A documentary about the deadly stretch of Pacific Coast Highway that borders Santa Monica will air on PBS SoCal on Thursday, July 9, at 7 p.m.

"21 Miles in Malibu," produced by Malibu resident Michel Shane and directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Nic Davis, examines the 21-mile corridor where 205 people have died since 1975, according to PBS SoCal. The film has already won 15 international festival awards before reaching local television screens.

The road's dangers hit close to home for Shane. In 2010, his 13-year-old daughter Emily was struck and killed by a driver on PCH. He and his wife Ellen founded the Emily Shane Foundation in 2011, building it into a nonprofit that pairs underserved middle school students with college-age tutors through its SEA Program while simultaneously pushing for safer roads through its Driving Change initiative.

That advocacy produced results. The foundation worked with the City of Malibu and other groups to help secure $55 million in state funding for PCH safety improvements, according to the Santa Monica Mirror. In 2024, State Senator Ben Allen named the Emily Shane Foundation a California Nonprofit of the Year.

The City of Malibu promoted the film on its official Instagram account, describing it as revealing "how PCH's design has created predictable tragedies, not random accidents."

The documentary features accounts from residents, law enforcement, crash survivors and affected families, alongside engineers and traffic experts discussing potential fixes. The Driving Change initiative also partnered with the California Office of Traffic Safety to install 711 empty chairs in downtown Los Angeles on November 16, 2025, for the World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims.

Michel Shane writes a biweekly column called "Driving Change" in The Malibu Times examining PCH safety issues. In 2016, President Barack Obama honored Ellen and Michel Shane with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service.

The premiere airs Thursday, July 9, at 7 p.m. on PBS SoCal or streams on demand at 21milesinmalibu.vhx.tv.