Mission: Possible – A Story of Coexistence Instead of Control

A short documentary telling the story of a sanctuary for both wolves and humans that is working to create a future generation that values wilderness and wildlife.

Key Points

Wolves represent the wild parts of our world that have become more and more rare. They have become a symbol of what we cannot control, a symbol that inspires awe in some and fear in others.

We are increasingly disconnected from nature in our modern society. To fill this void, we search for ways to bring wildness into our lives in the way we know how: buying a piece of it.

The unfortunate victim of this situation is the wolfdog – an animal caught between the wild and the domestic. People are attracted to wolfdogs as pets, unaware of the huge commitment that they demand.

Mission: Wolf believes that the key is education, creating a future generation that values wilderness and wildlife and has the empathy and compassion that is required to make the transition from seeking control over nature to living in coexistence with it. 


Official Teaser Trailer

Key Message/Interview Clips

Project Images


Quotes

“Wolves will always inspire an emotional response, whether people absolutely love them, or generally the other side hates them. They’re either this mystical symbol of nature and strength, or they’re the keepers of the gates of hell.”

Mike Gaarde

“We connect on that wild level. It brings us back to a time when we were true, living on the earth, and free of all the restrictions we put on ourselves. The wolf brings out that innate connection we have to nature, that we don’t experience anywhere else.”

Tracy Ane Brooks

“A lot of people are very closed off to the idea of wolves, and mainly it’s because they don’t understand them. We’ve learned that it’s human nature that what we don’t understand we try to control, and what we can’t control we’ll destroy. The human population almost completely destroyed the wolf population in the lower 48 just because we didn’t understand them.”

Mike Gaarde

“You don’t put wildlife in a cage. You don’t touch wildlife. Wildlife is wild and free, and when you try to control it you destroy it.”

Kent Weber

“People react in fear. We destroy what we’re afraid of. By allowing people to come to grip with their fear, they find a sense of empathy and compassion for nature.”

Kent Weber

“We’re taught these days if you love something, go buy it. People love nature, feel detached from nature, and the closest they can get to nature is to go buy a piece of it, to buy a wolfdog.”

Mike Gaarde

“We get calls twice a week from people wanting us to take in their wolf or wolfdog.”

Mike Gaarde

“A lot of wolfdog owners begin very well intentioned. They love their animal. It’s quite tragic.”

Moira Schein

“They’re not wolves, and they’re not dogs. They’re just an entity of their own.”

Moira Schein

“The solution is through education. That’s why we say Education vs. Extinction.”

Kent Weber

“You can’t save the world, but we picked a couple animals and said, ‘okay, we’re gonna help you’ and they helped us.”

Kent Weber

“How do you help wolves? What’s the best way to help nature? One thing: changing human behavior.”

Kent Weber

Synopsis

Mission: Possible is a film project telling the story of Mission: Wolf, a sanctuary for wolves, and often humans as well, hidden in the mountains of Colorado. Created as a means to escape from the corruption and competition of the corporate world, they are living simply and sustainably while working to create a better future for both wolves and humans.

The founders may have gone into the mountains to escape the outside world, but by choosing to care for wolves, one of the most controversial animals in the world, they stepped into a much larger battle. 

Wolves have always been polarizing—feared and misunderstood by some, revered by others for their beauty and connection to the wild. Mission: Wolf found themselves in the middle of the debate over humans’ relationship with nature and their desire for control.

That fight extended beyond wolves to include wolfdogs—animals caught in the politics between the worlds of wilderness and civilization. As the sanctuary grew, they began receiving calls every week from people asking them to take their wolf dogs. 

Their mission quickly expanded from caring for wolves to addressing the broader issue of human behavior—our need to control what we fear, and our desire to own the very things we claim to love without understanding their true nature.

For many, wolves represent the untamed beauty of nature—a symbol of wildness and freedom that draws us in. People feel increasingly disconnected from nature in modern life, leaving them searching for ways to bring the wildness they love into their everyday lives. Owning a wolfdog, for some, feels like a way to bridge that gap, a way to bring a piece of the wild into their lives and feel closer to nature. 

Many people are drawn to their beauty and, out of admiration, feel an instinct to own them. Their intentions may be good, but wildness is not meant to be controlled, and rather than respecting it and learning from it, people are often motivated by ego to continue fighting to tame it. 

Our relationship with wolves in the wild is connected to our relationship with nature as a whole.

Wolves, as a symbol of untamed wilderness, represent something we can’t understand. Humans have historically tried to control what we don’t understand, and when we fail to do so, we destroy it.

