Perry also plans to give back to the community by assisting displaced individuals who need hope and a fresh start!

Days after the event, stars of television and film are still talking about the historic opening of a major film studio! Playwright, actor, and producer Tyler Perry officially made an amazing dream come true on Saturday, October 5 at the star-studded grand opening of his Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. The property spans 330 acres and includes 12 soundstages named after influential African-Americans like Spike Lee, Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, and Diahann Carroll; a replica of the White House, and so much more. Recently, Perry has been on a media tour talking about his ownership of what was once a Confederate army base, fatherhood, as well as his newest shows premiering on BET this fall, “Sistas” and “The Oval.” However, his most talked about interview is his sit down with CBS This Morning’s co-host Gayle King.

In the interview, Tyler mentions turning the big 5-0 and how after creating so many landmark plays, he feels nowhere close to that age: “At 28, I went into this shell ‘cause I started touring [doing] 300 something shows a year. Somewhere around 44 or 45, I came out of it and I go ‘wait a minute where did all those years go?’ So now I feel like I’m still 35. So I feel like I’m just getting started. There’s nothing about me that feels like 50…whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

Perry also discussed what he refers to as “poetic justice” in his full and independent ownership of his massive studio: “The property that slaves built that was once a Confederate army base,” he said to King. “The Confederate Army [was] fighting to keep Negroes enslaved in America. Fighting, strategy, planning…on this very ground. And now this very ground is owned by me.”

Although Perry has made significant contributions to the film and television industry over the years, he told King that he feels ignored by Hollywood but it doesn’t bother him: “My audience and the stories that I tell are African-American stories specific to a certain audience, specific to a certain group of people that I know that I grew up with and we speak a language. Hollywood doesn’t necessarily speak the language. A lot of critics don’t speak that language so to them it’s like ‘what IS this?’ But I know what I do is important. I know what I do touches millions of people around the world.”

We at AccordingToLariah.com are very proud of all that Tyler Perry has accomplished! In his sitdown with King, he revealed that he plans to build a compound on the grounds of the studio to help displaced individuals of all backgrounds and preferences, especially youth and women. He says he wants to train them in the film and television business so that they can “become self-sufficient” and to “re-enter society and they pay it forward again.” This type of selflessness is what so many love about Perry and it should inspire all of us to do the same: help one another! Continue to dream big, Mr. Perry! Beyond the sky is the limit!

Check out some of the red carpet arrivals at the “Imagine This” themed grand opening of Tyler Perry Studios!

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