Ep564 - Shaye Ogbonna, Showrunner Kevin Hart Series 'Fight Night'

Creative Principles

"I always looked at this as like, I'm trying to make Black Ocean's Eleven or I'm trying to make a contemporary Harlem Nights or contemporary Uptown Saturday Night, which were like this kind of like star-laden projects," says Ogbonna about FIGHT NIGHT. "And what you need is gravity. You need somebody at the center that pulls everybody in, you know what I mean?" Shaye Ogbonna is an accomplished writer and producer for both television and film. He has written on an array of premium series including THE CHI, as well as two highly-anticipated HBOMax series: THE PENGUIN from Matt Reeves, and DUSTER - a 1970s crime thriller exec-produced by JJ Abrams. Currently, Shaye serves as Creator, Writer, Showrunner, and Executive Producer of the star-studded limited series FIGHT NIGHT: THE MILLION DOLLAR HEIST, starring Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, Don Cheadle, and Terrence Howard. The true-crime series tells the story of how an armed robbery on the night of Muhammad Ali’s historic 1970 comeback fight ultimately transformed Atlanta into the “Black Mecca.” In this interview, we talk about his early career and influences, his decision to focus on television as a medium for storytelling, the future of limited series, his new show FIGHT NIGHT, the importance of telling local stories, and more. Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60 seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom of your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!