NYC Film Debut: ‘30,000 Monkeys in Our Backyard,’ From Executive Producer James Cromwell

For Immediate Release:
October 21, 2025

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

An unknown, well-funded corporation misleadingly named Safer Human Medicine came to a small Georgia town and worked a secretive deal with local politicians to build a massive primate import warehouse that would profit from selling monkeys to laboratories. When the residents found out, they joined with PETA and fought back—so far, they’ve succeeded.

That’s the story behind the new documentary 30,000 Monkeys in Our Backyard, executive produced by Emmy award-winning actor and PETA honorary board member James Cromwell, who will attend the sold-out New York City premiere on October 21.

“When the animal experimentation industry decided to bring a monkey prison to a small town in Georgia, the local community stood up, said no, and worked with PETA to fight it,” says Cromwell. “30,000 Monkeys in Our Backyard tells an inspiring story that shows how great big change can happen with dedication, strategy, and a whole lot of kindness.”

Land use, environmental safety, animal cruelty, and quality of life concerns have transformed the citizens of Bainbridge, Ga., population of about 15,000, into activists. Alongside PETA, they have protested, attended town halls, placed graphic ads, and filed lawsuits. In short, they mean business.

The company intends to stock the facility with long-tailed macaques, an endangered species, imported from Southeast Asia, where monkey smuggling is common. After monkeys are sold to laboratories, they’re confined to barren cages and stripped of companionship and everything that makes life meaningful for a primate. They are force-fed chemicals, injected with experimental substances, infected with disease, and killed. Yet these experiments have failed to produce marketable vaccines, treatments, or cures for human disease. 

Animal advocacy organization Species Unite produced the documentary, which features interviews with several Bainbridge residents, and PETA Senior Science Advisor on Primate Experimentation Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, and PETA Associate Director of Primate Experimentation Campaigns Amy Meyer.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.