On Sight

This is On Sight's hub for the movie, live events, and content

recent posts

about

Dr. Micah E. Johnson is an associate professor of Family Medicine at UCLA. He is a medical sociologist focused on the social determinants of behavioral health, particularly addiction and violence. Dr. Johnson has authored 30 scientific articles and multiple books, including Never Had a Friend and The Police Youth Dialogues. He was awarded four million dollars in active research grants from the National Institutes of Health. His work has been cited by the New York Times, ESPN, Senator Bernie Sanders, Charlamagne tha God, and others. He is the recipient of the 2023 Outstanding Research Achievement Award at the University of South Florida and the 2023 Community Peacebuilder of the Year Award from the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding. Dr. Johnson’s research and advocacy have helped reduce decades of prison sentences and overturn death penalties for individuals with behavioral health needs in over 100 capital and felony cases throughout the country. He is also pioneering the use of edutainment lectures as interventions to engage diverse communities and enhance behavioral health.

A Mental Health Comedy Film Made in Miami

Micah Johnson: Actor, Creator, and Storyteller

Micah Johnson is a SAG-AFTRA actor based in Los Angeles whose work bridges performance, lived experience, and emotional truth. Trained through the SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Conservatory, UCLA Extension, and The Groundlings, he has delivered more than 30 live performances across comedy and drama. His acting is grounded, precise, and human, shaped by years on stage and on set, and defined by professionalism and presence.

On camera, Micah has worked alongside Colin Farrell (Sugar), Jennifer Garner and Regina Hall (The Five-Star Weekend), Kathy Bates (Matlock), and Nathan Fillion (The Rookie). Whether in subtle dramatic moments or heightened scenes, his work is marked by restraint, intelligence, and emotional realism. Acting is his priority, and he continues to train, refine, and grow every day.

On Sight: Film, Performance, and Impact

On Sight is the centerpiece of Micah Johnson’s creative work. A SAG-AFTRA film and one-person show, On Sight blends comedy, narrative storytelling, and lived experience to explore trauma, violence, and resilience. Micah created and performs the piece, which was filmed live in Gainesville, Florida, where he also co-starred with DC Young Fly.

The project has received significant recognition and support. In 2024, On Sight was awarded funding through the American Rescue Plan Act. In 2023, Micah was named Community Peacebuilder of the Year by the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, recognizing the project’s impact on conversations around violence and healing. His earlier solo work, Never Had a Friend, received the Black Heritage Festival Grant and established him as a powerful monodrama performer. In 2025, he received the UCLA Bunche Center Blackbird House Fellowship for his solo play Juveniles.

Micah’s voice has also reached global audiences. His 2021 TEDxUF talk became one of the Top 10 most-viewed TEDx talks worldwide that year. Together, these projects reflect a throughline in his career: telling hard stories with honesty, humor, and care, while trusting audiences to meet the work with openness.

Miami: The Origin Story

Miami is not just a setting in Micah Johnson’s life. It is the place where the foundation was poured.

Micah first came to Miami from Eatonville, Florida shortly after his seventh birthday. He attended Parkview Elementary in Miami Gardens, where he was first arrested, an early moment that foreshadowed the themes that would later define his work: risk, survival, and the thin line between a child’s mistakes and a system’s response.

His family moved throughout South Florida. They lived in Miami Lakes and later in Dania Beach. That constant movement shaped how he saw people and places. It taught him how quickly circumstances can change, how identity adapts, and how a young person learns to read a room before they can fully explain what they feel.

Miami also gave him the spark that turned into a lifelong love of film. One of the clearest symbols of that love is a story he still carries. As a kid in Dania Beach, he once walked from Dania to Miramar just to participate in a student film production. He made the trip on pure determination, only to arrive and find the shoot had already wrapped. No crew. No cameras. Just the quiet disappointment of being late to a dream. And still, the deeper truth was already written. He was the kind of person who would walk eight miles for a chance to be in the story.

That spirit never left. It just evolved. Miami was where the struggle and the imagination met. It was where hardship became material, and where ambition became a practice.

His first job out of high school was on South Beach, and his first job after college brought him deeper into the creative economy as an intern and junior A&R at Slip-N-Slide Records. Those experiences strengthened his understanding of culture as a force, not just a vibe. They also taught him how communities make meaning, how art travels, and why storytelling can be a survival skill.

From Eatonville to Miami Gardens, from Miami Lakes to Dania Beach, Micah’s Miami story is a map of movement, pressure, and possibility. It is the origin of the work. It is where the voice was built.

Posted in

Leave a comment