Tyler Perry unveiled a new multimillion-dollar TV and film studio Saturday on 30 acres in southwest Atlanta.
With a guest list that included Will and Jada Smith, Boris Kodjoe, Eva Pigford and Mary J Blige, Perry says his renewed commitment to the city came after he had considered leaving Atlanta for good after
neighbors complained about noise and traffic at his old studio in a
neighborhood close to downtown.
"Even though it was a studio there for 15 years, there was a lot of
resistance in everything I was doing," Perry said in a telephone
interview with The Associated Press earlier in the week.
"I was
thinking about leaving at one point, but this is home for me."
His new Tyler Perry Studios contains more than 200,000 square feet
of studio and office space in an area that once housed Delta Air Lines'
finance, reservation and computer center. It was vacant when Perry
found it.
The guest list included Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith,
John Legend, Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker, Hank Aaron and Whitney Houston.
Perry, 39, said the studio features five sound stages that will be
named after Quincy Jones, Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee and Cicely Tyson —
with one still unnamed.
He will shoot his TBS sitcoms "House of Payne"
and "Meet the Browns" along with other film projects at the studio.
Perry said he knew the new location would be an improvement. His old
building was on property zoned commercial, but the street next to it is
residential.
"I knew spiritually I was in the wrong place," said Perry, whose projects include "Tyler Perry's the Family That Preys."
"You can never be upset with the people who forced you into your
dream or up higher," he said.
"They forced me out into a higher
situation. It's worked out much better for me."
Perry drew criticism from the Writers Guild of America, West, after
Perry fired four writers from "House of Payne" last week.
Tyler Perry unveiled a new multimillion-dollar TV and film studio Saturday on 30 acres in southwest Atlanta.
