Detroit. 1980s. Drugs. Crime. Unemployment. Poverty. Welcome to the BMF (Black Mafia Family). BMF tells the story of two real life brothers, Demetrius “Big Meech” (played by his real life son Demetrius “Little Meech” Flenory, Jr.) and Terry “Southwest T.” (a reference to southwest Detroit, not the airline) Flenory (played by (Da’Vinchi).
Far from glamorizing their criminal life, showrunner Randy Huggins (Star, Rebel, Power) spoke with Creative Screenwriting Magazine about presenting a crime story about family, freeing themselves and their community from poverty, and the relentless pursuit of the American Dream – grabbing that golden opportunity when it came along.
Huggins is a son of Detroit and therefore very familiar with how the city tragically fell to crime and drugs in the 80s. “Detroit has its own cultural backdrop.” He’s all too familiar with the rapid social and economic decline at the time. Detroit has the dubious honor of being the largest municipality in America to file for bankruptcy much later which heals wanted to touch on in BMF.
Randy Huggins
“Little Meech is Big Meech’s bloodline. He has a direct connection to his dad. BMF couldn’t have been the show it was without him,” said Huggins. “He knew part of their story that his dad only shared privately with him. He helped piece it all together.” The producers of BMF always wanted to cast an unknown actor to play the part of Big Meech. Little did they realize his son would snag the role. “When Little Meech fumbled on set, it came across as vulnerability which only added to the complexity of his character. The more he was on set, the more he morphed into his father and personified Big Meech.”
Interestingly, the Flenory brothers were not the usual contenders for a life of criminal activity. “They did not come from a broken home. They came from a two-parent household which upheld Christian beliefs.” Huggins naturally asked why the brothers made the decisions that they did given that poverty wasn’t a key factor in their lives. “This gave me the opportunity to tell a far more evolved story than simply street guys selling drugs.”
In contrast to the main action on screen being about the drug underbelly, “this is a story about love, brotherhood, and community.” This is the basis of the story of the Flenory brothers. This was their entire motivation for entering the drug world. It wasn’t greed, fame, or survival.
A Tale Of Two Brothers – Big Meech & Southwest T.
Demetrius and Terry had a tumultuous relationship, often arguing and acting against each other in BMF. Huggins deliberately chose to introduce the show with an origin story before the brothers’ relationship started to fall apart. They were both urban legends and complimentary to each other in their own right.
“Big Meech is one of the most charismatic characters I’ve ever met in real life. He’s a ninth grade dropout. He chose not to waste his life. He chose not to be a victim of circumstance. He really wanted to make something of himself. He didn’t want to be a drug dealer. He wanted to be the biggest drug dealer in the history of the world!”
The Flenory Brothers
“Whether you agree with his life choices or not, there is something to be said about his tenacity and how far Meech was willing to go.” Randy Huggins added that Meech’s real life son played his father in the series with the same single-minded determination as his father.
Southwest T. lacked the charisma of his brother. “He actually got shot in real life which may have contributed to his psyche.” What he lacked in charisma he more than compensated for with his mind. “Terry could look inside a bag of cash and tell you exactly how much was in there. That’s a skill Meech didn’t have.” Terry also had a bad temper. Despite their differences, their achievements were always a team effort. Neither thrived alone. “It was a Shaq and Kobe partnership of sorts,” laughed Huggins. “They were still successful after they split up, but not like when they were together.”
“Putting the two brothers together was always entertaining.” Finding the right balance to get each of their perspectives posed a particular challenge to the showrunner.
Growing up with firm family values allowed Demetrius and Terry to infuse them into their street family. The Flenory family hailed from Ohio and had to start anew when they settled in Detroit. “They had to depend on each other because they were the only family they knew. The brothers created a loyal extended family on the street.”
The Flenory business acumen was often applauded too. Much of what they learned was through on the job training. They weren’t victims, they didn’t lose their money to shysters, and their business grew exponentially. “Meech would go to any length to win.”
The Rise Of Hip Hop
In the early 2000s, Demetrius founded BMF Entertainment to promote and record top hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, Trina, and Fabolous. The business served two purposes – to launder the proceeds from cocaine sales and to assert their business acumen in a legitimate music venture. Ultimately, they wanted a legal business after retiring from crime. “They did what they had to do until they didn’t have to do it anymore.”
Jay-Z
“Many artists in hip hop were trying to create an opportunity.” It was a matter of survival through musical expression. And survival doesn’t necessarily require a life of crime and poverty as a precursor. Some artists came from the suburbs. Hip hop artists like David Banner and Dr. Dre are college graduates who wanted to create “beats” and lyrics. Not everyone made it. “You need to be saying something. I wanna hear your poetry. You need to paint this visual picture for me,” added Huggins.
Hip hop, like BMF Entertainment, both need soul to succeed. “You can’t see it. You can’t smell it. You can’t even touch it. You just feel it when it hits you inside.”
After viewing the entire season of BMF, Huggins would like “audiences to have a better perspective and understanding of the Flenory family and the city of Detroit. They go hand in hand.” Despite the show being set in the 80s, the showrunner invites the audience to explore parallels between the crack cocaine epidemic, crushing unemployment of the time, and the current opioid epidemic. Huggins hopes BMF will also give audiences a historical context of hip hop which is now mainstream.
“I want BMF to inspire people to have greater conversation about where we were, where we are today, how we got here, and how we move forward. If that happens, I feel like we’ve done our job.“
