Director, screenwriter, producer, actor and playwright, Tyler Perry made history as the only Black man to own a major movie studio in the U.S. He offi
Director, screenwriter, producer, actor and playwright, Tyler Perry made history as the only Black man to own a major movie studio in the U.S. He officially opened his massive new film studio in Atlanta over the weekend with a party that drew celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Samuel L Jackson and Halle Berry who helped him launch his new facility, a 134-hectare (330-acre) studio, one of the largest in the US, that once served as a Confederate army base.
It used to known as Fort McPherson, during Civil War, when the south fought to keep Black people enslaved.
“I think it’s pivotal in everything that we’ve done, everything that we’re doing still, that we continue to try to motivate and inspire people,” said Perry, who was once homeless.
Winfrey praised Perry and said the new studio head was a force to be reckoned with.
“He didn’t wait for other people to validate or to say you should go this way, or that way. He said: ‘I’m going to create my own way,’ and as we can see here, become a force for himself,” Winfrey said.
Tyler Perry Studios has 12 soundstages, each named after a seminal black actor who have made strides in Hollywood, including the late Diahann Carroll.
