Film
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After a late-night police ride-along in Watts, an outsider witnesses a version of Watts that never makes the news.
Searching for a way to understand what he had seen, he poses a simple question: what would happen if the people living the story told it themselves?
Twenty residents—rival gang members, police officers, students, parents, and victims of violence—are given iPhones and full control over their narratives.
There is no script.
No central storyteller.
No outside voice shaping the story.
Instead, the participants film their lives—raw, unfiltered, and on their own terms.
But the process takes an unexpected turn in the editing room.
Forced to sit together and watch each other’s lives, people with every reason to distrust one another must decide how their community will be seen—and whether they can agree on a shared version of the truth.
As personal histories collide, long-held assumptions begin to break down.
What emerges is not consensus, but recognition.
And when the filmmakers choose to screen the film for active gang leaders—many of them lifelong rivals—the project takes on real-world stakes.
What began as an attempt to understand a community becomes something far more uncertain—and far more consequential.
Nothing to See Here: Watts is a film created by the community—not about it—revealing what becomes possible when people see their enemies differently.
Executive Producers
CEO, The King Center.
Michael Soenen
Producer
Todd Lieberman
Producer
Suzanne Malveaux
Producer
Lawanda Hawkins
Key Cast
Sean Reynolds
Key Cast
Tim Pearce
Key Cast
Kristina Ripatti
Key Cast
Meryland Gonzalez
Key Cast
Erik Loomis
Key Cast
Cornelius Wills
Key Cast
Neci McKinney
Key Cast
Emily Avalos
Key Cast
Tyrone Riley
Key Cast
Celeste Garnica
Key Cast
Iris Romero
Key Cast
Jaime Gregory
Key Cast
Pastor Jose Hernandez
Key Cast
Stix Salaam-Bailey
Music Producers - Score and Soundtrack
Savalas Holloway
Music Producers - Score and Soundtrack
Chris Brown
Soundtrack Artists
Jhené Aiko
Soundtrack Artists
Kenyon Dixon
Soundtrack Artists
Jay Rock
Soundtrack Artists
Leon Thomas
Soundtrack Artists
Michael Soenen
Director
Nothing to See Here: Watts
| Nothing to See Here: Watts | |
| Documentary Feature Films | |
| communal grief, death, grief, loss, community, gun violence, riots, gangs | |
| 90 minutes | |
| United States | |
| 2026 | |
| English |
Synopsis:
Sixty years after the 1965 Watts uprising, the neighborhood America wrote off has shown us what is still possible.After a late-night police ride-along in Watts, an outsider witnesses a version of Watts that never makes the news.
Searching for a way to understand what he had seen, he poses a simple question: what would happen if the people living the story told it themselves?
Twenty residents—rival gang members, police officers, students, parents, and victims of violence—are given iPhones and full control over their narratives.
There is no script.
No central storyteller.
No outside voice shaping the story.
Instead, the participants film their lives—raw, unfiltered, and on their own terms.
But the process takes an unexpected turn in the editing room.
Forced to sit together and watch each other’s lives, people with every reason to distrust one another must decide how their community will be seen—and whether they can agree on a shared version of the truth.
As personal histories collide, long-held assumptions begin to break down.
What emerges is not consensus, but recognition.
And when the filmmakers choose to screen the film for active gang leaders—many of them lifelong rivals—the project takes on real-world stakes.
What began as an attempt to understand a community becomes something far more uncertain—and far more consequential.
Nothing to See Here: Watts is a film created by the community—not about it—revealing what becomes possible when people see their enemies differently.
Credits:
Dr. Bernice A KingExecutive Producers
CEO, The King Center.
Michael Soenen
Producer
Todd Lieberman
Producer
Suzanne Malveaux
Producer
Lawanda Hawkins
Key Cast
Sean Reynolds
Key Cast
Tim Pearce
Key Cast
Kristina Ripatti
Key Cast
Meryland Gonzalez
Key Cast
Erik Loomis
Key Cast
Cornelius Wills
Key Cast
Neci McKinney
Key Cast
Emily Avalos
Key Cast
Tyrone Riley
Key Cast
Celeste Garnica
Key Cast
Iris Romero
Key Cast
Jaime Gregory
Key Cast
Pastor Jose Hernandez
Key Cast
Stix Salaam-Bailey
Music Producers - Score and Soundtrack
Savalas Holloway
Music Producers - Score and Soundtrack
Chris Brown
Soundtrack Artists
Jhené Aiko
Soundtrack Artists
Kenyon Dixon
Soundtrack Artists
Jay Rock
Soundtrack Artists
Leon Thomas
Soundtrack Artists
Michael Soenen
Director