VeganFlix Studio is excited to have had the opportunity to chat with Billie Dean and Andrew Einspruch about their awesome new project, A Slice of Heaven! They are one of the fantastic winners of our VeganFlix Seed Grant.

VF: We appreciate you taking the time to connect with us! We’d love to know more about your video/story theme.

Billie and Andrew: A Slice of Heaven is about a retirement-aged creative couple opting for a tree change in the country. Ginny and Ash McDermitt are vegan, theatrical, and larger-than-life with dreams of renovating an old weatherboard cottage. But the reality of casual cruelty to animals in the country hits them from the first episode. Winding around that are themes of the vulnerability of a person’s third act, finding a new purpose, and how animals love and heal their humans.

VF: We love the unique take on such an important theme. How did this idea come to you? 

Billie and Andrew: When we first moved to this particular country place, we were appalled that city people were complaining about horse manure on the road. It’s the country. There’s manure. And manure is good! 

We were also shocked that people were still using the brutal poison 1080, which our (Australian) government puts everywhere and thinks it acceptable. We are the only country in the world (bar New Zealand) that still uses it. The government uses it to kill wild cats, foxes, dingoes, but refuses to understand its impact on wildlife as well. The stuff needs to be banned. 

As animal advocates, there’s so much to say, and when you live in a farming community, the things we feel deeply about are pretty in your face. We have a comedy background, and the best comedy seems to come from things that irritate us!

VF: Wow, the use of 1080 is heartbreaking and very alarming. Living in a farming community really must bring up so much, and the fact that you’re bringing attention to these issues through your work is so important. It’s also really interesting how you channel these frustrations into comedy. Humor can be such a powerful way to open people’s eyes while making them laugh. What else do you do in your life besides making your film?

Billie and Andrew: We run one of Australia’s largest farm animal and wild horses sanctuaries (see deeppeacetrust.com), giving us plenty of experience ,and animal “actors” (that is, just letting the animals be themselves!). 

We also write books. Billie’s signature work is Secret Animal Business, about her life as an animal telepath. Andrew has an award-winning humorous fantasy series called The Western Lands and All That Really Matters that features humans and animals interacting as equals, stupidly long names, and wäÿ töö mänÿ ümläüts.

We also have several screenplays in various stages of development. And there are some short films (again, award-winning) about wild horses, as the treatment of wild horses here in Australia is also appalling and we want the cruelty to stop. In the past, Billie has taught shamanism with an emphasis on respecting all life, and Andrew contributes to the bills doing boring IT work, which we are grateful for.

VF: That’s a great range of projects, you both sure stay busy in the best of ways! What experiences in your life have shaped your commitment to veganism or animal advocacy?

Billie and Andrew: Billie is an innate animal and interspecies telepath, which means she relates to the animals on a deep, deep level. As an empath, she also feels all their pain. And has since she was a young child. She hears their protests, their truth, and she feels it.

Andrew was already vegetarian when he and Billie met nearly 40 years ago, and followed her lead into veganism and animal advocacy because he could see firsthand how animals suffered, and he also wanted to make a difference.

VF: We have a lot of respect for what you’re saying-to be on such a deep level with animals is really a treasure and can surely be very painful. We relate a lot in our own ways. What impact do you hope your film will have on viewers, both vegan and non-vegan?

Billie and Andrew: We hope people will fall in love with Ginny, Ash, and the animals, and be inspired to make personal changes for themselves. While we show other aspects of country living and the vulnerabilities and insecurities of the characters, we really want people to come on a journey of change and to honour animals at a deep level like these two eventually do. We think the planet needs this kind of shift from “animals are here for us” to “animals are here with us.” We want them to see how going the extra mile to help them helps us in ways our society never talks about.

VF: Yes! Animals are here with us, not for us. This is a wonderful sentiment and a shift that you are helping to bring about with your work. What’s next!? 

Billie and Andrew: At the same time as writing and filming this web series, we are developing a series of projects around Rewilding Australia. The Rewilding Movement across Europe employs wild horses and other animals naturally to improve biodiversity and repair landscapes. Our view is compassionate conservation, but also the very necessary rewilding of the human heart. After all, we and the land, and the animals are one.

Both of us keep writing our books, and as well as that, there are any number of film projects that we can’t wait to bring out into the world!

VF: Thank you so much for sharing with us, Billie and Andrew. We are really looking forward to seeing your project and we recommend everyone reading to go check out your work!

Follow Billie and Andrew’s work on Facebook , Instagram, and Youtube.

Or check them out here:

Billie Dean

billiedean.com

Wild Pure Heart

wildpureheart.com

Deep Peace Trust

deeppeacetrust.com