Filmed in Detroit and Atlanta, the eight-episode series tells a dramatized version of the story of the Black Mafia Family, a drug trafficking and money laundering organization that was started and run by brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, in Detroit, in 1989.
The operation is one of the most influential in American history, raking in more than $270M in profits across 11 states, reaching every region in the U.S.
Huggins hopes the series has as broad of a reach as the actual Black Mafia Family, while also crafting a truthful, yet entertaining retelling of the story as it unfolded.
“I’ve been working on this for over three and a half years. I’ve been to prison like three or four times, visiting Meech. I sat down with Terry, for countless hours,” Huggins said. “So it’s definitely going to be as close to accurate as it can, while still giving me the bounds to be creative and tell a story.”
Connecting with the originators of Back Mafia Family helped make the writing accurate, but there was still the issue of accurately portraying a younger “Big Meech” on the screen.
What better person to portray him, than Big Meech’s actual son, Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr.?
50 Cent felt so strongly about this that he moved Flenory Jr., a non-actor at the time, out to Los Angeles and set him up with a rigorous course of acting lessons over an 18-month period.
Flenory Jr. truly earned his role. To him, the experience has been more than worth it. “I want people to really be able to read between the lines and understand the love, and the soul, and the loyalty, and the brotherhood that BMF has,” Flenory Jr. said on the red carpet.
Contributing to the showing of other aspects of the power and social dynamics of Detroit at the time will be Detroit native and rap icon Eminem. He will play the role of White Boy Rick in an episode later in the series.
Another role, as a pastor, was originally written for 50 Cent. That is, until 50 thought of a better person for the job: Snoop Dogg. Snoop will appear in “BMF” for the episode that 50 Cent will direct.
Watch new episodes of “BMF” on Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on Starz.
