Nick Kroll delivered a heartfelt plea for productions to return to Los Angeles — then joked about moving to Austin himself. The comedian, writer, producer, director and actor made the pitch Thursday at the Variety Entertainment & Technology Summit presented by EY, where he was a featured keynote speaker. His message was simple: filming in L.A. brings life back to the city.
Kroll spoke about his upcoming Netflix comedy series A Hundred Percent, which he co-created and stars in. The show is set to debut on Netflix in 2027 after being filmed in Los Angeles. Kroll said the decision was personal. “I needed to make this show in L.A. It feels like it’s about people who live in Los Angeles,” he said. “I’ve lived here for almost 20 years.”
A Love Letter to L.A.
Kroll co-created A Hundred Percent with his friend Gabe Liedman, the creator of Q-Force and showrunner of the first season of PEN15. The cast includes Sam Richardson, Jason Mantzoukas and Vanessa Bayer, with Diane Lane joining in a recurring role. Kroll described the show as a “love letter to the city that we live in.”
He told the audience that the crew was “in such a happy mood making a show in Los Angeles.” The experience was “an awesome experience, and I’m so grateful to the city for helping make that happen.” He added that he hopes the production community “continues to grow because I think all of the doldrums that we’ve all been feeling for so many years will hopefully begin to work itself out.”
His pitch for L.A. was direct. “The more that we have a thriving, ongoing shooting community here in Los Angeles, it will bring life back. Not only money, but just like it will bring a vitalization, a vitality to the city that I think I have missed from when I moved here, and like the dream of coming to Hollywood and making things and being around people who are making things,” he said.
The Podcast Network Joke
Kroll then quipped: “That said, I’m personally moving to Austin to start a podcast network.” The timing was perfect. After praising L.A. as a creative hub, he announced his own departure.
The Show About Thought Leaders
A Hundred Percent centers on the world of thought leaders, self-help gurus and wellness influencers. Kroll described it as “a show about the world of thought leaders, self-help gurus, wellness influencers.” He noted that much of where these figures live is on panels like the one he was speaking at, in “sad ballrooms” like the Four Seasons room where he was addressing the conference.
He detailed the amenities. “Where you only get pitchers of water, tiny mints, and if you really search, a San Pellegrino, but that’s not what matters,” he said.
Kroll said his goal with any project is “just trying to first and foremost work with the most talented people I can find.” For A Hundred Percent, he pointed to Liedman, the cast and the writers. “I just think are the funniest people… It’s just an incredibly talented group,” he said.
He offered a blunt piece of advice for anyone trying to succeed in entertainment. “Just surround yourself with quality people, because assholes — they’re just the worst, you know. So that’s what I would say,” he said. He added, “That’s a pretty profound statement, if Variety wants to lead with that.”
A Long Run on FX
Kroll is also an executive producer of the FX sitcom Adults, which follows five 20-something friends living together in Queens, New York, in one of the group’s childhood homes. He has served as EP and voice actor for several Netflix animated series, including Mating Season, Human Resources and the Emmy-nominated Big Mouth.
Kroll and “Adults” creators Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw started developing the show several years ago, “and then we cast the next generation of incredibly funny comedic performers, and they fucking killed it,” he said.
Adults comes under Kroll’s longrunning first-look deal with FX, which has been going on for more than 15 years. He said he loves making fun of FX’s “fearless” tagline but praised the network’s willingness to take risks. “They are genuinely incredibly innovative in how they launch stuff and how they’re willing to take shots,” he said.
Season 1 of Adults found an audience, but it wasn’t as big as everyone wanted. To address that, Kroll said they shot a prequel episode “to give a new way into the show.”
Ratings Grew By 40%
Kroll said about Season 1 of Adults, “Audiences found it, really responded to it, and then were able to understand the show and the characters in a way that they entered into the rest of the season and stuck around.” In Season 2, the show’s ratings grew by 40% domestically and 100% internationally.
“It’s a testament to FX and and John Landgraf at the head of it to trust us to build something to keep with something that they know is quality and that’s what it comes down to,” he said.
Attention Span Challenges
Kroll reflected on the difficulty of capturing audiences in today’s crowded media landscape. “I really think it’s such incredible competition for people’s attention that you really have to figure out a way to grab them, but also hold them gently, so that they don’t run away. And that’s the hard thing to figure out. That’s the game we’re all in right now,” he said.
He opened his talk by riffing on the previous panel about AI in the entertainment industry. There was a sentiment expressed that humans will always find a way to keep the tech in check. Kroll responded, “Don’t underestimate the ability of machines to find a way to destroy us as well,” adding, “I say that generally without much alarm.”
The Pitch’s Core
Kroll’s pitch for L.A. was sincere, but his joke about Austin undercut any heavy-handedness. He wants productions to stay in the city, but he is not chaining himself to a desk anywhere.
The contrast between his appeal and his joke is the story’s structure. He is a working professional who has built a career in L.A., but he sees the city as a place of opportunity, not obligation.
The key facts from the summit:
- Show: A Hundred Percent, co-created by Nick Kroll and Gabe Liedman
- Network: Netflix
- Release: Expected debut in 2027
- Cast: Sam Richardson, Jason Mantzoukas, Vanessa Bayer, Diane Lane (recurring)
- FX series: Adults
- Ratings growth: 40% domestic, 100% international in Season 2
- Kroll’s deal: First-look with FX, over 15 years
Kroll’s talk was a reminder that the business of entertainment is about people. He pointed to talent, happiness and quality again and again, even when discussing the numbers. That is a rare thing in a keynote speech, and it made his pitch feel genuine rather than mechanical.
The joke about Austin was the cherry on top. It showed that Kroll knows how to entertain while making a point.
Kroll’s message for L.A. is simple: keep making things, keep bringing people together, and the city will thrive. He believes in it enough to film there, and he jokes about leaving for a podcast network. That combination is the story’s shape.
Source material: “Nick Kroll Delivers Heartfelt Appeal for Productions to Shoot in L.A.: ‘It Will Bring Life Back’ to the City,” Variety.
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