Community Corner

KCET to Document the History of Highland Park and the Arroyo

KCET is seeking neighborhood residents to contribute their knowledge and share personal stories for the documentary.

KCET's Departures is currently in the preproduction stage of an online documentary series dedicated to showcasing the history of Highland Park and the Arroyo Seco, Producer Justin Cram told Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch.

KCET's Highland Park doc is set to be the latest in a series that has featured historic communities throughout Los Angeles, including Chinatown, Richland Farms and Venice. The Los Angeles River has also gotten the Departures treatment from KCET, Cram said.

You can view previous Departures installments here.

Among the historic locations set to be featured in the documentary, Cage said, are the , The Outpost for Contemporary Art, and .

Departures will also document the ever-changing face of business and residential landscape in the Arroyo, Cram said.

"Not everything featured in the show will be a neighborhood institution," he said. "We'll also be featuring locations that used to be home to something viewers may not know about."

KCET said they would be working with local historian and Arroyo Seco Parkway National Scenic Byway's program member Nicole Possert in their effort to locate historic landmarks and to construct the neighborhood's narrative.

Possert said that other collaboraters would include Jeff Chpman, director of the Audubon Center at Debs Park; Kathy Gallegos, director of Ave. 50 Studio; Yim Tam, of the Arroyo Seco Academy at Franklin High School; and councilmember Ed Reyes' office.

Cram said he's also hoping other residents of the area will contribute to the project, either by suggesting locations to shoot in the documentary or sharing their own stories about their experiences in the neighborhood.

Find out what's happening in Highland Park-Mount Washingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Interested residents can share their suggestions here.

Cram said filming should kick off by the end of June, and the documentary will launch on KCET's Departures website in the fall.


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