On Saturday, all of Black Hollywood’s elite descended upon Atlanta
to celebrate the grand opening of Tyler Perry Studios, the first ever
fully black-owned film studio lot. As The Hollywood Reporter points out,
the studio has no proprietary partners or corporate backing. This is
all Perry, baby.
Notable guests at the grand opening gala included Samuel L. Jackson,
Cicely Tyson, Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVernay, Stacey Abrams, Halle Berry,
Tiffany Haddish and a surprise appearance by Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
“Why
did it take so long?” Whoopi Goldberg said in an interview with THR.
“Why was he the first to get it? Now he’s the man who makes the
decisions, chooses
the movies, and he doesn’t have to ask anybody for shit. There’s
nothing better than that. He’s never on his knees. He gets what he needs
because he provided it.”
Tyler Perry also gave tribute to the late Diahann Carroll at the
event. “Her level of grace, class and inspiration was just beyond
anything I could ever imagine,” he said. “The very fact that we were
able to have her on the planet at the same time as we are, we should all
be very, very blessed.”
For those of us whose invite got lost in the mail, DuVernay came to
the rescue and offered a sneak peek at the stunning studio lot.
As you can see in the video, Perry dedicated the sound stages to
legends such as Oprah, Harry Belafonte, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee,
Whoopi Goldberg and even his own mother Willie Maxine Perry. And how can
your mouth not drop at that White House replica?! Damn.
Plus, DuVernay added an unforgettable fun fact.
“The studio lots of Disney, Warner Bros, Paramount, Fox and Sony
could fit inside Tyler Perry’s studio lot at the same time – and there
would still be 60 acres to spare,” DuVernay tweeted, also noting that
the lot stands on a former Confederate Army base.
People took to Twitter to express their awe and excitement over the
newly opened lot. As many people who have been following Perry’s career
know, his literal rags-to-riches story is quite the impressive feat.
The conversation around the studio’s grand opening has been a bit layered. In addition to the black community discussing the problematic stereotypes in
his films and television shows throughout the years, Perry has been
wrapped in controversy regarding his adverse relationship with unions.
In 2015, the Actors’ Equity Association added Perry to its “do not work”
list, citing Perry’s refusal to sign its contract.
Additionally, according to Deadline, Tyler Perry decided not to join the Hollywood boycott of Georgia in reaction to its “heartbeat” abortion law.
“Atlanta has been the dream. It has been the promised land,” Perry
noted, while confirming he is against the new law. “So when I got here,
this whole state and city has been amazing to me and I wouldn’t trade
that for anything. Also, I put $250 million in the ground here and in
the studio. So when you have a quarter of a billion dollars sat down in
the ground, you can’t just up and leave.”
Perry has been having quite the prosperous week. He recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Perry also appeared on the cover of People and discussed his future, including moving forward from his most popular character of Madea.
“I stayed that course bringing joy and laughter and lifting people,”
he told the magazine before teasing a possible fictional government
office run for the bodacious maternal character. “It had its purpose and
its power. For right now I’m done.”
Perry may be done with Madea, but he’s just getting started on the
next level of his empire. He recently partnered with BET for its new
digital channel, BET+, which just announced its upcoming lineup
including two series he produced, The Oval and Sistas.
