tonight on "nightline," cold calls. debt collectors gone wild. >> what's up you [ bleep ]? >> offensive. >> go [ bleep ] back to africa. >> reporter: harassing. >> this is your [ bleep ] wake up call, man. >> reporter: illegal and unrelenting. who is really behind these calls? and is there anything that can be done to stop them? and, social scene. a big name screen writer takes on a big name internet mogul. we take a behind the scenes look at the controversial new film about facebook founder mark zuckerberg, and the real life drama that inspired the movie.

plus, kitchen time machine. a taste of the old south and a menu fit for george washington. we eat history with an up and coming master chef in tonight's plate list. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, sit ya cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," september 24th, 2010. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with debt collectors. it's understandable the banks want credit card customers to stay current with their bills. what's less easy to understand is how some debt collectors have gotten away with some very offensive behavior. especially shocking is the obscene, even racist language used in calls, placed at all times of the day and night. but now, it's been caught on tape. senior investigative correspondent brian ross brings us this report. brian?

>> reporter: cynthia, complaints about debt collectors and their tactics remain by far the number one source of consumer complaints received by the federal trade commission. and based on what we found in an abc news investigation, the tactics have reached an all-time low. in some cases, used on behalf of major american corporations. >> received august 7th at 8:10 p.m. >> what's up [ bleep ]? tell me, how do you stop two [ bleep ] kids from jumping on top of your bed? stick velcro on the ceiling. >> reporter: after bank of america reported that allen jones, 26, had an overdue credit card bill of $81, its debt collectors went on the attack, with a series of obscene, racist messages left on his phone. >> hi y'all, my name is jamal smith and i'm looking for some watermelons. i'm also interested in a couple of slaves, maybe you can go ahead an pick some of my cotton fields. go ahead, give me a call to lick my [ bleep ].

>> reporter: jones, a clothing salesman in dallas, says the debt collector's calls continued, even after he told them his bank of america account was up to date. >> i double checked. with my bank, online. and to please quit calling my phone. by that time, you know, the representative acted like, oh, we can call you as many times as we want. >> reporter: and the calls continued. each incredibly more obscene and disgusting than the one before it. 10:41 p.m. >> what's up you [ bleep ] [ bleep ]. talking about going back to mother [ bleep ] mexico and [ bleep ]. go mother [ bleep ] back to mother [ bleep ] africa or some [ bleep ]. pick up some mother [ bleep ] cottons over there. >> reporter: 10:44 p.m., using the name of jones' wife. >> hi, i'm looking for ashley. hey, ashley this is your papi over here, man. i'm waiting for you. come up into my sheets. i take care of you, man.

>> reporter: 6:33, the following morning. >> this is your [ bleep ] wake up call, man. >> reporter: 6:44 a.m. >> this is your [ bleep ] wakeup call, you lazy. get your [ bleep ] [ bleep ] up and go pick some mother [ bleep ] cotton fields. >> reporter: jones says the calls continued for weeks with threats to shank him, a prison term for a knifing. and, to harm his family. >> they had somebody, you know, talk about my kids, the things that they wanted -- that they was going to do to me, like, shank me and tear me a new a-hole, you know, all the things over $81. >> reporter: jones' lawyers were able to track the calls to the death collection company used by bank of america. advanced call center technologies, a.c.t. and one of its employees in texas, this man, who worked as a supervisor there. >> hey, what's up [ bleep ]. >> is that a voicemail message

that you left? >> ah, i guess if it's recorded, it sounds like me. that sounds like me a whole lot. >> reporter: in testimony for a lawsuit brought by allen jones, the debt collector said he had been hired by a.c.t. just seven months after he left prison, where, he said, he developed racial attitudes. >> so, it's kind of hard to shake off six years of prison time. >> reporter: in another case involving another bank of america customer, the same debt collection company hounded geoff burke of lynchburg, virginia, with similar phone tactics. >> saved message, wednesday, 1:58 p.m. >> yeah, that's what i thought, you're not going to pick up the phone, huh? yeah, i have you scared, you don't want to pick up the phone now? huh? it is because you're in bed with your sister? or with your mom, your cousin? huh? or what? little punk. >> reporter: but it was a case of mistaken identity. burke says he received calls like that for months until they finally realized they had the wrong person.

>> the calls came from a blocked number. the individual would not identify himself. i had no way to put an end to the phone calls. >> reporter: both burke and allen jones sued a.c.t. >> yeah, that's what i thought. >> reporter: jones' lawyers claim the company hires young, aggressive collectors and supervisors with shady backgrounds and has a culture of using racist approaches to get someone to pay up. >> in my opinion, they'll dehumanize anybody to get the money. >> the collectors get paid a percentage. a percentage of what they collect. >> reporter: we have system that they're going outside on breaks and getting high. they live the thug life. they have a prison mentality. these are the people a.c.t. chose to hire to collect dealt for bank of america. >> reporter: a.c. thpd's chairman says it has increased oversight and the calls in question were made by rogue operators. >> i worked very hard to, you know, to help build this company with our management team. and it's unthinkable that

