Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV talk blog
Personal injury attorney Ken Nugent has been a fixture on Atlanta TV, radio and billboards going back to the late 1980s. His slogan imprinted in every Atlantan's brain: "One call, that's all!"
Fox has purchased a one-hour scripted dramedy based loosely on Nugent's wacky family dynamic courtesy of Picture It, a new development and production company out of Inman Park. The show is tentatively called "One Call That's All."
"It's unbelievable how successful Ken Nugent and his family is, how much wealth you can amass being a personal injury attorney," said Lance Krall, the company's head of television, a Whole World Theatre alum and star of two TV shows in the 2000s ("The Lance Krall Show" on Spike TV in 2005 and "Free Radio" on VH1 in 2008-09.). "If I had to take a guess, I'd miss by a billion. Honestly, at the end of the day, he's such a cool, fun guy. He pokes fun at himself, has a great sense of humor."
But what sold Fox on the project was his family. "They are everything to each other," Krall said. "This is a family the audience can fall in love with."
Nugent is expected to consult on the show but details haven’t solidified yet in terms of his direct involvement.
At this stage, Fox is merely asking for scripts. This doesn't guarantee a pilot or a series. But it's a good start for the new production company, which also features Peter Siaggas, a director and producer of "The Lance Krall Show," "Free Radio" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
Krall said there was a bidding war from among different studios. In the end, they chose to work with Lionsgate Television ("Orange is the New Black," "Nashville," "Casual.") The scripts will be written by Kathryn Price and Nichole Millard.
He said he wants the company to show that people can pitch shows in Atlanta and not have to go to Los Angeles and New York.
Here's one of Nugent's ads from 2014 where he stood on a big rig. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any of his older ones on YouTube. "We have a black belt in production here," he said. "There still isn't enough development here."
Picture It is also working on partnering with other production companies for more ideas pitched by local Atlanta creative types. "We have to prove ourselves in this industry," Krall said, "that we are a viable company, that Atlanta is a place with real ideas."
And here's a recent ad where the editors include the .00 after the settlement amount to make it seem even bigger!
