By Carol Badaracco Padgett
“Atlanta-forward.” That’s the right-on description Doghouse Pictures’ founder and CEO Jeff Keating uses to describe the new limited series, Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, streaming now on Peacock, showcasing an all-star cast that includes Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Taraji P. Henson, and Terrence Howard.
The Atlanta premiere of Fight Night rocked a packed house at The Tara Theatre on Saturday night, beginning with opening remarks from Georgia Entertainment President Jezlan Moyet.
Just last week, Keating — an executive producer of the series and the mastermind and creator behind the story’s iHeartRadio Original true crime podcast – walked his mother into Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City to watch the premiere of the first two episodes. When asked what got Keating to that special night in the Big Apple, his podcast co-writer, Jim Roberts, told the crowd, “He got there through persistence and commitment.”
Persistence and commitment. The three words every Georgia content creator needs to hear over and over again.
Keating told the Atlanta premiere-goers about the genesis of Fight Night and how he stuck with the story over several decades before ever seeing it hit the big screen with the backing of Will Packer Media, HartBeat Productions, Universal, and many other players. “My father remembered the story and the headlines,” Keating said of the events surrounding Muhammad Ali’s 1970 fight against Jerry Quarry in Atlanta, inviting his father to stand up for applause.
Special notice and a standing ovation went to another quintessential group credited with helping share the true story: the family of the central character, “Chicken Man” Gordon Williams. Together, Chicken Man and later his family allowed Keating all-access to share what went down on Fight Night.
Just before the Tara screening began, Keating surveyed the crowd, smiled, and shouted, “My people show up!”
Catch season 1 of Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, a Peacock Original shot at Assembly Atlanta Studios, here.
A Georgia Entertainment feature on Keating and Fight Night comes out this fall by GE senior writer Carol Badaracco Padgett.
Photo Credit: Kendall Haynes
