Director/writer/producer/actor/composer Tyler Perry may get the big laughs when he’s performing in drag, but he’s deadly serious when it gets down to business. Thanks largely to his alter ego Madea and name-brand awareness (‘09’s “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” was his biggest hit -- $90 million -- to date), his eight films have grossed over half a billion.
Even more impressively, Perry has achieved all this in Atlanta, where over the last few years he has built his own 200,000-square-foot studio, situated on the former Delta Airlines campus of more than 30 acres. It’s where he shoots his TV shows, including the TBS series “House of Payne,” the highest-rated first-run syndicated cable show of all time, which went into syndication after only a year, and his movies. His latest film, “Why Did I Get Married Too?” -- the sequel to “Why Did I Get Married?” -- again stars Janet Jackson, and here Perry talks about making the film, his part in the Oscar-winning “Precious,” his innovative TV business plan and schedule -- and what he’s going to do to Spike Lee.
Spike Lee was very insulting about you, with his “coonery and buffoonery” remarks. Did you make up?
There’s nothing to make up, and we haven’t spoken. When I see him I’m gonna kick his ass! I’m joking. But I wish him well in whatever he does. But doesn’t he have something negative to say about everyone? Whoopi Goldberg to Clint Eastwood? That’s his MO, I guess.
I had nothing to do with the actual making of it. It was going straight to DVD, and after I saw it -- and this was before any festivals or awards -- I told them I’d do anything I could to help it. So I called Oprah who loved it, too, and we just decided to get behind it and push it to get it into theaters.
It all depends on what I’m doing at the time.
I’ve always been the person that invests in myself, from day one. People told me what I couldn’t do on stage, but I put the money into myself, and I’m not afraid to take that bet. I broke the golden rule, which is “Never use your own money.” But I don’t mind using mine if it’s going to get me to a place where I can have the freedom to create.
We just don’t have the space right now. We’re shooting two TV shows simultaneously and going into production on two more films, and although it’s 200,000 square feet, we’ve got every corner filled with something Tyler Perry.
Absolutely.
