Thank you for your support of the film short, "Ever Faithful." A film in partnership with Ben Mares, Truce Media Collective, and MaxFund Animal Adoption Center. When donating, you will be asked if your donation is in memory of a dog, cat, other pet or loved human. If so, you can share their name, too. Also, please share this page on your social media with a picture of your loved pet or human.
We thank you for your kindness in support of this project.
Concept / Scriptwriter / Executive Producer
As a Petroleum Engineer, Ben had a long career in various independent oil and gas activities. Now retired, he invests in real estate property financing and development. Since the mid 90s most of his spare time has been in ex-Yugoslavia supporting humanitarian and social work via his NGO Refugee Direct Aid, making over 70 trips to Kosovo supporting recovery efforts. He initiated and funded several war documentaries and music videos by Kosovar producers, built the Kosovo Liberation Army National Memorial, and founded and ran the NGO South of Kosovo Dog and Cat Shelter, among other social work. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ben has visited there five times and aids refugees and left behind pets. He is a longtime supporter of MaxFund, Denver’s premiere No Kill animal shelter, and currently has six Kosovo street rescue dogs, three cats, and two rescue horses living on his 10 acre Colorado home. His dogs are featured in “Ever Faithful”. Ben’s only artistic passion is adapting/funding his favorite rock and roll music to unique storylines. “Ever Faithful” is his fifth short film.
Producer
An Emmy-Award-Winning documentary filmmaker and 4th generation Coloradan, Julie has produced and directed over 1000 documentaries across the US and abroad, including several Emmy Award-Winning shows for Public Television. She writes, directs and edits her work when time permits. She is the Creator & Showrunner for Rocky Mountain PBS’s “Colorado Experience” , currently in its 9th season. She was the CoFounder & Executive Director of Little Voice Productions, Inc. from 1999-2009 where she helped hundreds of nonprofits tell their story, as well as several government agencies and NGOs. Julie’s artistic side is also expressed through cooking, gardening, handstands and painting. Although she holds a degree in International Affairs & Economics, her passion is storytelling and she has several projects in development. She is the Chief Content Officer at Truce Media Collective and the President & Chief Creative Officer of Julie Speer Productions. Julie has had many dogs over the years, and is currently the mom of a 6 year old black German Shepherd, Aayla.
Director
Ben is a founding member of Truce Media Collective and award winning filmmaker. Growing up in the mountains of Colorado Ben spent most of his time creating Lego animations on VHS. Graduating from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Directing and Cinematography 2013 Ben has been on-set in a vast array of roles on thousands of films; his filmmaking prowess progressed, but he has not lost his childish creativity and DIY sensibilities. A Producer, Director and Editor, Ben can guide any project along the entire process. Most recently Directing a Documentary for the St. Jude Brad Wallin Memorial Baseball Tournament raising over $1,000,000 for childhood cancer, Co-Directing Best Dark Comedy (LA Independent Film Fest) “Call it a front” and currently Directing a digital series “Hot Set” coming soon. Finnley (8yrs Maltise-Shitsu) has been Ben’s best friend and co-collaborator, even starring in a film “Spike” screening at more festivals than any former of their project’s combined. NYC, London, Austin, Denver and winning Audience Choice Award in Colorado Springs
The Production Company
Truce Media Collective is a member-owned movie and TV studio, committed to building the Film and TV production industry in Colorado. Truce is a Limited Cooperative Association (LCA) who believes “we are stronger together” and practices “fair-trade filmmaking” , ensuring members, clients and community members flourish through inspired storytelling.