Perry's greatest accomplishment has n...
Perry's greatest accomplishment has nothing to do with business
CNN
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN)
-- Tyler Perry is known today as the first African-American to own a
major film and TV studio. He's a pioneer whose own life story is a
rags-to-riches tale that reads like a screenplay.
Tyler Perry is the first African-American to own a major film and TV studio.
Now a writer, actor, director and producer -- Perry's success grew out
of a troubled home in a poor neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Strong on faith, Perry named his first play "I Know I've Been Changed,"
after an old Negro spiritual. It was a gospel musical about two adult
survivors of child abuse.
In 1991, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia,
where he worked as a bill collector and eventually scraped together
enough money to rent a small theatre and stage the play. With only 30
people in the audience, the play was a flop. For the next several
years, he struggled and was often broke and sometimes lived in his car.
But Perry refused to give up.
He finally got a second chance in 1998, when a promoter booked the show
in the Tabernacle, a former church turned concert hall in downtown
Atlanta. It was a sold out hit and the little boy from inner-city New
Orleans was well on his way.
Perry then took his plays on the
road and traveled the so-called "chitlin' circuit" to theaters in
Memphis, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, and Baltimore, Maryland -- where
black entertainers historically performed for predominantly black
audiences. He began making a name for himself with African-Americans.
In 2004, he started looking for backers for his first movie project
"Diary of Mad Black Woman," a story about a devoted wife in a bad
marriage. He said he faced a wall of ignorance when he pitched white
executives in Hollywood. One told him the project was doomed to fail at
the box office because the core audience for Perry's stage plays --
black churchgoers -- wouldn't go to the movies. Another said the
dialogue for his characters was unrealistic.
Though he was
largely unknown to white audiences, Perry refused to play by
Hollywood's rules and demanded creative control of his projects. 
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He was resigned to bankrolling the project himself and selling it as a
DVD when he got a call from the independent studio Lionsgate. They
struck a deal and he made "Diary" for about $5 million. The movie
earned 10 times that at the box office.
Since then, Perry's
movies have grossed nearly $400 million and he's developed a loyal
following. He now demands not only creative control but also ownership
of the finished product.
Still, it's just the beginning, he said.
"I don't necessarily feel like I've arrived."
Even so, Perry has a prolific output of stories, including his movies
"Why Did I Get Married," "Meet the Browns," "The Family that Preys,"
and "Madea's Family Reunion." He signed a $200 million deal with TBS
(owned by Time Warner, the same company that owns CNN) for 100 episodes
of "House of Payne," one of television's most popular shows among black
adults. The sitcom is now in syndication, making even more money for
Perry.
Perry said ownership of the finished product is key to
building wealth, a principle he hopes other African-Americans will
embrace. How are entertainment heavyweights changing black stereotypes?
"If you want to think about longevity," he said, "if you want to think
about your family and generations down the line, then you have to own
it."
And own it he does.
Tyler Perry
Studios, on 30 acres in Atlanta, is his black Hollywood. But he is
quick to acknowledge his debt to the legendary black actors from an
earlier generation by naming two of his soundstages after Sidney
Poitier and Cicely Tyson. He has also helped introduce them to a new
generation by casting Tyson, 76, an Oscar-nominated actress, in two of
his films. Tyson opens up about life, career »
A study by the NAACP found that African-Americans are "underrepresented
in almost every aspect of the television and film industry," but Perry
is able to hire on both sides of the camera. On his production crews,
black employees are getting unprecedented career opportunities, and
black actors are portraying characters beyond the predictable drug
dealers and thugs.
"What makes me feel great is to be able to
pull up to this place and to be able to have 300 people working and
running around, trying to get things done," he said. "That makes me
feel great."
His greatest accomplishment, he said, has nothing to do with business.
"It's more personal than that for me," he said. "My biggest success is
getting over the things that have tried to destroy and take me out of
this life. Those are my biggest successes. It has nothing to do with
work."
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The NAACP has honored Perry with its Image Award, but there are some
who believe his characters don't portray African-Americans positively.
"He's made a lot of money, but the quality of work is sorely lacking,"
said Todd Boyd, a University of Southern California film professor and
culture/media critic.
Some of Perry's characters rely heavily on
exaggerated personalities and slapstick comedy. Boyd is particularly
critical of Perry's recurring character, Madea, an over-the-top
grandmother who smokes marijuana and brandishes loaded guns she keeps
in her purse. Perry himself plays the tough, buxom matriarch, who runs
at full throttle fueled by country wisdom and ghetto strength.
"It seems a bit ironic that at the moment of the first African-American
president, the most popular African-American figure in the media is a
man in drag engaging some of the most stereotypical images of
African-Americans ever created," Boyd said.
Perry said his critics are missing the point.
"They miss the messages of empowerment," he said. "Sure, the silliness
of 'Madea,' the silliness of 'Brown,' it's broad, it's over the top.
Great. Fine. I get it. But how can you miss the message of forgiveness?
How can you miss the messages of empowerment?
"I would love to
share with them the letters that I've gotten from people. 'This helped
me get through a tough time.' 'I was gonna commit suicide.' 'My husband
and I weren't speaking until we saw "Why Did I Get Married?" It saved
our marriage.' "
For Perry, his work will always be about writing from his experiences, old and new.
"Whatever I'm experiencing in life is what I'll write about," he said.
"I'm telling you, just to think this little boy from Louisiana can do it, anybody can do it."
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