Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1433736
One of the directors I worked with candidly admitted one day that they had asked the show runner: How is an Austrian immigrant Production Designer going to understand what BMF is all about? By that time, we were three months into successfully working with each other, had committed to building eight hero sets and had developed a visual language for the first season of this series. We had also learned to have appreciation and respect for one another, a friendship had formed. BMF Black Mafia Family is more than just a biopic. It's an homage to the legacy of two brothers who made it out. Who made it out of poverty and repression and made it big. While Terry and Meech Flenory carved their names into the crack epidemic (as kingpins) that swept across the United States in the '80s and '90s, they also left a huge legacy representing success, wealth, courage, loyalty, character, family and brotherhood—values that define many aspects of American culture and subculture up to this day. They inspired hip hop, fashion and the American dream for many. How do you tell a biographical story, centered around the heartbreak of a drug epidemic while focusing on values such as brotherhood and family Make it period: 1986/Detroit. BMF is a special project because it is deeply rooted in a family's real life and the organization that had a lasting impact on US history and many aspects of lack culture. When show runner andy Huggins called me and said he wanted me to design his first shot at show running, I was thrilled. With my background in social and cultural anthropology, this was my first shot at a biography and period piece. What mattered from the beginning was to create an environment where it is encouraged to ask questions. Coming from anthropology, I know how crucially important it is to ask these questions in such a way that any bias is kept out of them. Especially in a sociopolitical environment that is filled with tension, sadness, anger and the desire for positive changelike it was in the first half of 2020. I admit, I was intimated and wondered if I could bring a meaningful contribution to the project. I didn't know much about that world and I knew how much it mattered to deliver realistic design. This meant I had to dig deep into a world that was dierent in many ways from the s world I grew up in. It was important to be authentic and to find out what exactly andy and the family wanted to share. I have a beautiful, fierce and fair mother. he raised me to always be inquisitive and curious. he raised me to ask uestions and dierentiate. 2020 was a tough year on so many levels. Going into this job in a time of hardship and intolerance, it was crucial to create an environment where fear and bias are turned into curiosity. I knew when A-C. FLENORY FAMILY HOME, RESEARCH PHOTOS. D. FLENORY HOME FIRST FLOOR. SKETCH BY HERNAN CAMACHO. E. FLENORY HOME FIRST FLOOR. COLOR PALETTE. F. FLENORY HOME FIRST FLOOR. PRODUCTION STILL. F