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Hi, I'm Jared!
I’m what you might call a “creative suit”—a writer/director/producer type with a deep appreciation for cascading formulas in spreadsheets and parsimonious drafting in contracts. For the past seven years, I’ve been making documentaries (including Emmy-winning Sundance premiere QUIET HEROES) and developing scripted content, with our first narrative feature going into production next year. Before that, I was collecting degrees at the University of San Diego and the University of Utah, where I made the ill-advised-but-ultimately-survivable choice to pursue law school, business school, and film school simultaneously. I’m a community-builder (co-founder of the Impact Guild), democracy-lover (on the board of Lightspark Foundation), and amateur mixologist (who’s created over 60 signature cocktails for private events). In high school, I played both Prince Charming and the Elephant Man, demonstrating paradoxical range that some surmise still haunts my dating life today. Other current memberships include NEXUS Global Impact Society, TED, Human Gathering, the Television Academy, and Film Independent Arts Circle. When I’m not producing a shoot, organizing a conference, or deciding whether my color-coded closet is worth the upkeep (it is), I can be found ghostbusting in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery down the street from my house.
About
Projects
Current Projects
KRISTEN + MAGGIE (in development)
Director/Producer/Executive Producer
This biopic explores the work by Dr. Kristen Ries and Maggie Snyder, PA-C — along with the Sisters of the Holy Cross — to establish and maintain the only HIV/AIDS clinic in Utah at the height of the crisis in the ‘80s and ‘90s. While juggling the relentless demands of a full-service medical practice, struggling with their own exhaustion and PTSD, and smuggling life-saving drugs for patients who couldn’t afford them, Kristen and Maggie created a refuge for those modern-day lepers in conservative, Mormon Utah — while still finding time to fall for each other.
INFLECTION (in production)
Co-Host/Executive Producer/Producer
A conversational interview podcast hosted by Jared Ruga and Kristy Johnson, Inflection is stand-up-comedy-meets-armchair-therapy in its most tantalizing and unfiltered form, where guests explore the fallout from the most consequential pivot points of their lives. By way of witty (and often racy) banter and thoughtful questions, Jared and Kristy spur guests’ deep reflection on the moments that changed who they are, making space to unpack the anxiety, surprises, and breakthroughs that come with pondering the past. Ultimately, Inflection aims to inspire its audience with stories of hope, resilience, and grit — with a good dash of humor — to illustrate how these make-or-break moments define the depths of our humanity.
SHINING CITY (in development)
Co-Creator/Co-Writer
Jensen Poplar — an eccentric, self-made billionaire with an infamous past — aims to create the urban center of the future: a sovereign city-state with a novel framework for governance. “Poplar Grove” radically disrupts the foundations of our current civilization: it’s designed with sustainable technology; it’s built with a currency-free social economy; and its population is diverse and compassionate. It could be a Utopian paradise, but powerful players (including a ruthless oil tycoon and shadowy CIA operatives) will do everything possible to sabotage the project, all while Jensen’s own quest for power threatens to derail his chance to save the world.
SHELTER (in production)
Co-Director/Producer/Executive Producer
Through the myriad perspectives of activists, politicians, NIMBYs and the unhoused themselves, the docuseries SHELTER takes an intimate, in-depth look at the homelessness crisis. Salt Lake City is a perfect microcosm of the challenges encountered by nearly every city in America. With a burgeoning unhoused population, and limited resources, patience and political will, the city’s current homeless crisis threatens to become an outright catastrophe. Our cameras follow all the stakeholders – inside the tents of the encampments as well as the walls of the Capitol – as they desperately search for solutions before Salt Lake City becomes the next Portland or L.A. With empathy and insight, SHELTER takes a deep-dive into the seldom-seen world of the unhoused and the inner workings of the many organizations trying to help them. And ultimately, we uncover a ray of hope: innovative ideas that might finally help solve one of our nation’s most intractable social problems.
BAREFOOT BOY (in production)
Co-Director/Producer/Executive Producer
Bill Evans is a Utah dance legend, born in small, conservative Lehi in the 1940s. After a successful run as a performer, Bill went on to form his own company — the Bill Evans Dance Company (BEDCO) — which became one of the most booked and critically acclaimed dance companies in the 1980s. Through his acclaimed career, Bill faced myriad obstacles as he struggled to reconcile his queer identity with his family’s Mormon faith. Bill had a wife, daughter, and a military career before coming out. All the while dance was Bill’s escape and outlet, a pathway to embracing his identity and connecting with the world around him. In 2022, 82-year-old Bill reconstructed several past dance pieces in Salt Lake City for what he thinks will be his final performance. BAREFOOT BOY follows this contemporary arc in parallel with a retrospective look at Bill’s life and career. In the process, we dive into a story about art, aging, perseverance, culture, love, and — ultimately — humanity.
LIGHT HOUSES (in production)
Co-Director/Producer/Executive Producer
Synopsis coming soon...
