if it can change someone’s outlook in a positive way about veganism, then it’s all worth it to me. I guess we’ll have to wait until people see the movie and find out if it makes that impact.
Any advice for aspiring filmmakers?
For me it was a long and tedious journey. Decades. Just be persistent and don’t give up. Keep learning new things every day to perfect your craft and if you love something stick with it. I never would have had the funding or platform to do this if I didn’t brainstorm that (some would say stupid) idea 16 years ago and pursue it.
Story Questions
How did the idea for A44 first come to you, and at what point did you decide to start working on bringing the story to life?
So, A44 was originally titled The Vegan Zombie. In 2018 I was contacted by a director living in LA who asked me if I wanted to finally shoot my movie. We ended up doing a 2nd kickstarter (the 1st one was for my cookbook). It was successful so we started planning things out. I took my original script and made it a bit longer and re-wrote it over 40 times from that day until production started. Things went on hold for a bit at that time due to the situation of the world and that director dropped out and I found a new team in 2022.
How did you decide how overt/subtle the film’s vegan message would be?
As a long time vegan, I kind of saw what worked and what didn’t so I needed this message to be there but not in a way that would turn people off from watching the movie. I wanted to ultimately make a movie that I personally loved but I wanted it to be a stand-alone horror movie geared to horror fans. So the message is indeed there but I’m hoping it will change minds instead of making people get up and leave. I don’t really want to say too much and give anything away but by the time it hits them, they will hopefully already adore the character in question.
Let’s go back in time to that moment when you decided to develop your screenplay into a feature film. What were the next steps you took, in regards to finding a cast, crew, and filming locations?
The script was done and redone several times to accommodate challenges and continue to try and perfect it. We did consider making it into a short due to our very low budget but in the end we decided to go with the original plan for a feature. Originally, I was very optimistic to get a full vegan cast. That turned out to be impossible and I sent out several casting calls and began narrowing them down with my producers until we finally had our cast. The crew were some local filmmakers along with my friends. I’m a very visual person so when I wrote the story I imagined actual places that were familiar to me from where I grew up. Outside of that we found a local mom and pop gas station and mini grocery store and we were lucky enough to use the basement of historic Hotel Syracuse. That really added an element of horror to the production.
Did you take classes or read any books about filmmaking that helped you prepare for making your own movie?
I did not take any classes or read any books. I have been making little shorts and various videos since I was a teenager, so I just learned most of it through experience and different YouTube videos over the years. I did have a few bigger YouTube productions that I did for my channel that was very helpful when it came to this. Everyone has to start somewhere. I was a bit nervous since I hadn’t done it before but now that it’s done, I feel confident I can do another and do it much better. I also did most of the post-production myself and I did watch a master class in color grading. Lots of tutorials and learning curves. When you have a very micro budget movie you have to do a lot yourself. That’s also why it took so long to get to this point.
Aside from writing, directing, producing, and starring in the film, what else did you do to help bring it all together?
I was involved in just about every part of the process with the exception of sound design. I did scheduling which was way harder than it sounds, location scouting, casting, script breakdown with my producer, Lena, sound and video syncing, I edited the entire thing myself, color corrected and graded and did all the visual effects and credits. With that being said, there were a lot of other people that helped bring this to life and I can’t leave out the kickstarter supporters. Without them we would not have A44.
Can you share a little bit about what happens during pre-production? Post-production?
In pre-production you have to know your cast and locations. Make sure that wardrobe and makeup is all set. You need to breakdown the script by the days you shoot and make it as efficient as possible. You will need all your actors to know their lines for that day and bring with you any props for those scenes. Hopefully it doesn’t rain if you need a nice sunny outside scene. You will need permission or permits for certain shoots as well as insurance in some cases. There is so much that goes into pre-production and with a limited crew we were taking on double and even triple jobs or more.
Post-production was a bit more relaxed but still a ton of work. I have been editing this for the past year to get where we are now. I have had many challenges which I had to figure out how to fix. Very time consuming.
What steps did you take to keep the production as vegan as possible? (I’m thinking along the lines of food, clothing, makeup, fake gore, etc.) Was anything easier or more difficult than you thought it’d be?
I went above and beyond to make this a full vegan production. All cast and crew were briefed before they took the job that everything would be vegan and they were all fine with that. Meaning all food on set, whether it was in the movie or food for them, was vegan. We had someone cater vegan food for anyone working a certain amount of hours or more. We always had vegan snacks on set. We purchased several vegan wardrobes and for one scene I went to several stores until I found a synthetic vegan-friendly baseball. Makeup and gore was all vegan-friendly as well. Anything they can do we can do vegan!
You’ve said that this film is dedicated to your dog Indy. Why was it important to include him in the movie, and in what ways did your bond influence the story?
Indy was my soul dog. I rewrote the story for him several times. He was an elder dog when we filmed it but he was young and full of energy years ago when I thought the script was locked in. So obviously he couldn’t do some of the things anymore, so what I did was write the story around him. He really didn’t have to do anything but be himself and hang out with me. I didn’t push him to do anything. Most scenes were one take. He had separation anxiety when I would leave the house so it was good for him to be with me on set. He got lots of attention and treats and I consider this our last adventure together. He is a major part of the story, if not the most important part. Without him, I don’t think I'd have a case really to convince people that see this film to think about more compassionate choices.
What are the next steps regarding film festivals and distribution?
Right now that is the question. I have done everything in the filmmaking process except this. This is new territory to me. We have submitted it to several film festivals. Right now we are awaiting their decisions. We are also talking to people about possible distribution deals with different streaming services. So hopefully we find something soon. We will have a premiere here in Syracuse, NY, at some point for the Kickstarter supporters and cast/crew. We also have some talk about maybe doing one in LA with Jane Velez-Mitchell, who is a supporter and actor in A44.
What do you hope viewers, vegan or not, will take away from this movie?
Ultimately, I hope they see it as a fun enjoyable movie that they can tell their friends about and possibly revisit it every few years or so. I hope that the message sinks in and opens people’s minds to a more compassionate lifestyle. If so, we can help animals directly and indirectly through A44.
Final Questions
How can readers find you online and support the film?
They can go to the A44 website, and we have @a44movie for IG and FB and they can always get info from my handle @theveganzombie on all social media.
Any other upcoming projects? Any plans for a sequel?
I hope to be able to do a sequel to this. I have it mostly planned out but we will need this one to be successful first.
Anything else you’d like to share?
We might end up doing a fundraiser for an animal sanctuary at a local (to them) movie theater. That way a certain percentage of funds go directly to the animals by way of A44. If this is successful I would be willing to go to others and do the same thing. This is still only an idea. Distribution could change that.
The Vegan Zombie was a huge inspiration for the team at Plant-Based Times! One of his videos on cholesterol and Dr. Esselstyn was our first breadcrumb into whole food, plant-based veganism. After watching the TED Talk he recommended, we gave it a try . . . and we’ve been vegan ever since. Amazing to see how his work continues to inspire! Great interview. Thanks for sharing.