By By Arthur McLean
Is Atmore ready for its 15 minutes of fame?
Los Angeles, Calif. based Kanpai Pictures spent several days in Atmore talking to its residents filming, as part of their research for a possible new television program.
The crew spoke with Chamber of Commerce director Emilie Mims, Mayor Howard Shell, and numerous other residents over the course of three days.
The crew drove up through Jacksonville, Fla. researching small towns throughout the panhandle of Florida, Alabama and Louisiana.
The crew reportedly spent the most time in Atmore, staying beyond their schedule for Williams Station Day and returning to the town briefly after their visit to several other towns.
Mims said the producers described the show to her as a type of extreme makeover for an entire town, a reality-type television program that would feature an entire town and improvements to it.
The crew not only looked for and talked to community leaders, but they also looked for community "characters" and asked about race relations in town.
"They're looking for a town to serve as a backdrop to a TV program," Shell said. "His comments to me were that they really liked Atmore. They've come back for a second visit, but I don't know what type of show it would be."
Shell, cautious and protective about Atmore's image, said he was interested in the show, "as long as it proclaimed the city and its citizens in a positive light. It could be very positive, but we have to wait and see."
Whether or not the production company founded by Jay Karas and Andee Kuroda want to shed a positive light on Atmore remains to be seen.
Kanpai Pictures has film credits to such shows as "The Osbourne Family Christmas Special" with Ozzy Osbourne and his family, and several awards shows.
As with many things in dealing with Hollywood, the people of Atmore will have to wait and see what happens next.