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Ashley Avis

@ashleyavis

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Next up, CITY OF ANGELS for @warnerbros, AMERICAN WOLF for Appian Way, and THE DARK BETWEEN STARS @atticuspoetry. Founder @wildbeautyspirit

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In conversation about wild horses with Diane Lane.

As national attention swells for the plight of America’s equines, I wanted to return to this fantastic Q&A with the endlessly elegant Diane during a screening of WILD BEAUTY: MUSTANG SPIRIT OF THE WEST.  This was a few weeks before Diane came with us to Congress, and we walked the halls together, lobbying our lawmakers for better protections, and adding numerous co-sponsors to both the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act, and the SAFE Act.  As we explore through our five-year documentary journey in WILD BEAUTY, and this powerful discussion, the fight to save our wild horses is intrinsically tied to our domestic horses, given that no equine in the United States is beyond the reach of the slaughter pipeline.  The pipeline does not discriminate by breed, against wildness or pedigree, and to be clear: it persists due to a desire for horse meat to be consumed overseas.  Not because of a wild horse problem, not because of an overpopulation problem, not because of an “unwanted horse crisis” - it’s important to distinguish these are red herrings created by the well-funded opposition.  It is our duty to our equines - both wild and domestic, to pass legislation and ensure they do not get thrown away into the dark, and shipped across our borders to meet an unimaginable end they don’t deserve.  Listen to this conversation, and if you’re moved, please take action. 
The Wild Beauty Foundation is leading a national campaign to pass the SAFE Act, and you can find a myriad of resources and ways to help horses in moments at www.losthorses.org 
Thank you for being part of this journey, and for standing with the Lost Horses.

@wildbeautyspirit

#thelosthorses #SAFEAct #slaughter #dianelane #istandwithwildhorses by @ashleyavis

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a month ago

Today, we are honored to debut The Lost Horses: Anthem Film set to Billie Eilish’s Oscar-winning song “What Was I Made For?”

It tells the story of horses who served us, trusted us — and were forgotten.

Every year, tens of thousands of horses — Thoroughbreds, ex–show jumpers, discarded lesson ponies, wild horses, and even donkeys — are lost to the darkness of the export pipeline.

They are companions. Athletes. Therapy partners.
Lives who gave everything, only to be thrown away.

And in their final moments, one haunting question lingers:
What was I made for?

This powerful song carries that truth forward. Horses have been our partners for centuries — and no life deserves to be discarded.

Thank you, Billie, for sharing your compassion, grace, and artistry with The Lost Horses. Storytelling combined with advocacy has the extraordinary power to make lasting change in our world.

If this moved you, we ask you to join us in this movement. Raise your voice, share this film, and take action —
so no horse is ever lost again.

www.losthorses.org

. . .

“What Was I Made For?” [From the Motion Picture Barbie]
Performed by Billie Eilish
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

Directed by Ashley Avis for The Wild Beauty Foundation
@ashleyavis

#TheLostHorses #WhatWasIMadeFor #BillieEilish
#ProtectHorses HorseStories by @ashleyavis

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9 months ago

Very excited to release our new trailer for WILD BEAUTY: MUSTANG SPIRIT OF THE WEST! The powerful emotional responses that the film has elicited, and the reviews the film has received have been truly profound. We are so proud to keep going, and to keep fighting, for the preservation of our wild world.

I stand with wild horses.

“A Passionate Cry For the Mystery and the ‘Tonic of Wildness’”
- Joey Moser, Awards Daily

“Will take your breath away.”
- Bob Verini, Variety

“A masterpiece of investigative reporting.”
- Elizabeth McCall, Journalist

“Gorgeously shot and passionately directed, Avis provides enough first-hand evidence to infuriate you.”
- Awards Daily

“Groundbreaking”
- Off The Strip

“Daring and inspiring”
- Awards Daily

“May provoke a sense of awe… and outrage.”
- Matthew Carey, Deadline

“A clarion call to action for everyone who loves the freedom of the West, a must-see for all who want to restore and preserve the wild.”
— Delia G. Malone, Wildlife Chair, Colorado Sierra Club by @ashleyavis

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3 years ago

Today, history was made for the SAFE Act.

We have officially reached a record-breaking number of 239 supporters in the House, surpassing the previous figure of 238 in the 116th Congress. This is historic support for finally ending the shipping of American horses across our borders to unimaginable slaughter.

WBF launched the Lost Horses campaign with one purpose: to throw everything we had at raising awareness about the brutal reality of what is happening to our equines, create a national firestorm, and lobby Congress to make lasting change.

With your voices behind us, we have worked tirelessly alongside our incredible coalition of partners to reach this astonishing moment.

We can see the finish line, but we are not yet over it.