somebody would call somebody and do that, but obviously there was a personal agenda. obviously, that this person had. >> reporter: more than just one person, though. >> there's one other case but -- >> reporter: the testimony of others suggests, according to the lawyer for mr. jones, what they call a culture of thugs that's your operation in texas. >> i can't speak to that, you know -- >> reporter: would you say? >> i would say that's absolutely false. >> reporter: at trial, a jury found both the callers and the company responsible, and awarded allen jones more than $1.5 million. >> hopefully this will motivate people around the country to actually do something about it and don't just be subject to abuse from these harassing xeels. >> reporter: but that message seemed to have fallen on deaf ears at bank of america. even after the verdict, after we sent the company cop pips of the obscene phone calls on its behalf, bank of america continued to use the same debt collection agency to handle

overdue accounts. >> [ bleep ] make you my bitch, man. >> if bank of america won't stop sending its business to companies like this, it's going to continue. the buck has to stop with the creditor. >> reporter: bank of america refused to provide anyone to talk to us on camera for this report, so, we went looking for its ceo, brian moynihan. we're working on a story for abc. who said he was unaware of the problem. so, we gave him a copy of the recorded calls. let me know why bank of america still uses them. >> i'll let you know. >> reporter: is that language acceptable? the f-word? >> i'll let you know. >> reporter: two days later, bank of america essentially fired the debt collection agency as a result of what we raised in our investigation, according to the agency chairman. bank of america says their decision had nothing to do with our story. as one senior federal official said, the problem is, abusive phone calls work.

and the bottom line has too often trumped common decency and the law, cynthia. >> what a story. what a powerful investigation. our thanks, brian, as always. when we return, facebook, from the computer screen to the silver screen. if you fight to sleep in the middle of the night, why go one more round ? you don't need a rematch, but a rethink. with lunesta. lunesta is thought to interact with gaba receptors associated with sleep. lunesta helps you get the restful sleep you need. lunesta has some risk of dependency. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving or engaging in other activities while asleep without remembering it the next day have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations, or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions such as tongue or throat swelling occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste,

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we turn now to hollywood, and a movie that while its yet to be released, has a lot of people talking. "the social network" is the story of mark zuckerberg, facebook's founder, now a 26-year-old billionaire. the film was written by aaron

sorkin, famous for his hit series "the west wing." now, sorkin has turned his considerable talented to zuckerberg, and the movie may have blockbuster written all over it. my co-anchor bill weir sat down with aaron sorkin, the man behind the movie. >> if you guys were the inventors of facebook, you would have invented facebook. >> reporter: in courtroom drama style, "the social network" tells the story of the creation of facebook. mark zuckerberg, who launched the site. >> hey, mark? >> reporter: eduardo, zuckerberg's early partner forced out and souped his once best friend. and the winkle boss twins. identical big men on campus. >> i'm 6'5", 220, and there's two of men. >> reporter: who sued and settled for tens of million, but still claim zuckerberg stole their idea. >> i've committed to starting the start-up education foundation, whose first project will be $100 million challenge

grant. >> $100 million. >> reporter: facebook's baby faced billionaire appeared on "oprah" today. whether the timing is intentional or not, this zuckerberg -- >> every child deserves a good education. >> reporter: is a stark contrast to this one. >> are you okay? >> we're ranking girls. >> reporter: in the film, she an awkward guy. it's sort of a morality play perfect for william shakespeare or aaron sorkin. did you know immediately how you were going to approach the story? >> no. i knew immediately that i wanted to do it. it was the fastest i've ever said yes to anything, though i never met him or spoken to him, i have a lot of affection and a lot of empathy for mark. i read a review from a blogger the other day, saying, the movie made her want to egg mark zuckerberg's house and then help him clean it up. and a lot of people are going to

have that reaction. >> reporter: facebook told us, quote, they do a wonderful job of telling a good story. of course, the reality probably wouldn't make for a fun or interesting movie. and others question the sexy portrayal of real life geeks. >> you don't know my name, do you? >> is it stanford? >> reporter: but sorkin insists he drew every morsel from witnesses. when he sent the script to facebook for feedback, he said the only notes he got back was computer jargon. >> nothing was invented to hollywood-ize this. >> reporter: truth or fiction, there is no debating this film is classic aaron sorkin. >> you want me on that wall. you need me on that wall. >> reporter: from the quotable "a few good men." >> you know what state has a large population of hispanics? i want to say maine. >> reporter: to the crackling diagnose low at kwf the west

wing." his scenes are verbal knife fights. sharp, quick, devastating. >> this is more important than re-election. i always wonder if you speak the way you write. >> no. i would love for people to think that i'm as quick and clever as the characters that i write. but -- you'd be disappointed if you met me. >> reporter: what's the significance of the pens? >> yeah, if you press them against a piece of paper, you can write. i've found. >> reporter: his emmy-encouraged movie lot office is a long way from scaresdale, new york, where he first fell in love with broadway dialogue before he was old enough to know what it meant. >> you want answers? >> i want the truth. >> you can't handle the truth! >> reporter: "a few good men" was his first play. before long, he found himself in hollywood, mind and key board ablaze. >> i am the president. >> reporter: is it true that the

