Independent journalism for the American West
UNWON is a platform for underdog journalism focused on working, rural, and Western America, the stories behind the folks who build, feed, and protect a nation. It’s not about blue collar or white collar, it’s about a hardworking traditional ethos and a practical self-reliance rooted in reality, community, common sense, and a shared love of the land.
Learn more about the mission of UNWON.
Reported & edited by Keely Brazil Covello
Keely Brazil Covello is a journalist, filmmaker, and entrepreneur from rural Mendocino County in Northern California. She covered national political news for The Washington Times in D.C., but it was her first hometown reporting job at The Ukiah Daily Journal that gave her a passion for telling the stories of rural, working America. Her work has also been published in a number of outlets including The Federalist, The Freeman, and Tri-State Livestock News. She is a frequent guest on podcasts and radio and TV shows to speak on issues impacting the American West and independent agriculture.
Her award-winning debut documentary You Just Can’t See Them From the Road was released late 2023. In January 2024 she was selected as a fellow in the Palladium Pictures documentary incubator in Washington, D.C. headed by Michael Pack, appointed by President Donald Trump as CEO for the US Agency for Global Media. She recently completed a film uncovering the unsolved murder of an elderly cattle rancher on California’s North Coast. High Country Murder was released in November 2024. Learn more about her film work.
When she is not on the road, Keely and her husband Nick live in Orange County, California.
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Without you, there are no stories. By subscribing you are supporting rural and Western independent journalism. Your financial support and your readership will determine how much of an impact UNWON can make. This is a true grassroots effort with no outside influence or backing. UNWON exists as a voice for real working Americans, full stop. Thank you for joining the effort to protect cowboy journalism.
Film & Documentary
Learn more about our film work on our studio website, Go West Enterprises.
High Country Murder (2024)
The infamous Emerald Triangle of Northern California, where ranchers share the mountains with cartels, is known for unsolved murders and a culture of silence. Two sisters return home to the ranch to try to solve a murder, and face the criminal underbelly of their once peaceful hometown. Produced by Palladium Pictures.
You Just Can’t See Them From the Road (2023)
An immigrant family in California’s Central Valley faces the loss of their land and way of life. One of the few remaining ranching families in the Bay Area watches urban sprawl creep in from every direction. Cowboys work in the shadow of the historic Hearst Castle. Wildlife find refuge on the biggest expanse of private land in Southern California. One of the largest Black landowners in the state discovers Native American artifacts on his ranch.
Presented by California Rangeland Trust and directed by Keely Brazil Covello and Michaela Brazil Gillies, You Just Can’t See Them From the Road is a documentary portrait of modern West Coast ranchers—invisible to and misunderstood by the rapidly modernizing society they sustain.
Coming to your screen 2025…
About the Directors
Keely Brazil Covello and Michaela Brazil Gillies are sisters and filmmakers. The daughters of ranch veterinarians in remote Northern California, they came together to co-create Go West Media after attending school and working in major cities across the country, inspired to bridge the rural-urban divide through storytelling. Keely and Michaela currently live with their husbands Nick and Charlie in Orange County, California.