Please, keep up the pressure, right now. Celebrate by making a call, sending a letter in moments at www.losthorses.org —> Take Action, and sharing a Lost Horses PSA to social media.

These final months of 2026 will be critical as we continue working to advance protections through the House transportation bill.

Also, please take a moment of solace and joy. These issues are difficult, and not without their darkness. It’s important to celebrate and embrace moments of light and victory... and today, September 29th, is most certainly one of those.

Thank you for being part of this journey, and for standing with the Lost Horses.

- Ashley Avis & Team WBF

#thelosthorses #IStandWithWildHorses #passthesafeact #stophorseslaughter by @ashleyavis

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One of the strongest women I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. This is Kiki Sjoberg, an extraordinary artist, photographer, and advocate for the wild.

This summer, our crew followed Kiki into the Snowy Mountains, hiking through frozen brush and riding horses through ancient eucalyptus trees, to capture the profound beauty, as well as the tragedy, currently befalling the brumbies in Australia.

Kiki has seen and shouldered more than a person ever should, documenting the aftermath of the cull and standing beside these horses with courage and grace. I am deeply fortunate to know her, and call her my friend.

A still from our upcoming film, of @brumby_strong

#brumbystrong #australianbrumbies #stopthecull by @ashleyavis

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Compassion knows no borders. #brumbystrong by @ashleyavis

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14 days ago

Brumbies at sunset. Australia, 2026. #brumbystrong by @ashleyavis

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15 days ago

This summer, we traveled to Australia - after an unexpected call to help the brumbies prompted us to fly from Los Angeles to Sydney within thirty-six hours.

It was a profound journey that ignited every possible emotional facet, from joy to great sorrow, confusion to unimaginable fury. How could a government anywhere in the modern world possibly authorize the violent massacre of wild horses, in a sealed-off national park, with no accountability and fallacious science, and call it “humane”?

As filmmakers, my husband and I are working on several beautiful narrative films in the conservation space, from the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone to an elephant project set against the ivory trade in Tanzania. I am honored to have a platform to help a variety of species through cinema and storytelling, though horses have always had a special place in my heart.

Today we release the first images of what has become a passion project, a documentary we are crafting through our nonprofit The Wild Beauty Foundation; because the world needs to know what is going on, and compassion knows no borders.

These are stills from “Trip One.”

#brumbystrong #brumbies #stopthecull #australianbrumbies taken in Kosciuszko National Park by @ashleyavis

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16 days ago

Such a lovely trip to Bermuda with my family.

Between leaping off a cliff into the cerulean sea, exploring the cobblestoned streets of St. George with all their history and textures, visiting @lilibermuda where my mother got me my first perfume as a little girl, spending time with our nieces and nephews, and begging the ever-patient singer at the piano bar to play “Rock Lobster.”

There’s symbolism there, I promise.

Bermuda, you are lovely. @emwin3 taken in St. George's, Bermuda by @ashleyavis

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17 days ago

Ed: “This ThriftBooks place is going to be a problem.”

:) by @ashleyavis

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a month ago

When you’re about to start chapter twenty-five… but a small paw on your keyboard, a soggy elephant on your foot, and ultimately, your love for a little Whiskey becomes a distraction… by @ashleyavis

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Our wild world seems to be crying out. On the heels of our federally protected wild horses being sent to slaughter, an executive order was just signed - which could eradicate gray wolves, and endangered Mexican gray wolves, from the landscape.

For far too long, wolves, wild horses, and other crucial wild species have been scapegoated, driven to extermination by the hunger of special interests. We’ve been there, we’ve seen it; we’ve been documenting these atrocities for years to cast a light, to show the uncorrupted truth.

The march toward destruction of a keystone species like the wolf is unthinkable: to satisfy the insatiable demands and misinformed mythology of the livestock industry poses a dangerous threat to our country, and our greater wild world.

We are living in a time that feels almost impossible - but we must come together, all of us, and fight. To recognize we are not one thread, but simply part of an extraordinary tapestry, a place that we’re deeply fortunate to call home. A place that has spent approximately 4.5 billion years, give or take a few million, thoughtfully evolving.

How arrogant can we be, a comparatively infantile and arguably ignorant species as the human race, to think that we can simply gun down, or poison, or bomb, or torture, or remove a creature so crucial to our ecosystem - so that we might instead dump millions of domestic cattle and sheep in their wild stead.

We cannot lose the wolf, as much as we cannot lose the wild horse, or the grizzly, or the bison.

Call your Members of Congress, and respectfully ask to them to defend the Endangered Species Act - for protections of wolves and wildlife.

We must cry for the wild, before it’s too late.

#graywolves #wolfdelisting #cryforthewild #protectwolves #EndangeredSpeciesAct taken in Wolf Connection by @ashleyavis

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