From the press
“This is our story, and it should be mandatory viewing.”
Laila Aziz, Pillars San Diego
“We are what you’d call a paramilitary operation.”
Capt. Pat Macdonald, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department
Movie trailer
About The Filmmakers
David Kuhn
Director / Producer
David has extensive experience in documentary film production, television, journalism, photography and law. He recently directed and produced two doc features: Unbanked (2025), on the power of Bitcoin to allow you to be your own bank, and California Story (2026), on the discriminatory practice of gang documentation in California. He produced Devil Put The Coal In The Ground on struggles in West Virginia based on coal abuse and drug addiction (2022), Life After Hate: Battle for the Soul of a Nation which examines the root causes that foster xenophobia among the radicalized Alt Right (DOC NYC, Big Sky, 2019), and Give or Take a feature on one man’s journey to accept his father and change his life (2019), The King (2018) on the life of Elvis Presley as a metaphor for the rise and fall of the American empire, The House I Live In on mass incarceration in America (2012), and a short film in Cuba The Cyclist (Una Cyclista) for “The New Yorker Presents...” series on Amazon (2016). Previously, David has served as legal counsel and/or producer for
documentaries such as: Denial (2016), (T)error (2015), Requiem for the American Dream (2015), Beyond the Boardroom (2006), and Capturing the Friedmans (2003, Academy Award nominated). In prior work, he was a public defender litigating in Manhattan criminal courts for nearly a decade, embedded with US troops in northern Afghanistan, and was published in Vogue, The New York Times, The Huffington Post and other publications for writing and photography. His films have appeared at Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival and many others. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2019 for his work in film and music and is a voting member of the Recording Academy. David has served as a judge for the national Documentary Emmy® Awards for The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the past 5 years in a row. He lives in Brooklyn with his son Bodhi.
Khalid Alexander
Executive Producer
Khalid Alexander comes from a long line of family members who have fought for social justice and a better world. He pursued an M.A. in comparative literature at San Diego State University and later became a Fulbright scholar in Damascus, Syria. He is the president and founder of Pillars of the Community, a community organization that works with those targeted by law enforcement for accountability and systemic change. In 2015, Khalid founded the “Reclaiming Our Stories” collective which published its third volume of narrative essays written byindividuals from impacted neighborhoods in 2021. In addition to his work at Pillars, he is a full time English professor at San Diego City College where he chairs the annual “Social Justice and Education Conference.”
Currently, Pillars of the Community is focused on challenging racist gang laws that target Black and Brown residents.
Director's notes
From David Kuhn
It was 2019 when we had our first shoot in San Diego, and we all know what happened next. Just about all of 2020 was lost to the coronavirus pandemic, but by 2021 we were back at it. We filmed again in San Diego with Pastor Sandoval on the east side, and I realized the story is broader
than one city. Soon I was driving up the coast (which is why Big Sur and her beautiful coastline make a cameo), heading for Los Angeles and San Franciso. This is the story of California, and that became the film title.
Principal photography was interrupted by outside events, and production was paused into 2023, and again until 2024. I was able to cover story lines in three major California cities over that time, and then it was off to the edit room with Daniel Fetherston to bring home the film. We did post in NYC and Andrew McLain was the uber-great post supervisor that saw us through to the end.
Production arose out of a prior film I produced, “The House I Live In” on mass incarceration in America (dir. Eugene Jarecki). We incarcerate 2 million (mostly black) men in the USA, which is more than any other country per capita.
I was screening that film in San Diego for local law enforcement, who to their credit showed great interest and were welcoming. I soon met Khalid Alexander, the most committed long-distance runner for social justice I have ever encountered. A fast friendship arose out of our common interest and his commitment to advancing the people of San Diego living in the Southeast part of town. Khalid became an Executive Producer on this film.
Contacts
Sales contact (domestic & foreign):
Alex Nohe
alex@bloodsweathoney.com
323–481–0120
PR contact:
David Kuhn
davidkuhn@llc.com
917–601–7155