“Black women are my world.”
At the Tribeca Festival, Tyler Perry told us about what keeps him going ...
#Tribeca2022
At the Tribeca Festival, Tyler Perry told us about what keeps him going ...
#Tribeca2022
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Kid who came from nothing like I did you can have you can be don't let anybody tell you what you can and cannot be
00:06It's all up to hard work faith and moving on
00:16I think I learned that I had something sure very early on with my very first play when I thought 1,200 people would show up
00:21But only 30 did out of that 30 and someone said wow this really moved me to really spoke to me
00:26It was about adult survivors of child abuse, and I thought wow how many more people can relate to this?
00:31So that that one person was my confirmation that I was doing the right thing
00:35But in the beginning it was clearly my faith and just that knowing that there was something greater
00:39And I had to keep pushing for it
00:41Jesus the Lord God Almighty. Mm-hmm. He can turn watcher into wine. Yes. I got to go to the liquor store to get mad
00:57Won't somebody praise him
00:59I've got Oprah in one ear. I've got Maya Angelou in another I got Cicely Tyson in another so I've got all these incredible
01:06Wisdoms from all of these legends it's you to ask me how black women have been influenced in my career and storytelling is like
01:13Asking me why I breathe and my entire life has been
01:17I've been from birth coddled supported the stood by protect me
01:23I don't know how to not pay homage. I don't know how to not respect them because of all the things they put inside of me
01:53Maxineville is named after my mother Maxine who passed in 2009. So this whole area this whole neighborhood
02:09I wanted to be a town named after her in her honor and she was so happy to have that
02:13It's very sentimental for me. I think where I am right now in my life is that legacy the only this studio is definitely about legacy
02:19I think this studio itself serves as a beacon for every dreamer no matter what your race no matter what your gender
02:25Whatever is going on in life in the world this studio is a beacon letting you know that you can do it too
02:41Jasmine was the first script I ever wrote I wrote it in 1995 and in writing that at a time after I saw an August Wilson show
02:47He really encouraged me to write this story that I had and I held on to it for the right time for the right moment
02:53Because I needed to make sure I understood where the world was where the industry is
02:57And looking at this move to eliminate the history of black people from schools and libraries and just our whole stories
03:07I thought now is the time to tell the story because even though it's this beautifully tragic love story
03:11Our love stories didn't end like most love stories in America then so I just wanted to have that opportunity I thought now was the time
03:19I think some of the hardest things I've learned in my career is how difficult it is to stand in what you know
03:25Like when you have critics and other people who are pulling you off trying to pull you off the game that you know you play
03:31Your position that you know you play I think that's been one of the most difficult part of staying on track
03:35I wouldn't let anyone take me off of it and I don't have any regrets because I did exactly what I was supposed to do in reaching my audience and speaking to my audience