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Tyler Perry Believes His Studio Rivals Hollywood's Best

Associated Press

   LOS ANGELES - Tyler Perry remembered shedding tears when he saw an
   Atlanta highway exit bearing the name of his television and film studio
   for the first time.

   The actor-director-writer believes he might have the same emotions
   during the grand opening of his massive state-of-the-art Tyler Perry
   Studios on Saturday night. He's planning a star-studded unveiling of
   his 330-acre studio, where some big projects have already been filmed
   including his "Madea" films along with AMC's "Walking Dead" and
   Marvel's blockbuster hit "Black Panther."

   "When I came here in 1992, I came with a dream," Perry said in a recent
   interview. "I'm looking at everything I've dreamed and more to come to
   pass. It just reminds me. I just thought this was the Promised Land and
   that sign reminded me of that every time I pass it. The studio is a
   reminder as well."

   Perry said his sprawling studio rivals other major Hollywood studios
   including Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures. It's considered one of
   the largest production studios in the country with 12 soundstages, 40
   buildings on-site that are listed on the National Register of Historic
   Places and more than 200 acres of green space.

   The filmmaker built the studio on a former Army base called Fort
   McPherson, which is south of downtown Atlanta, after purchasing the
   land in 2015.

   "I gave them the absolute best," he said. "I built the absolute best I
   could. We perform and run this place like a top. We have excellent
   service and everything you would expect to have in a major film
   television studio. People are glad to shoot here. A lot of them want to
   return because of the way we handled it."

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