About the Filmmaker

Filmmaker Ian Midgley lived a block away from Echo Park Lake during the years that the homeless encampment was active. He was loosely involved in mutual aid work at the park and after the LAPD raid he helped Gustavo Otzoy keep his belongings safe as he looked for housing. Over the following months, Ian and Gustavo became friends and they decided to film an interview in 2021 to document Gustavo's story. This interview became the inspiration for Fences to Freedom.

Ian has been working as a documentary filmmaker since he made his first feature, Reversing the Mississippi, in 2010. He then worked on independent projects focused on progressive education with One Potato Productions (Last Chance U, Cheer) and moved into producing documentaries for TV with director Ondi Timoner on the Viceland series Jungletown. Since then, he has been a co-executive producer on numerous documentary series for NBC, Fox, Sundance/AMC, Paramount+, and Discovery, among other networks, while continuing to direct his own independent projects.

Ian and his family moved from Echo Park to Altadena in 2021 and ultimately lost nearly everything in the Eaton Canyon Fire. Fortunately, Ian saved the footage from Fences to Freedom and completed the documentary in 2025. Now in the process of releasing Fences to Freedom, Ian is also directing a long term documentary about Altadena's recovery. 

Ian hopes that Fences to Freedom will help to spark conversations about housing issues in Los Angeles and around the country. Gustavo's story is the singular experience of one unhoused person, but for viewers who haven't engaged with their neighbors living on the street, he believes that this documentary will offer a humanizing portrait of what it can be like to experience homelessness.