On Sight

Scientific Research

A multi-university research team led by UCLA scientists is publishing scientific research on the approach and impact of On Sight. This work will advance the scientific literature on arts in public health and further develop the field of performance-based interventions. Compelling evidence demonstrates that the tools presented in On Sight can lead to meaningful improvements in behavioral health. The film marks an unprecedented fusion of comedy and social science. Fifty scientists from more than thirty universities, including leading scholars from the Healthy Brain Cognitive Development Study and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, reviewed the film at UCLA and co-designed a strategy to maximize its scientific and public-health impact.

Public Health

Gun violence remains one of the leading causes of death for youth in the United States. Families and communities are also confronting escalating mental-health crises and overlapping syndemics that intensify risk and limit access to support. On Sight operates as a behavioral-health intervention that addresses suicide, gun violence, addiction, and overall wellness. The film teaches several evidence-based behavioral-health and emotional-regulation techniques. It is designed for families and peer groups to watch together so viewers can learn and practice the skills collectively, allowing knowledge and strategies to spread throughout networks and communities. The film frames violence as a behavioral-health issue shaped by stress and adverse experiences. It demonstrates how cultural storytelling increases accessibility and uptake of mental-health tools. In addition, the On Sight Workbook provides a practical guide for families and educators, and workshops train community leaders to use the film as a violence-prevention and resilience-building resource.

Youth Who Are Incarcerated

On Sight is grounded in decades of mental-health activism by Dr. Johnson, who has visited prisons, death row units, and jails to share the tools discussed in the film with individuals who are incarcerated. As part of the national rollout, Dr. Johnson will visit 50 juvenile detention facilities across the country. After the film premieres, it will be shown at hundreds of detention centers nationwide. The film helps youth navigate trauma, anger, and the pressures associated with survival in high-risk environments. It introduces concrete emotional-regulation strategies that can be used in detention settings and embraces youth culture, including Hip-Hop and other counter-cultural expressions that validate young people’s lived experiences. The workshops created alongside the film offer training for staff, counselors, and educators. The film serves as a tool for diversion programs, probation departments, and re-entry services, and emerging evidence suggests that On Sight may reduce recidivism and support rehabilitation. This work aligns with national priorities related to juvenile-justice reform and violence reduction.

Capital Punishment

Dr. Johnson is one of the leading forensic sociologists in the United States and has used the tools and methodologies featured in On Sight in more than one hundred capital cases. His work helps humanize individuals facing the most severe forms of punishment, particularly those with behavioral-health challenges that have been historically criminalized. The film provides a model for shifting public and professional perspectives on mental health within the justice system. It shows how cultural storytelling can reduce stigma, promote empathy, and support more humane approaches to individuals at risk of capital punishment. Members of the justice system—including judges, state prosecutors, defense attorneys, and even victims of crime—may draw on the film to better understand how trauma and untreated behavioral-health conditions shape human behavior. The film also demonstrates how families can normalize emotional communication and how school-based screenings may align with social and emotional learning goals.

Culture and Access

More than 1,300 individuals in a small town pledged to attend the live taping on World Mental Health Day, and more than fifty volunteered to complete pre-event surveys. This level of engagement demonstrates the cultural relevance and widespread demand for On Sight. The film uses comedy, Hip-Hop, and cultural storytelling to reach audiences who rarely engage with traditional mental-health messaging. It serves as an accessible entry point for communities that have been historically underserved by behavioral-health systems. The film offers meaningful access to wellness practices, emotional-regulation tools, and cultural enrichment to populations that have traditionally faced barriers to high-quality mental-health resources. In this way, On Sight expands access to behavioral-health knowledge in communities where such resources have often been limited or completely absent.

Art and Equity

On Sight expands the possibilities of contemporary art, filmmaking, and narrative storytelling. The project introduces a new creative lane where comedy intersects with science, public health, and legal practice. It amplifies and innovates the solo-performance genre by merging theatrical craft with cinematic composition, transforming a live performance into a film that retains the energy, intimacy, and emotional immediacy of the stage. The work incorporates street culture, Hip-Hop, and poetic devices in a way that advances both form and function, embedding cultural aesthetics within a behavioral-health pedagogical initiative. This fusion produces a new style of dramedy that balances humor, narrative depth, and emotional resonance.

Artistically, On Sight demonstrates how creative expression can be a vehicle for behavioral change. It offers a model for how scientists, activists, and humanitarians can amplify their work through cinematic projects that translate complex issues into compelling stories that engage diverse communities. The film shows how solo performance can be expanded into a cinematic medium while preserving authenticity, humor, and dramatic movement. As a work of art, it pushes the boundaries of what performance-based intervention can look like. It blends research-informed messaging with narrative arcs, audience engagement techniques, and cultural storytelling methods that create a powerful and accessible learning experience.

Equity Impact

On Sight also represents a significant contribution to equity in filmmaking and public storytelling. The film is the first major project written, directed, and performed by a tenured scientist at the nation’s leading public university who is also a survivor of gun violence and juvenile incarceration. As a first-time director and filmmaker, Dr. Johnson expands access to the filmmaking space and demonstrates that complex public-health knowledge can be communicated through culturally grounded and community-centered artistic production. The film is also one of the few SAG-AFTRA productions ever created by an actively publishing scientist, further expanding the professional boundaries of academic leadership.

The project elevates Black storytelling and highlights the lived experiences of youth who have been incarcerated, drawing from a narrative grounded in truth, cultural memory, and community realities. It challenges existing norms in documentary and narrative film by centering marginalized voices as experts in their own lives and by presenting behavioral-health knowledge through culturally relevant content. On Sight embodies the core values of equity by expanding who tells stories, whose stories are valued, and how those stories are delivered to public audiences. In doing so, it advances more inclusive pathways into the arts and strengthens representation for communities historically excluded from both scientific discourse and mainstream media.