CAN WE ALL GET ALONG?

THE SEGREGATION OF JOHN MUIR HIGH SCHOOL

LA Press Awards in Education Reporting-Broadcast and Race and Society-Broadcast. (2023)

Emmy Nomination

“This film was started on a shoestring and required two crowdfunding campaigns to be made. In the end, I will always see this as a community production and not mine alone.” 

Pablo Miralles at one of the many screenings of the documentary all over the U.S: 

About this Project

“Can We All Get Along?: The Segregation of John Muir High School” is a 57-minute documentary following filmmaker & Class of ’82 John Muir High Alumnus, Pablo Miralles, as he questions what has happened to his once diverse alma mater and whether or not to send his own son to the school today.

In the film, Miralles explores the complex history of Pasadena’s schools and the 1970 court order that created the first Federal desegregation plan outside of the south. Weaving stories from alumni, administrators, and civic leaders of John Muir High School’s multi-cultural community, Miralles illustrates the challenges and failures of California, and the United States, to promote well-funded and diverse public education.

Host a Screening

Part of a group that is interested in school integration? Are you an educator or administrator looking for a conversation starter about the state of public education? Are you a parent interested in creating a movement to integrate your local school?

Why don’t you host a screening?

For a nominal fee, the filmmaker maybe able to attend your screening to participate in a Q & A.
Please contact us by clicking on this email link pablo@arroyosecofilms.com.

Screenings can be either virtual or, with Covid-19 protocols, in person.

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Meet the Filmmakers

PABLO MIRALLES

WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER
Pablo Miralles has over 30 years of film and video production experience as an acclaimed director, writer and producer. His most recent film is the award-winning documentary “Can We All Get Along? The Segregation of John Muir High School,” which earned him an 2019 IndieFEST Humanitarian Award. Pablo also served as Production Coordinator on Cedar Grove Productions’ Academy Award winning short film “Visas and Virtue” and Co-Producer on their Emmy nominated short film, “Day of Independence”.

JERRY A. HENRY

CINEMATOGRAPHER
Jerry Henry received his MFA from UCLA Film School with an emphasis on documentaries, cinematography, and digital media. Jerry has shot and produced over 300 reality television programs and documentary series including MADE, 16 & PREGNANT and TRUE LIFE for MTV News & Docs as well as programs for PBS, National Geographic, A&E, Bravo, VH-1, NBC, ABC and the Discovery Channel among many others. Documentary feature credits include THE GRACE LEE PROJECT, David Zeiger’s SIR, NO SIR! and WINTER SOLDIER and most recently the Academy Award nominated EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP and the award winning CITY OF GOLD. Jerry’s award-winning short documentaries I PROMISE AFRICA and SOMETHING OTHER THAN OTHER have screened in over 100 film festivals around the world and he is a recipient of the Gordon Parks Emerging African American Filmmaker Award.

CLARK HARRIS

EDITOR/WRITER
Clark Harris graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in economics. After graduation, he worked as an analyst at an economic consulting firm before transitioning into production work. He later worked at the post-production department of a major video game publisher. He went on to receive an MFA in Production at USC. He has helped create numerous television commercials and industrial videos. He edited the award-winning documentary Altina.

MIRIAM CUTLER

MUSIC
Emmy-nominated composer, Miriam Cutler is passionate about scoring documentaries, among them Emmy winning, Sundance, and Oscar nominated films: ETHEL, LOST IN LA MANCHA, THIN, POSTER GIRL, KINGS POINT, GHOSTS OF ABU GHRAIB, AMERICAN PROMISE, VITO, DESERT OF FORBIDDEN ART, SCOUTS HONOR, LICENSE TO KILL, ONE LAST HUG. Her score for THE HUNTING GROUND, received the Best Documentary Score Hollywood Music in Media Award (HMMA). Other recent films include LOVE GILDA, RBG, DARK MONEY, FINDING KUKAN, A PLASTIC OCEAN, THE BREAST ARCHIVES and EMILY ON THE EDGE OF CHAOS.

Miram’s work on CNN Films’ RBG and Love Gilda saw her nominated for two 2019 Emmy Awards for OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A DOCUMENTARY SERIES OR SPECIAL.

