BET Premiere Cinema Original Film THE START UP Debuts Tonight

The wait is almost over for the highly anticipated BET Premiere Cinema original film "The Start Up" starring Diggy Simmons, Teyana Taylor, Bria Murphy and Allen Maldonado premieres tonight, September 19 at 8 PM ET/PT.

"The Start Up" is a fresh, edgy look at the life of millennials centered on a 20 year-old blogger named Blake Monroe (Simmons). The film follows Blake and his crew as they attempt to build their fledgling blog against all odds while navigating through life, love and the cutthroat business world. Follow the journey of Blake, his best friend Manny (Maldonado), Manny's sister/Blake's ex-girlfriend Tae (Taylor), Manny's girlfriend Nia (Murphy) and tech wiz student Dot (Chris Brew) as they work their way to the top.

"The Start Up" is Executive Produced by Mara Brock Akil, Salim Akil and Kenya Barris.

For information on "The Start Up" log on to BET.com/TheStartUp. Join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #TheStartUpBET.

ABOUT BET NETWORKS

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United KINGDOM and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United KINGDOM and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.