Selected Filmography
BEFORE YOU KNOW IT (2019)
Co-Executive Producer
In 1993 New York City, dysfunctional co-dependent sisters discover that the mother they thought had died when they were young is alive and starring on a popular daytime soap opera. Starring Hannah Utt, Jen Tullock, Judith Light, Mike Colter, Mandy Patinkin, and Alec Baldwin. It was screened in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
NO CRIME IN SIN (2019)
Executive Producer/Producer
NO CRIME IN SIN is a short documentary about confronting a traumatic past and reclaiming the future. Kristy and Kathy Johnson were sexually abused by their father over the course of decades. Because the Johnsons were active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church), clergy knew about this recurring abuse, did nothing to stop it, and ended up putting countless other children at risk as a result. NO CRIME IN SIN premiered in Salt Lake City in 2019 and received extensive press coverage, along with an earlier cut of the film (called GLASS TEMPLES). It is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video or Vimeo. Learn more at www.nocrimeinsin.com.
THE DEVIL WE KNOW (2018)
Co-Executive Producer
The Devil We Know is a 2018 investigative documentary film by director Stephanie Soechtig regarding allegations of health hazards from perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, also known as C8), a key ingredient used in manufacturing Teflon, and DuPont's potential responsibility. PFAS are commonly found in every household, and in products as diverse as non-stick cookware, stain resistant furniture and carpets, wrinkle free and water repellant clothing, cosmetics, lubricants, paint, pizza boxes, popcorn bags, and many other everyday products.
QUIET HEROES (2018)
Director/Executive Producer/Producer
In Salt Lake City, Utah, the Mormon Church’s influence severely complicated the AIDS crisis, where patients received no support from — or were cast into exile by — the political, religious, and medical communities. Further, Mormon culture encouraged gay men to marry women and have a family to cure themselves of their “affliction,” counsel which led to secret affairs and accidental marital transmissions of HIV. In the entire state and intermountain region there was only one doctor to serve all HIV/AIDS patients. This is the story of her fight to save the lives of a maligned population everyone else seemed willing to just let die. It is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, or for purchase on iTunes and DVD. Learn more at www.quietheroes.net.
DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON (2017)
Associate Producer
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson is a 2017 American documentary film directed by David France. It chronicles Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, prominent figures in gay liberation and transgender rights movement in New York City from the 1960s to the 1990s and co-founders of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. The film centers on activist Victoria Cruz's investigation into Johnson's death in 1992, which was initially ruled a suicide by police despite suspicious circumstances.
Filmography
COMMUNITY
Impact Guild (2019- )
Co-Founder (2019- )
Board Member (2021- )
Chair, Programming Committee (2021- )
Co-Chair, Board of Directors (2022- )
The Impact Guild is a professional network for people who create, use, or distribute media, arts, or entertainment for social good or healthy democracy. Our mission is to connect, support and activate our members and their work to address the toughest issues facing our field and the world at large. The Impact Guild consists of 19 Peer Groups, each representing specific fields of impact expertise in the media, arts, and entertainment industry and each establishing criteria for membership in their group. Members include hundreds of media executives, independent content creators, academics, artists, campaigners, strategists, funders, influencers and others who share common set of values and promote them through their work. Learn more at www.impact-guild.org
Lightspark Foundation (2016- )
Co-Founder & Board Member (2016- )
Chair, Lightspark Media Summit (2016-2018)
The Lightspark Foundation (est. 2016) is a 501(c)(3) private foundation dedicated to improving social equity and environmental sustainability in Utah and strengthening democracy in the United States. Our grants focus on organizations doing meaningful work with tangible results that directly improve outcomes in their communities. Before Lightspark narrowed its focus to efforts that improve Utah and strengthen democracy, the Foundation supported various startup initiatives like the Lightspark Media Summit in 2017 and 2018, the Impact Guild in 2019 and, in 2020—in response to the COVID-19 pandemic—the Nourish to Flourish Initiative. In 2022 and beyond, the majority of Lightspark’s activities have transitioned to grantmaking in our core areas of focus.
Community Engagement
University of San Diego (2020- )
Advisory Board Member, College of Arts and Sciences (2020- )
Adjunct Professor, Communication Studies (2020- )
The University of San Diego is a top-100 private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California with colleges in the Arts and Sciences, Business, Engineering, Law, Leadership and Education Sciences, Nursing and Health Sciences, and Peace Studies. The College of Arts and Sciences, founded along with the University in 1949, features 28 majors and 35 minors, four graduate programs, 20 departments, 225 full-time faculty, and 19 honor and professional societies. Led by Dean Noelle Norton, PhD, the College offers one-on-one faculty mentoring, practical experience, and global research opportunities for students in the arts, humanities and social sciences to help prepare graduates for a meaningful career and a purposeful life. Learn more at www.sandiego.edu/cas.
Contact
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