Who We Are
Speak Human Productions is a documentary and creative production company founded by mother–daughter collaborators Demetrëa Dewald and Rebekah Dewald.
Speak Human is grounded in conversation, listening, and care. Our work grows out of long-term relationships with artists, activists, families, and communities, and is shaped by a belief that storytelling is not just about capturing images, but about being in relationship with people, with history, and with each other.
We create documentary, experimental, and archival-driven projects that engage with culture, memory, and social life. Our films often sit at the intersection of art and activism, centering voices that have historically been marginalized or misunderstood, and exploring how creativity becomes a tool for survival, resistance, and connection.
As a mother–daughter team, our collaboration is rooted in trust, debate, humor, and shared ethics. Working across generations informs how we approach storytelling, allowing space for contradiction, intimacy, and complexity, and resisting simple narratives in favor of lived experience.
Speak Human is both a production company and a practice: a commitment to telling stories with rigor, warmth, and accountability.
Our Team
Demetrëa Dewald is a Los Angeles–based filmmaker and director whose work explores the human condition through a queer lens. Her films move between documentary, experimental cinema, and installation, often engaging questions of identity, memory, and authorship while resisting fixed narrative frameworks.
Through Speak Human Productions, Demetrëa has co-created feature films including Let the Record Show and External Living, as well as video installations such as Who Loves You?, Is, and The (Red) Ribbon Project. Her work has screened internationally at festivals, museums, and universities, and she is particularly known for projects that bridge artistic practice with historical and cultural inquiry.
Demetrëa has received multiple grants and honors for her work, including support from the Art Matters Foundation and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Her editorial work on Full-Tilt Boogie received Best Editing awards at the LA Crime & Horror Film Festival, Marina del Rey Film Festival, and the Dona Paula International Film Festival (Critics Award for Editing).
In addition to her independent film work, Demetrëa has directed numerous performance and portrait films for classical pianist and composer Gerry Bryant, collaborating with him on an ongoing body of work documenting underrecognized Black classical composers and contemporary performance practice.
Demetrëa has also contributed to the broader filmmaking community as a panelist at SWAMP (Southwest Alternate Media Project) and as a jury member for Q-Fest: Houston’s International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, and has mentored emerging filmmakers through programs such as The Different Women Network.
Rebekah Dewald is a multidisciplinary filmmaker, director, and producer whose work centers underrepresented voices and explores the intersections of art, politics, and the human experience. Prior to working in film, she was a mixed-media painter and photographer; her illustrations were published by HarperCollins in She Who Dwells Within: A Feminist Vision of a Renewed Judaism.
As a queer filmmaker, Rebekah has created a wide range of films, installations, and video works that challenge dominant narratives and foreground intimacy, memory, and lived experience. Through Speak Human Productions, she has co-created feature films including LET THE RECORD SHOW, as well as commissioned video installations such as Who Loves You?, Is, and The Story of the (Red) Ribbon Project.
Rebekah’s work has been presented throughout the United States and Europe, with installations commissioned by galleries and cultural institutions in New York and Los Angeles, including La MaMa Galleria and Future Tongue. Her award-winning feature documentary Let the Record Show has screened at museums and festivals including Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center and the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, and continues to be used as an educational resource at universities in the U.S. and the U.K.
In addition to her filmmaking practice, Rebekah is a trained expressive arts therapist who has worked with diverse populations. This background deeply informs her approach to interviewing and collaboration, allowing her to engage subjects with exceptional sensitivity, presence, and trust—particularly when navigating stories shaped by trauma, grief, and resilience.
Ben Meredith is an award winning cinematographer, director and creative producer with 15+ years in the entertainment industry. In the branded content space, he has worked with such brands as Apple TV, HBO, Call of Duty, Panasonic, adidas, Universal, Hormel Foods, and more. As a freelance creative he has shot three feature films, numerous commercials, award winning short films and music videos.
Ben strives to help others through his lens, and tell stories that matter to people who need to hear them most.
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Working as a filmmaker since 2012, Kyle has completed over 200 short films and several feature projects as a cinematographer and co-director. Since shifting his focus to documentary filmmaking in 2019, Kyle honed his ability to ask questions from behind the camera and shape stories in real time while working on a documentary with former UFC Champion Ronda Rousey. He has now directed his first feature documentary, Za Za Land. Driven by a deep love of food documentaries, Kyle set out to tell the story of Los Angeles through a dish the city is rarely known for—pizza.
Kiersten Timpe is an award-winning entertainment marketing leader with 15+ years of experience leading 360° launch campaigns across film and television. Throughout her career, she has launched more than 40 titles for Prime Video, Showtime, Warner Bros., and Roadside Attractions. She has been a voting member of the Television Academy since 2019 and was honored early in her career a Cannes Young Lions U.S. Media Award winner.
The Speak Human logo was created by animator and artist Emily Hubley, whose work is known for its emotional honesty, humor, and hand-drawn intimacy.
We knew we only wanted to collaborate with Emily on our branding because her artist-driven practice aligns deeply with our approach to storytelling. The logo reflects our belief in process over polish, and in design as an extension of voice rather than branding.
Our Practice
We believe how a story is made matters as much as what is made.
Our approach is grounded in:
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Long-term collaboration rather than short-term access
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Careful and respectful use of archival material
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Transparency with participants and partners
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Sensitivity to trauma, grief, and memory
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Community engagement and accountability
Many of our projects unfold over years, allowing trust to develop and stories to reveal themselves organically. We see filmmaking as a shared process—one that requires listening, patience, and a willingness to sit with uncertainty.
A mother–daughter production company built on listening.
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Collaboration
Tell Us Your Story
Speak Human Productions collaborates with artists, organizations, and institutions who believe in documentary as a tool for connection, inquiry, and cultural impact.
Alongside our independent film projects, we partner on commissioned and collaborative documentary work — including short-form films, artist portraits, archival storytelling, and project-driven documentaries created for organizations, cultural institutions, and mission-aligned brands.
If you’re interested in working with a team that approaches documentary with care, rigor, and creative depth, we’d love to start a conversation.