Authenticity as a North Star: A Conversation with ‘Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist’ Creator and Co-Showrunner Shaye Ogbonna

Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, based on the acclaimed iHeart true-crime podcast, follows the infamous story of how an armed robbery on the night of Muhammad Ali’s historic 1970 comeback fight changed not only one man’s life but ultimately transformed Atlanta into the “Black Mecca.” When a hustler named Chicken Man (Kevin Hart) hosts an afterparty to celebrate the fight with a guest list of the country’s wealthiest, the night ends with the most brazen criminal underworld heist in Atlanta’s history. Suspected of masterminding the crime, Chicken Man is hellbent on clearing his name but must convince his old adversary, J.D. Hudson (Don Cheadle), one of the first Black detectives in the city’s desegregated police force, who is tasked with bringing those responsible to justice.

It truly comes without any surprise on this end of the screen that Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist is currently Peacock’s latest craze and setting its own records as their most-watched new series and currently standing at a 95% Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score. And why am I not surprised - you may be asking yourself…the answer is Shaye Ogbonna.

When it comes to dynamic characters, killer dialogue, a perfect setting, and really just a vibe – Shaye Ogbonna is your guy. You can see that in his feature work from Lowlife to God’s Country and other television shows that he’s written for like The Chi. Shaye has an indelible creative imprint – and we’re lucky we get to be his audience.

Shaye Ogbonna recently spoke with Script about how he initially came on board the TV series project, his personal connection to the story and Atlanta, the importance of research, and how he broke the story down into four key elements. Plus, he talks about his creative process with his directors, like Craig Brewer, and his writers’ room, and why authenticity was paramount for this story.  

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Sadie Dean: How did you come across this story?

Shaye Ogbonna: The story has kind of been around for a while. It went through a few iterations, and by the time it got to me, it came to me in a pretty traditional way - one of my reps, it turned up on his radar, and he has a relationship with Will [Packer], and the people who did the podcast, and they were trying to transition into a limited series. And my manager was just like, 'Say less, I've got the guy. ' You know, normally, that's manager talk, but in this case, it was literally me.

And for me, I didn't know about the story, so it came through him. And when I first heard about it, I was like, ‘How have I never heard about this?’ Because I'm from Atlanta - I'm literally from the area. This all went down. I kind of knew about the fight, I had no idea about this robbery.

Some projects, it takes a while, because they're trying to find the right village, the right vessels, the right storytellers. And this is definitely that. And for me, just again, being from the neighborhood, being a fan of history, being a fan of this type of storytelling, of this genre of storytelling, it was a slam dunk for me.

But again, like I said, I hadn't heard of it. So, when it first came on my radar, I listened to the podcast in one sitting, and I was just like, ‘Oh my god, this is exactly why I got into this industry.’ To tell stories like this, and to be able to tell it from a personal perspective about a place where I'm from - literally I was born to do it. I know it sounds cliche, [laughs] but it was just a really good fit. I swallowed the podcast, and I went home to Atlanta, and I started checking in with relatives who were a generation above me. And everybody knew about it! Everybody knew about the robbery, and some people knew somebody who were there. So, it really became a personal project for me after that.

Sadie: When I first read in the trades you were attached to this project and then watch this show, I was like, ‘Shaye bleeds this.’ Such a perfect fit. When it came to establishing the tone and mood, character, dialog and location, and music, what was the process of getting it quote-unquote right off the bat?

Shaye: Well, for me, a lot of it was research, listening to the podcast, listening to it over and over again, because it was such a wealth of research and work that had been done, really, the podcast was, like a decade plus long process for Jeff Keating, who produced the podcast, he's been familiar with this story intimately for years. In the podcast, he interviewed Gordon Williams, Chicken Man. He interviewed J.D. Hudson. He interviewed these real people who are the basis of our show.

So, for me, it was research, diving into the podcast, but also it was going home. Because what was important to me when I decided I wanted to do this, I kind of broke it down into these four tentpoles, which were the event, which is the fight, because there's so much story here. Muhammad Ali is coming to Atlanta. He's coming off of two and a half, three years of exile because he doesn't want to join the Vietnam war effort. So, for him, this is a big moment for him, and it's a big moment for Atlanta. So, there's the fight, then there's the incident, which is the robbery that happens after the fight, and then there's the Atlanta of it, and how these two incidents impacted Atlanta, and ultimately, were kind of a springboard to Atlanta becoming this Black Mecca.