This is exactly what we did with wolves in the 1900s. Unable to control their wildness, we hunted them to near extinction, eradicating them from vast parts of North America.

Today, the controversy over wolves continues, rooted in fear, misunderstanding, and the desire to control what is wild.

It’s our duty to make sure that history does not repeat itself and the remaining wildness is allowed to remain. 

At Mission: Wolf, they believe that education is the key to breaking this destructive cycle. They teach us that our relationship with wolves is not about control but about coexistence—about learning to respect the wildness within wolves and, by extension, the natural world.

They teach that the most important thing we can do for wolves is to create a new generation with empathy and compassion for nature.

If we can shift from a mindset of control to one of coexistence, we can protect wolves and preserve the wilderness that we all love.

They are working toward this vision every day, educating visitors from around the world and traveling throughout the country to help the wolves spread their message.


The Team

Filmmaker/Director: Eureka Docs

Eureka Docs is an all-in-one production company that works with award-winning filmmakers to create stories through documentary and branded content. By crafting content that provokes thought, we strive to simplify complex subjects to spark curiosity. Our stories are driven by the desire to explore and follow wherever that may take us.

Company Website

https://www.eurekadocs.com

Company Logo

https://coexistencenarrative.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/E-3-1024×576.png

Team Leader: Tristan Owen

Growing up next to 220, 803 acres of wilderness, Colorado native, Tristan Owen began his filmmaking journey by photographing the Colorado vistas. His early connection to America’s public land has driven him to find stories that help reconnect the public to the natural environment. Through Eureka Docs Tristan continues to develop content and build a team that aligns with this mission.

Producer/Collaborator: Coexistence Narrative

Coexistence Narrative is an experiment to test the idea that a business can be used to change the world. It is a content creation company that strives to control the narrative around wolves and wolfdogs to educate, advocate, and inspire action.

Company Website

https://coexistencenarrative.com/

Company Logo

https://coexistencenarrative.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/cropped-Untitled-design-2.png

Team Leader: Aaron Williams

A life of outdoor adventure instilled a great value for nature and a passion for protecting it in Aaron from a young age. An education in business gave him the tools to make that happen. He believes that business and media are two of the most influential forces in the world and can be used to do a lot of good. He plans to do his part.

Subject: Mission: Wolf

Mission: Wolf is a solar-powered nature center that provides a sanctuary for unwanted captive-born wolves and horses. We offer experiential education to inspire the public to become stewards of the earth. Since 1988 we have provided lifelong care for over 125 wolves, facilitated experiential wolf education with over 1 million people, and preserved 350 acres of pristine subalpine habitat. Our community of volunteers from around the world invites you to visit us.

Organization Website

https://missionwolf.org

Organization Logo

https://coexistencenarrative.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Raven_Logo_4.16.17_Revised_w-eye-996×1024.webp

Team Members:

Kent Weber – Director and Co-founder

Kent has spent the past three decades as an experiential educator working to provide a home for rescued animals. His patience and skill as a teacher have benefited thousands of volunteers and visitors over the years. He is the main spokesperson for the traveling and on-site Ambassador Wolf programs, and has inspired compassion and understanding in countless visitors.

Tracy Ane Brooks – Co-founder

With over two decades of experience working with wolves and horses, Tracy understands animal behavior and has developed gentle handling techniques that are truly her own.

Mike Gaarde – Refuge Director

Mike is a lifelong wolf enthusiast, dedicated to the idea of running a wolf sanctuary since he was 5 years old. He came to Mission: Wolf in July 2013 as a short-term volunteer determined to learn. Eventually, Mike’s intended 2 week stay turned into 6 months, then to 2 years, then to indefinitely. Now a decade later Mike has worked as a core staff member in every aspect of Mission: Wolf and has dedicated his future to the refuge.

Moira Schein – Animal Caretaker

Moira arrived at Mission: Wolf in summer 2023, elated to return to her home state of Colorado. Moira graduated from the University of California Berkeley in 2021 with a degree in biology, and decided to pursue her passion for wolves. This led her to work with the California Wolf Center, learning about wild wolf biology and captive wolf husbandry. Over the past 5 years Moira has also cared for her own two Wolfdogs, Faelen and Maeve, and created her organization “Running with Wolfdogs” to offer public education and wolf programs.


Contact Info

Project Producer – Aaron Williams

Email – williamsa02w@gmail.com

Phone Number – (727) 207-0161

Campaign Link

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2135593781/mission-possible-a-short-documentary