In early October, Tyler Perry made Hollywood yield the floor to Atlanta for the night. The world watched as Tyler Perry Studios opened its doors to Beyoncé, Jay Z, Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee, Ava DuVernay, Samuel L. Jackson and many other stars.
A red carpet greeted the movers and shakers of Black Hollywood as they took their first steps in. The studios house 12 soundstages named after icons Diahann Carroll, Denzel Washington, Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry, Sidney Poitier, Della Reese, Spike Lee, Harry Belafonte, Cicely Tyson, Whoopi Goldberg and Will Smith. It also features a replica of the White House. Perry even dedicated plaques of stars and a walk of fame to several actors in his previous projects, actors who rarely get their due credit from other Hollywood bigwigs.
The opening was nothing short of an ode to Black excellence. It was poetic. It was historic.
“While everybody was fighting for a seat at the table talking about #OscarsSoWhite, #OscarsSoWhite, I said, ‘Y’all go ahead and do that,’” he said at the BET Awards, just months before he opened his studio. “But while you’re fighting for a seat at the table, I’ll be down in Atlanta building my own.”
Perry did what he said he would. He didn’t wait for a seat. He built a table, one 330 acres in measure, on the land where Fort McPherson, a confederate army base, once was. He became the first Black person to outright own a major film studio lot. It’s located near Georgia State Route 166, the highway exit where he used to sleep in his car when he was homeless and hustling to break into the industry. And it’s big enough to fit Disney, Paramount and Warner Brothers’ studios combined.
The opening of Tyler Perry Studios feels like a bright beginning to a new era in Black cinema and television. Of course, networks like BET, TV One, OWN and Bounce have long created platforms for Black productions on TV. For decades, there have been occasional surges in widespread interest around Black-centered productions. It happened in the ’90s with romantic comedies like “Poetic Justice” and “Boomerang,” coming-of-age films like “Boyz n the Hood” and “The Wood” and TV sitcoms like “Martin” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Now, change is happening on another level. Black creators are getting a bit more control over their projects and pushing Hollywood players toward a more equitable industry. More filmmakers and producers are making concerted efforts to bring new talent into the fold and speak out about the need for inclusion at every level. Directors like Lee, John Singleton and others did much of this foundational work early in their careers. Progression in the form of inclusion riders, pay equity and creating our own opportunities at the scale of Tyler Perry Studios are the fruits of their labor.
But progress is far from linear. While many people on social media celebrated Perry’s big moment, others criticized the on-screen narratives that helped him become one of the most influential men in Hollywood. His legacy building his empire is beyond admirable and so necessary
Benjamin Aduroja
Financial Advisor, Certified Finance Coach & Investment Advisor.
CEO (Chief Enabling Officer),
Cutting Edge Partners,
17/19, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
T: +23470 8132 8873
E: ceo@cuttingedgepartners.com.ng
W: www.cuttingedgepartners.com.ng
