Based on Jeff Keating’s 2020 true crime podcast, Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist recounts the story of the infamous house party robbery that eclipsed Muhammad Ali’s grand return to boxing on the next morning’s front page.
Camera Operator had the opportunity to speak with A camera and Steadicam operator Xavier Thompson and B camera operators Brigman Foster Owens and Amber Bournett-McLain about working on this series, from adapting to its 1970s “Blaxploitation” aesthetic and sharing intimate moments with the show’s star-studded cast to being given the creative liberty to find the right shot in the moment.
It is the night of Muhammad Ali’s 1970 comeback fight and Atlanta is abuzz with excitement. Excitement, some might say, that could be capitalized on. That’s the instinct of local hustler Gordon Williams, better known around town as “Chicken Man.” Chicken Man organizes a party to feature dancing, drinking and gambling, but when some uninvited guests show up and rob the other party goers at gunpoint, Chicken Man finds himself wanted by the police and on the run from the Black Mafia. Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist is created by Shaye Ogbonna and stars Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Terrance Howard, Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson.