And then finally, it was these two dynamic characters that are at the center of it. You got two guys from literally opposite sides of the spectrum. One's a cop, one's a street hustler, that ultimately has to come together to try to solve this and figure out what happened.

So, it was all those elements, but what helped me, from a research perspective and from a development perspective, from a tone perspective, was breaking it down into those four tentpoles, and doing the work of going home and going to the community, because it was also important to me, the Atlanta of this, I'm a product of this event and this moment, and we hadn't seen…there's been a lot of stuff about Atlanta. There's been a lot of shows and a lot of movies that have been set in Atlanta or filmed in Atlanta, but there wasn't anything, from a creative standpoint, that kind of showed this kind of origin story of how this city became to be this dynamic city in such a short time. 

I could talk about this all day, because I'm personally connected to it, but it was really those four tentpoles that helped me hone in on research, but also tone in terms of how do I want to tell this story?

Sadie: These characters are so rich and authentic. When diving into those individual voices, to their internal and external motivation, especially with Chicken Man, the detective J.D., what was the process of laying that groundwork for them to kind of ebb and flow in and around each other's orbit?

Shaye: Well again, what helped, kind of breaking it down on those four tentpoles, kind of helped me to really hone in on character. Because what was important to me was that we show a world. This city, and everybody in this city at this point, the city is even a character. The city is at an inflection point. Almost everyone in this show is at an inflection point in their lives, including the big bad Frank Moten. Everybody in this show has a dream that they're working. They have a dream no matter who they are, and they're all kind of trying to grind toward it. And not only Chicken Man, J.D, but also the city and the surrounding characters, whether you're talking about Chief Jenkins seeing this as a moment for the APD to reinvent itself, or Senator Leroy Johnson, seeing this fight as a moment as an aspirational moment for the city, but also for him as a politician.

So, what's so cool in terms of the characters, what helped me to really hone in on all these characters, because it's so many, was that every one of them, almost every one of them, is at an inflection point in their lives, and there's something they're working toward, or there's something they're trying to work to undo. And for me, that helps with all these different characters. If they're all at these similar places, it helps to kind of really hone in on their motivations, on their flaws, what's stopping them from getting that thing they really, really think that they want.

And honestly, it's also a part of the theme, in terms of the theme is all about this hustle, spirit of just, it's a very American and aspirational story that's told from a Southern African American perspective. So those themes are very universal and very much kind of inherent in the show. And almost every character is kind of serving that.

Sadie: Once the casting started coming into place, how much were you going back to retooling some of the voices, or just the rhythm of the dialogue, because you have some of the best people out there who could read the back of the cereal box and make it sound like it's the best thing ever.

Shaye: That's a great question. One, there's the character element of it. So, for example, Frank Moten initially wasn't as big of a character, but once you bring in like a Sam Jackson, you want to add more meat to that bone. So, it helped me to actually add more layers to Frank Moten. Instead of him being a traditional antagonist, he becomes this really nuanced, multi-dimensional antagonist that you kind of want to root for, but he's also like a really terrible person too, which is, like the best stuff, right?

So, for me, one part was from a character perspective, adding more meat on that bone, but then to something you also mentioned is just these rhythms. I'm a huge nerd and fan of almost every person that's been cast. I mean, Don - I bought Don Cheadle stock when he played Mouse in Devil in a Blue Dress. And that was like, what, 20-plus years ago. Sam is Sam, you know what I mean, and Taraji [p. Henson] is Taraji and Terence [Howard] is Terrence. And I've watched enough of their work, that I kind of know their rhythms. So, once you start to bring them in, it does become like, you're like a kid. You're like a kid that gets a new toy.

