*Tyler Perry is speaking out about his legacy and his hope that his film studio in Atlanta impacts future generations of content creators.
“At this moment, it really is about legacy,” Perry told CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King during Tribeca Film Festival’s “Tribeca Talks” directors series, NBC News reports.
We reported earlier that the 330-acre entertainment complex – which used to be a military facility named Fort McPherson -is the only major film studio in the nation owned by a Black American. Fort McPherson is a deactivated Army base built by slaves.
“To have me be the owner of that very land that people were plotting and planning on how to keep 3.9 million Negros enslaved on, be owned by one Black man,” Perry said, “I think about those people — the ancestors — and what they must think if they could know that. Like, what would that feel like?”
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Perry has more than 13 films, 22 theatrical plays and seven television shows under his belt. His studio holds 12 sound stages that are named after “African Americans who really inspired me,” Perry said, including Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, Cicely Tyson and Sidney Poitier, per the report.
According to the theJasmineBRAND, Perry allegedly dropped $16 million on the star-studded grand opening gala for his studio back in 2019. Among the many celebs that showed up to walk the red carpet were Halle Berry, Cecily Tyson, Whoopie Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Samuel Jackson, Spike Lee and Viola Davis.
Apparently, “a big portion was allotted to cover travel accommodations for the A-listers to fly to Atlanta for the event,” the outlet writes, adding, “Tyler Perry allegedly covered flights and even chartered private planes for his VIP guests, plus hotel accommodations.”
Here’s what Halle Berry previously told Channel 2 Action News about what an all-black-owned studio means to her.
“It means that we’re here, and we ain’t going nowhere,” Berry said. “And you’re going to remember us a hundred years from now … and that we’re important. We matter. We have a right to be. And I love Tyler for that.”
Perry wanted to create a space that he hopes will inspire future generations.
“I’m on the wave that they set in motion,” said Perry of those who inspired his journey, such as his great-grandfather, who was enslaved. “So I feel like I’m supposed to live well. I feel like I’m supposed to have everything that I want. Not just for me, but for everyone who didn’t get it.”
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