New York – September 1, 2011 – AMC announced today that the network has greenlit JJK Security, executive produced by Ken Druckerman and Banks Tarver from Left/Right (This American Life, Boomtown, Mob Wives). JJK Security celebrates the slightly off-kilter characters who work at a small, family-owned private security company located in rural Georgia – a one-stop shop for services that range from private investigations to personal protection to neighborhood patrols, and everything in between. Inspired by what filmmakers like the Coen Brothers, Christopher Guest and Robert Altman have done capturing quirky, larger than life characters in the scripted realm, with JJK, AMC will aim to bring that sensibility to unscripted programming. Season one consists of eight, half-hour episodes and the series is currently scheduled for a 3Q, 2012 launch. The series exemplifies AMC’s goal to be the definitive home for quality storytelling.
“When we first saw the tape of JJK we were speechless. It is unlike anything we have ever seen before – a true original. The characters are incredibly rich and compelling; and Left/Right found a way to tell the story in an honest, funny, and nuanced way. In non-fiction series, it is incredibly hard to find great characters and great story, and this is truly both,” said Stillerman.
“From the moment that I set foot in the JJK offices and met the staff, I fell in love with them and knew they were a show,” says executive producer Ken Druckerman. “But I couldn’t think of anything like it on TV, so naturally I was worried that we would never find the right home. Fortunately, AMC fell in love with the cast and their story for the same reasons that we did.”
About JJK Security (Working Title):
JJK Security is a Southern gothic workplace dramedy – a wry and quirky take on the inner workings of our cast as they run their security business. The owners and employees at JJK are as different as night and day – but they each share a certain peculiarity and an appreciation for one another’s differences that binds them together, like an extended family. Each episode is framed around an ongoing investigation, a security assignment, training a new recruit, etc – the nuts-and-bolts work of a private security firm. But below the surface is an incredibly compelling character based story.
AMC’s Joel Stillerman, Senior Vice President of Original Programming, Production and Digital Content, Mary Conlon, Vice President of Non-Scripted Original Programming, and Ari Mark, Director of Development, oversee development and production for the network’s unscripted series. Matthew Saul from WME represents Left/Right Inc.
About AMC
AMC reigns as the only cable network in history to ever win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series three years in a row, as well as the Golden Globe® Award for Best Television Series – Drama for three consecutive years. Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade or creating acclaimed original programming, the AMC experience is an uncompromising celebration of great stories. AMC’s original stories include “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead,” “The Killing” and “Hell on Wheels.” AMC further demonstrates its commitment to the art of storytelling with AMC’s Docu-Stories, a slate of unscripted original series, as well as curated movie franchises like AMC’s Can’t Get Enough and AMC’s Crazy About. Available in more than 97 million homes (Source: Nielsen Media Research), AMC is owned and operated by Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, and its sister networks include IFC, Sundance Channel, WE tv and Wedding Central. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Story Matters HereSM.
About Left/Right
Left/Right is a leading producer of documentary and reality television programming. The company’s goal is to create unscripted television and film projects that illuminate the drama and comedy of real life: we tell stories that are both honest and surprising, revealing and entertaining, dramatic and cinematic. We do so by blending the conventions of documentary filmmaking with the look and feel of scripted television. Our talents and tastes are as diverse as our production slate: projects run the gamut from This American Life, the Emmy Award-winning television adaptation of the popular public radio series (for Showtime) – to The Real Face Of Jesus, a feature documentary for The History Channel – to Mob Wives, a docu-series for VH1 about a group of women who are married to the mob. Banks Tarver and Ken Druckerman are the co-founders and co-presidents of the company, which is based in New York City.