Black Hollywood
Throughout history, film and television have been a space that highlighted white privilege and left little space for Black voices, faces, and stories. However, in recent years, this space has opened up to allow for greater representation of Black culture, its histories, and the nuances of Black identity. Georgia has become known as the Hollywood of the South, Black Hollywood, and Atlanta is the Black Mecca amongst all of this. But when did this happen and who are the figures that have worked tirelessly to heighten the success of others?
Becoming A Black Mecca
During the mid-20th century, there were a variety of factors that motivated Black migration to ATL and the community’s subsequent success. Most importantly, Atlanta has been the center of the civil rights movement for some time and is the proud home of Martin Luther King Jr. We visit important locations of the movement on our Black History & Civil Rights Tour if you’re interested in finding out more about this important part of our history.
Since 1973, Atlanta has frequently elected Black mayors, Maynard Jackson being a particularly powerful leader for Black Atlantans. The city is also home to the Atlanta University Center, the largest consortium of historically black colleges in the U.S.
The city has been referred to as a Black mecca since the 1970s due to its economic opportunities, Black political power, educational institutions, and its role in Black arts and culture. The last aspect has recently become even more powerful as a result of Tyler Perry opening his studios, giving the arts community more opportunity in a typically white-dominated space. But how did Tyler Perry become the most successful Black filmmaker in history? And what other individuals have paved the way for future success in Black Hollywood?
Atlantan Icons
Tyler Perry has become a household name but it wasn’t an easy rise to the top. Through a difficult early life, Perry moved to Atlanta and began his career in the arts. From his first community theater piece, I Know I’ve Been Changed, to later stage productions, he managed to save money to partly fund his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and soon moved to his directorial debut with the now-iconic Madea franchise. Since then, Perry has moved from success to success, highlighting the demand for Black-centered storytelling. It was in Tyler Perry Studios that Perry truly cemented his iconic status, with one of the largest studios in the nation and 12 different sound stages dedicated to other Black icons who have paved the way before him, such as Oprah Winfrey, Sidney Poitier, Will Smith, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Another notable figure to Black Hollywood in Atlanta is William Packer, who began Rainforest Films around 2000 which soon became the production company for many successful Black films like Trois, Stomp the Yard, Obsessed, Think Like A Man, and Ride Along. In 2013, he launched William Packer Productions, his own company that continued the work that began at Rainforest Films. Today he is one of Hollywood’s record-breaking filmmakers, grossing over $1 billion throughout his career, and is producing for Disney, Universal, OWN, NBC, and ABC, just to name a few.
Reality-TV
Unscripted entertainment has taken over television in an unprecedented way and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Atlanta is at the forefront of it. Proceeding the success of Little Women: Atlanta, Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, and Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta, is The Real Housewives of Atlanta. The Housewives have been on the small screen for 13 seasons now, sitting comfortably as the most-watched show ever on Bravo, their production home. The newly revamped Queer Eye is also filmed in Atlanta and the decision for it to be filmed in Atlanta says a lot about the city’s status within the reality television industry.
Visit the Locations
If you could watch tv for days, why not come to Atlanta and see the many filming locations for yourself. We visit the huge Tyler Perry Studios on our Black History tour and are always happy to arrange a custom tour to stop at any spots that you’ve been dying to see in person.