We are very excited to recognize Tyler Perry, Founder of Tyler Perry Studios, with a 2020 Elite Leadership IMPACT Award in entertainment.
Tyler is a world-renowned producer, director, actor, screenwriter, playwright, author, songwriter, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He learned early on the value of reflecting in his life. After enduring a difficult childhood, he discovered the therapeutic benefits of journaling while watching an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. He invented characters which enabled him to reveal his true experiences and feelings in case someone else were to read his writings. These painful reflections became the foundation for his first play, “I Know I’ve Been Changed,” which he wrote, produced, directed, starred in and rewrote until the show was opening to packed theaters and rave reviews.
Embracing journaling helped Tyler to better understand, unload and heal, but it is also used as a leadership tool to help leaders prepare for future challenges. When Tyler looks back at what he faced in the past, he is inspired and encouraged with his future. This understanding of his past is probably what drives his philanthropic work. Whether it’s buying groceries for the elderly, conducting food drives at his studio or working with the Atlanta Police Department to hand out grocery store gift cards, Tyler has built a filmmaking empire as well as a humanitarian one.
In 2015, Tyler Perry Studios acquired the former Fort McPherson army base. The new location is one of the largest production facilities in the country and the largest outside of Hollywood. With this facility, they were able to continue production during the pandemic by creating a ‘bubble’ for the staff on campus, therefore maintaining numerous jobs for the community.
Read the articles and watch the videos below to see how Tyler practices his leadership at the studio and in the community. Thank you, Tyler, for positively impacting so many lives in so many ways.
“Just where we are in the country and the world, and everybody is grabbing a corner
and a color, and they are all – nobody wants to come to the middle to have a
conversation. Everybody is polarized, and it’s in the middle where things change.
So I’m hoping that that inspires people to meet us in the middle so that we can
get back to some semblance of normal. As this pandemic is over, we can get
to a place where we are showing love and kindness to each other again.”
– Tyler Perry
“…if you begin to realize every moment in your life happened for
the greater good of who you are, you can use it for others.
It can really elevate you and change your whole trajectory.”
– Tyler Perry
BRIEF BIO:
The mastermind behind 17 feature films, 20 stage plays, seven television shows, a New York Times bestselling book, Tyler has built an empire that has attracted audiences and built communities, from the Tyler Perry Studios home base in Atlanta, Georgia, throughout the world. Celebrated “among the pantheon of today’s greatest cinematic innovators,” his unique blend of spiritual hope and down-home humor continues to shape his inspiring life story, connecting with fans across the globe and always leaving space to dream.
Tyler’s legacy is the modern epitome of the American dream. Born and raised in New Orleans, his childhood was marked by poverty and a household scarred by abuse. From a young age, Tyler learned to write down his daily thoughts and experiences in a series of soul-searching letters to himself – advice he gleaned from Oprah Winfrey that ultimately set his career in motion. Characterized by strength, faith, and determination during a turbulent adolescence, these letters provided Tyler with the inspiration to delve into writing his first play, I Know I’ve Been Changed in 1992. Saving every last dollar, Tyler staged the play for what he hoped would be a packed audience, but the seats remained empty. Never would he have imagined that six years later, that same play would sell out a local run, forcing the production to move to the acclaimed Fox Theatre in Atlanta, or that in 2015, his original play, Madea on the Run, would be sold out in theaters nationwide. [READ MORE]
ORGANIZATIONAL IMPACT:
Tyler Perry Studios Creates Vaccination Site for Staff and Production Crew, Tyler Perry Studios, 2020
Tyler Perry Studios Builds “Camp Quarantine” to Safely get Back to Work, Tyler Perry Studios, 2020
INDUSTRY IMPACT:
Tyler Perry Master of His Message, Ebony Magazine, January 2020
Primetime Emmy Awards – Governors Award, 2020, Television Academy, September 2020
Shut Out of Entertainment’s Mainstream, Hollywood’s Newest Billionaire Wrote, Produced and Starred in his own American Success Story, Forbes, September 2020
The 100 Most Influential People of 2020, Time Magazine, September 2020
How Tyler Perry Is Giving the Entertainment Industry a New Hope, WSJ.com, November 2020
COMMUNITY IMPACT:
Tyler Perry Pays for All Groceries for the Elderly at 73 Stores Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, People.com, April 2020
Tyler Perry Donates $50K in Gift Cards to Peoplestown Community Through APD, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 2020
Tyler Perry’s Thanksgiving Giveaway Draws Thousands, Clogs Roads, CNN, November 2020
Thousands Flock to Line Up…For Thanksgiving Giveaway, TMZ, November 2020