Starz series “BMF” is getting a third season, according to an announcement made soon after the debut of the second season earlier this month.
The series, which is shot in metro Atlanta and airs new episodes Friday nights, focuses on the real life rise of the Black Mafia Family, a drug trafficking and money laundering organization that started in Detroit in the late 1980s but later expanded nationwide before the feds took them down in 2005.
The pair responsible for BMF are Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory. In the series, Big Meech is played by his son Demetrius Flenory Jr., who recently met with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at Thrive in downtown Atlanta with fellow actor Myles Truitt (B-Mickie) to talk about the series. Meech wore a massive BMF silver and gold necklace.
“I got it in honor of my dad,” he said. “He used to wear jewelry like this to symbolize the family, not drugs.”
He empathized with his father’s plight in a violence-ridden Detroit neighborhood where opportunities were limited. “He had to use whatever resources he had to take care of his family,” he said. “Two empty jobs couldn’t pay the bills or fill the holes in his shoes.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rh
Credit: RODNEY HO/rh
“BMF” enters season 2 still in the late 1980s in Detroit with Flenory leaving the drug trade and Meech combining two drug gangs into one called BMF.
Bryan “B-Mickie” Mickie, the No. 3 person in command season one, moves up to No. 2 with Flenory out of the picture. He has little time to grieve after murdering his first love Kato after he found out she was betraying Meech because Detective Bryant, trying to take down Meech, finds B-Mickie’s murder weapon. He uses it as leverage to get inside dirt on Meech’s drug operation from B-Mickie. (B-Mickie is based on a real person named D. Meeks but not all his actions in the series, like the murder of Kato, actually happened.)
Naturally, Flenory will eventually lose patience with his legal car-ride service and go back to work with his brother in the drug trade, Lil Meech said.
Although most of the series is shot in Atlanta, they did shoot some exterior scenes at the family home in Detroit. “My grandma still lives in it,” Lil Meech said. “It was crazy being there. Just mind blowing.”
He said fans of the show have been supportive. “I was at a restaurant and a lady cried and passed out,” Lil Meech said. “It showed me how real this story is and how it touches people. It doesn’t matter what race or ethnicity you are. You can feel connected to ‘BMF’ in some kind of way.”
He regularly visits his father at an Oregon federal prison. Big Meech, who was indicted in 2005 and sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2008, isn’t set to leave until at least 2025. (His brother Flenory was let out early during the COVID-19 pandemic.)
“We talk about everything,” Lil Meech said. “He isn’t depressed at all. He’s very strong. He’s happy his story is being told the right way.”
ON TV
“BMF,” Fridays at 8 p.m. on Starz
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Credit: Cr. Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix © 2022
Credit: Cr. Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix © 2022
Moviemaker.com, a magazine, website and podcast network focused on the art and business of filmmaking with a special emphasis on independent film, named Atlanta the best city to work in for those seeking to make movies.
This is up from No. 3 a year ago, when the city was behind Toronto and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“Atlanta had a massive year,” said Tim Molloy, who runs the website. “We placed greater emphasis on film spending than in previous years.”
He also visited the SCAD Animation Festival last year in Atlanta and was “extremely impressed with the talent, enthusiasm and vibrancy of the filmmakers at all levels. Atlanta would have been number one based on strictly numerical scoring, but the visit made us feel even better about it.”
New York and Los Angeles are not included in the rankings because they are already so obvious as magnets for film makers.
The magazine calls Georgia the “center of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” noting that the industry is now pumping more than $4 billion a year into the state’s economy, courtesy of the generous tax credits to production companies.
“It’s a little more expensive than the average U.S. city, but it’s a bargain considering its size and abundance of anything you could want: jobs, creative opportunities, great food, and culture,” Movie Maker noted. “The permitting process is easy and efficient, and soundstages, equipment rental houses and post facilities abound. Atlanta is also home to the famed Atlanta Film Festival, Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, BronzeLens Film Festival, Morehouse Human and Civil Rights Film Festival, and SCAD TVfest, among other festivals.”
Conclusion? “The city’s next generation of filmmakers is coming in hot. Atlanta has energy, passion and a constant sense of progress.”
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Credit: Robb D. Cohen / www.robbsphotos.com
Credit: Robb D. Cohen / www.robbsphotos.com
R&B singer Seal is coming to the Fox Theatre on Saturday, May 6.
Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m. with prices ranging from $49.50 to $229.50 at Foxtheatre.org.
Seal, known for 1990s hits like “Kiss From a Rose” and “Crazy,” is headlining an Atlanta date for the first time in seven years. He last appeared at Chastain in 2016. In fact, he made multiple appearances at Chastain over the years.
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