first draft of "the american president" was 385 pages? >> yes. i delivered it in a shopping bag. i -- and -- >> reporter: for people that don't know, one page is a minute, right, on screen? >> generally speaking, yeah. we're talking about a seven-hour movie with a dinner break. and i just -- i -- i loved writing about a president. >> reporter: the leftovers of that film became a pilot for "the west wing," the acclaimed glimpse behind the curtain of a president and his staff. for democrats, it was policy porn. >> drug control appropriations. >> $17.6 billion. >> reporter: full of hope and change long before this guy came along. >> yes we can. >> reporter: if you were writing the obama administration, as a tele-play -- >> it's like the hotel housekeeping crew that's got to come in and clean up the suite

after led zeppelin has been there. i would do what he was so great at in the campaign, which was making our heart race. >> reporter: if you had written a character of a female governor from alaska -- >> if i had written into "the west wing" the people who are the leaders on the right today, whether it's sarah palin, rush limbaugh, glenn beck, i would have been e vice rated by the right for portraying them acid yot monsters. >> thanks very much. >> reporter: in 2000, "the west wing" broke the record for most emmy wins, and then he earned a different kind of record. he was arrested for drug possession and ordered into rehab. he now says he's been clean for nearly a decade. >> there's no such thing as a day where i don't think about it, but it gets easier. >> reporter: how does it affect your work, being sober?

>> it's not insane anymore. >> reporter: now it makes sense. >>ly tell you that if drugs were the magic that was making me write well, i still wouldn't go back to them. i'd write greeting cards and try to make a living doing that. >> reporter: unlikely, since reviews for "the social network" make it one of the most anticipated film of the year, with one notable exception. we are a few blocks away from facebook. you want to say hi? >> i would love to go say hi. but i'm sure they're very busy. >> reporter: among friendly crowds on campuses like harvard or stanford, it seems the rift from zuckerberg could be healed with a friendly online poke. just one problem. your page is really spare. >> that is a sad and lonely looking facebook page. but it -- there's really nothing there except that i'm a male. >> reporter: he has stopped

using the site. >> i think that social networking, socializing on the internet is to socializing what reality tv is to reality. it -- it feels like a way to reinvent yourself, which is something a lot of people want. when there's a wall post that said, had a girl's night tonight, split five desserts, better hit the gym tomorrow, that's somebody who is trying to be ally mcbeal. >> reporter: so now, he will poke people the best way he knows how. >> i believe i deserve some recognition from this board. >> i'm sorry? >> yes. >> i don't understand. >> which part? >> reporter: quick words on a big screen. i'm bill weir for "nightline" in palo alto, california. >> "the social network" opens next friday, october 1st. and when we return, southern comfort cooking. my green shirt? ♪

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with cynthia mcfadden. >> and we turn to food, and a chef named sean brock, who won the 2010 james beard award for best chef in the southeast. he's out cooking in a restaurant where george washington dined in 791. he's uncovered a trove of recipes once lost to history. sean brock is tonight's plate list. >> my favorite food that i'm embarrassed to talk about eating, to a degree, is definitely slim jims. i just think they're so delicious. and if you think about it, slim

jims, that's southern. and it's so tasty. it has such a pleasant snap. >> we have buckwheat, oats, all have been braised in a delicious pork stock. to these beautiful mushrooms, going to be sauteed quickly. easily one of my favorite things in the entire univurs, and that's pork belly. it tastes incredible. eat a piece of country hall and drink a little bit of burr bone and tell me that's not the most amazing thing you've ever had. pork and corn. it's the craftsmanship. and it the tradition and care put into those ingredients, and the patience that tastes so good. right at the last minute, stir in that. the greens are hot. we put this right on top of the green mixture and garnish with

the beautiful, sweet, delicious, wild mushrooms. we have blueberries that we preserved. that's going to add a beautiful acidity to the dish. i was lucky enough to grow up in a very rural part of virginia in a town so small there are know restaurants. it forces you to cook all day. to this very day, i have my grandmother's wild goose beans growing in my garden. my chores were sitting on the porch shucking corn or grating cabbage. at the time, when i was young, i hated it. but then, you start to fall in love with food, you start to realize food is delicious. so we're going to start by simply searing this foie gras.

that fat is going to seep into the johnny cake batter. it tastes incredible. this is elderberry jam. this is what i got to eat when i behaved properly as a kid. it takes a really long time because the berries are very, very, very small. always kind of a special occasion jam. a couple of these little johnny cakes. this is one of the most beautiful things on the entire face of the planet. this is the south, i mean, you smell it, that's what the south smells like. johnny cakes, country hall, tennessee foie gras, wild elderberries all in one place. super delicious. >> there's fighting drink, piss drunk and puking drunk. drinking whiskey. you're not going to get me in trouble with this on whiskey. my mom already thinks i drink too much. you're not going to put that on national television?

>> southern cooking and drinking. and just a rewinder, there's still time to vote in the people's plate list contest. just go to the "nightline" page at abcnews.com and click on your favorite chef. voting ends sunday, winner on monday. here's jimmy kimmel with what's coming up next on abc. >> jimmy: thanks cynthia. building wind farms and

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