PONY HIGHWAY
PRODUCTIONS
We craft long form, observational style documentaries from our editing studio in the foothills above the Mojave Desert. Taking time to immerse ourselves in the daily lives of our characters, we achieve
the intimacy we value, yielding stories with the nuance and drama of the real.
OUR
FILMS
MARIPOSAS
DEL CAMPO
Indigenous teenagers from Mexico strive to change their families’ destinies in the strawberry fields of Oxnard, California. Through a stormy year of sanctioned racism and anti-immigrant policies, their journeys are captured—with help from their own videos—as they navigate cultural identity, parental expectations, economic challenges, and the justice needs of their migrant farmworker community.
WATCH THE TEASER.
ESCARAMUZA: riding from the heart
Las Azaleas are the gutsy team of women rodeo riders vying to represent the U.S. at the National Charro Championships in Mexico, where “to be Charro is to be Mexican.” Escaramuza, or skirmish, describes both their daredevil horseback ballets, and the intensity of their competition season. Neither life-altering challenges at home nor violence across the border can keep Las Azaleas from their goal.
WATCH THE TEASER.
ON THE MUSCLE: PORTRAIT OF A THOROUGHBRED RACING STABLE
In this Eclipse-award winning three-part series, the equine athletes in Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella’s stable are “on the muscle”—fit, race ready, and as good as they get. The barn doors are wide open for an in-depth look inside their world—culminating in a breath-taking, historic triumph at the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships.
WATCH A CLIP.
A CIRCUS SEASON: TRAVELS WITH TARZAN
Step inside the world of a traveling tent circus for an intimate look at one of the few remaining family-owned shows in America. Spellbinding performances and the daily grind of constant travel are the backdrop for characters struggling with love, loss, betrayal, and the weight of their family legacies in one hard season on the road.
vod available soon
HOMEBOYS
A documentary about Chicano gang life circa 1978. Filmed in collaboration with members of the Cuatro Flats gang, named for their housing project in East Los Angeles, this firsthand account of the systemic barriers to success for these barrio youth remains as relevant today as ever. Made by Bill Yahraus with his Focal Point Films collective partners Christine Burrill and David Davis.
WATCH A CLIP.
Pony Highway is the husband-and-wife team of Bill Yahraus and Robin Rosenthal. We’ve been making films in collaboration with self-contained communities since we ran away with the Tarzan Zerbini Circus in 1996. Our award-winning documentaries have aired nationally on PBS and toured internationally.
Bill’s adventurous career began with an experimental film in Andy Warhol’s Factory. Arriving in San Francisco during the Summer of Love, he landed in KQED’s documentary unit. While making social issue films collectively in the Bay Area he was lured to Los Angeles by Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden to edit their anti-war film Introduction to the Enemy. A detour into features followed, editing for indy luminaries like Richard Pearce and Sam Shepard.
Robin came to filmmaking from the visual arts, teaching and exhibiting in San Antonio and the Southwest before relocating to Los Angeles to work in film and television post production. Sensing an affinity between her producing skills for Pony Highway and the field of public practice art, she founded and directs the creative place-keeping project Real93543 in the rural Southeast Antelope Valley she and Bill call home.
