Last summer, David Simon tweeted that he was excited to be filming in Baltimore. “Alarm just went off. A** up and moving. Today is the first day of filming in Baltimore in more than 14 years. Good to be home.” Last night, We Own This City debuted on HBO.
David Simon, a MoCo native, graduated from B-CC high school and is perhaps best known for creating one of the most popular HBO series of all-time, The Wire. His new limited series on HBO, We Own This City, based on the book We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops and Corruption by investigative journalist Justin Fenton, was shot in Baltimore during the second half of 2021.
Simon has brought back a lot of the crew that worked on The Wire, which includes writer/producer George Pelecanos, who graduated from Northwood High School. Simon and Pelecanos have worked together on HBO’s The Wire, Treme, The Deuce, and more.
We Own This City has plenty of additional ties to Montgomery County. Jon Bernthal, of Cabin John, stars at Sgt. Wayne Jenkins. Darrell Britt-Gibson, who graduated from Blake High School stars as Jemell Rayam, and Delaney Williams of Northwood High School, stars as Kevin Davis.
The Wire, also by Simon and Pelecanos, had plenty of ties to Montgomery County:
Actor Gbenga Akinnagbe, who played Chris Partlow, graduated from Magruder High School. Delaney Williams, who played Jay Landsman, is a graduate of Blair High School. Darrell Britt-Gibson, who played Darius “O-Dog” Hill, is a graduate of Blake High School. The show even featured Burtonsville in season 3, as the location where “burner” cell phones were purchased.
Featured photo courtesy of AP/Random House Books.
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