And so, I started to your point, I started writing to Sam's rhythms. So, what I thought was Sam's rhythms, at least Sam's rhythms as Frank on this show, and Terrence and Taraji. It was a lot of fun, because you unpack all those years of fandom, and you realize you watched so much of their stuff, you kind of know their voices. Like I realized, ‘Oh my God, I know Don Cheadle’s voice. I know Sam's voice.’ And I'm writing to that. That was like a bucket list. As a film nerd, as a big fan of those people, it was almost like a little bit of fan fiction. [laughs]

Sadie: And you had a writers’ room on this as well?

Shaye: Yeah, thank you for mentioning that, because I need to talk about this amazing room. I had an amazing writers’ room. One person in the room is Max [Michael Towson], who's a friend of both of ours. Every person in this room was amazing. And what I love is every writer has a moment where they cook on the show. Max has got his moment. Lauren Glover, who was in my room has her moment. Erika L. Johnson, who's my co-executive producer. I can literally, because some of them I worked with for a long time, some of them I haven't worked with, but I know them pretty well - so I can see their moment in almost every episode.

I was very fortunate to have just an amazing writers’ room that were just as excited about doing the material and this story as I was. And not just the room, but also all the department heads - our production designer Toni Barton, hair and makeup, cinematography - you would walk into these sets, and me, being from Atlanta, and walking into some of these houses, they look exactly like the same, because a lot of these houses haven't changed in southwest Atlanta. So, you feel like you're walking into a time machine. It was seriously writers’ room, department heads, we just had an embarrassment of riches on the show.

Sadie: When it came to those creative discussions with your directors, and cementing that tone, what was important?

Shaye: We had an amazing group of directors… and Craig [Brewer], who directed Hustle & Flow, Dolomite Is My Name, when it comes to Black culture specifically, of a certain time, this man could just nail it. And so, Craig was just a vital piece from a creative standpoint. Because the thing about me and Craig, we're both southerners, and we're both reverential into that culture. There's a shorthand, because we're both creatives and we're both Southerners.

And he gave me the greatest compliment that I've gotten as a creative, which he called me a regional filmmaker, which a lot of the people that I look up to, whether you're talking about the Scorsese's or the Michael Mann's or the John Singleton’s or the Spike Lee’s, they're all regional. Like John Singleton was an LA guy. Spike's a New York guy. So to me, when you get connected to a place from an artistic standpoint, that's the dream for me…to me, that's what Craig is.

So, because of that, authenticity was so important to us in every moment it. It's got to feel real. The people have to look like real people from Atlanta in 1970. That was the main thing for me and Craig was always, authenticity is our North Star. But also, don't be afraid to entertain folks. And I think that confluence of ideas is what I think is what makes this show really special and dynamic.

Sadie: First time being a co-showrunner, what was the biggest learning curve for you?

Shaye: I wish I could get specific… right before I got this job, an executive told me the hardest job in this business is being a showrunner. And I was just like, ‘OK, sounds like hyperbole, but OK, cool.’ And then you become a showrunner, and it really is like getting dropped in a deep end in a lot of ways, and you gotta swim.

What helped me to prepare for this was, and you know about this, all the years of kind putting in work with my buddies - we made Lowlife - and we always kind of worked like a writers' room. That's what helped me be able to be dropped into this, because we have been doing this on a smaller level for a while now. So, for me, it's the same skill set. It's the same muscle memory. You’re just doing it on a bigger show. You just have to get past the fact that instead of working with my friends here, that's Samuel L. Jackson right there. You know what I mean? You got to get past that part of it.

It's definitely not an easy job to do the first time out of the gate. And it's definitely not an easy job to do the first time out of the gate when you have all these resources, but you just at the end of the day that sounds really cliche and corny, you just gotta believe in yourself and keep doing that thing you've been doing since film school, which is just keep putting one foot ahead of the other. Open up the laptop, blank page, keep writing. You got a production problem that needs to be solved? You got to figure out how to solve it. It really is just kind of just a mental fortitude. That was the biggest thing for me that I learned. The thing I learned was how mentally strong I am, because this is one of the hardest things I've ever done, but I came out of it on the other side, I feel like we have an amazing show to show for it. 

Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist premiered on Peacock on September 5, 2024. New episodes premiering every Thursday through October 10, 2024.