She is currently working on a documentary about the iconic American writer, Flannery O’Connor.

Miriam is a graduate of John Muir High School and an inductee in the school’s Alumni Hall of Fame.

CARL PFIRMAN

STORY EDITOR
Carl is an award-winning film and TV editor with a background in writing and directing.   Work includes: Editor on HBO feature documentary “A Small Act,” Premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Nominated for a 2011 EMMY AWARD for BEST DOCUMENTARY. “Limited Partnership,” which won the prestigious Huminatas Award from the International Documentary Association in December 2014. Co-Producer and Additional Editor on the fiction film “Janeane From Des Moines,” The film Premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. Carl was selected for the FIND Directors’ Lab for the screenplay “Lucky Boy,” and he was Quarterfinalist for the 2009 Nicholls Fellowship for his screenplay “Sugar Land,”  Carl is a Student Academy Award Winner for UCLA thesis film “The Confession.”

JANET CHEN

CO-PRODUCER
Janet Chen emigrated from Taiwan at an early age and grew up in California. She is an independent filmmaker, film producer and educator. She has worked for Visual Communications, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, L.A. Film Festival and Outfest. Her films have screened at various film festivals around the U.S. Currently, Janet is the Assistant Director for the Center for EthnoCommunications at UCLA. She is working on several film/media productions include the Building History 3.0 Minecraft project and the Asian American Studies Collective Memories project. Janet also co-teaches the Creating Community Media (social documentary) course series with filmmaker and Professor Renee Tajima-Peña at UCLA. She is also the Manager for A-Doc (Asian American Documentary Network). Janet is completing a short documentary about Phoenix Bakery in Chinatown, Los Angeles and developing a documentary about the Tehachapi Loop and Chinese rail workers.

PAMELA RACS

GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Pamela Racs is a graduate of both John Muir High School (Class of ’82) and the Art Center College of Design. For the past ten years she has run her own design business focusing on brand identity and retail design. For eight years she worked at adidas International where she advanced from Senior Designer to Creative Manager for the Portland global design team. She was responsible for corporate identity, global retail campaigns, store opening graphic installations in Europe, as well as art direction of athlete and concept photography. Some of her current clients include: Nike, Vancouver Food Co-op, Tempo Cycling and Pilates, and Arroyo Seco Films.

JOHN GUTH

SOUND EDITOR
John Guth is another proud graduate of John Muir High School, and has made a career of working both ends of the audio signal path.  He works as both a composer & songwriter, as well as a post-production audio engineer, doing sound editing and sound design. He has worked with a remarkable variety of commercial clients including WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING, HERMAN MILLER, HONDA OF NORTH AMERICA,  ACURA, KIA, BUD LIGHT, SQUARE ENIX AND GOLF MAGAZINE.  He has also been involved in a number of award-winning projects for film and television, including THE BEAUTY OF AGING, GREEDY FOR LIFE, TEACHER, GEORGE, DELINQUENT and LIVING WITH MOFFETT. In addition, for the past few years he has been fortunate to compose music for THE LINEAGE DANCE COMPANY, located here in Pasadena.  He is now wrapping post-production on a documentary about the 1973 Wounded Knee uprising in South Dakota.

MILLICENT CRISP

PRODUCER, DIRECTOR OF SALES
The multi-talented Millicent, a scholarship recipient to the University of Southern California for theater; spent several decades as an award winning actress in theater, film, commercials and TV. In addition to her acting career, she is a published author, magazine writer, music promoter, and former member of the Warner Bros legal department. Most recently Millicent has participated as partner of the Armory Center for the Arts, Member of the National Association of Professional Women, and worked as President of the global charity organization, Global Impact.

ROBERT EGAMI

POST PRODUCTION
Robert’s first job out of college was working in Post Production on the Academy Award winning documentary, “Into the Arms of Strangers.” 12 years later, Robert is now an Associate Producer and Post Producing television and side projects. As a graduate of John Muir High School, c/o ’86, he is very honored that Pablo and his team have welcomed him onto “Can We All Get Along?”

“For unless our children begin to learn together, there is little hope that our people will ever learn to live together.” – Thurgood Marshall, 1974