Tyler Perry is a huge success, even a phenomenon. His new film Why Did I Get Married? opened to over $21 million beating both George Clooney's and Mark Whalberg's new films. He plays by his own rules. He didn't screen the film in advance for the critics because he knows that the film critics (especially the newspaper critics) won't help sell tickets to his targeted audience which is Christian, middle-class, African American women. Not your typical Hollywood audience.
Tyler Perry gives me hope. Hope that thinking outside the system works.
Here are some other things I've learned from Tyler Perry.
1. Niche films can be successful. Lately, every article about women in Hollywood calls us a niche market. So if they want to categorize us that way, let's embrace it and use it. Perry built a brand first on a successful stage show, then with films, then with TV, then with books. He has upwards of 600,000 people on his email list. The TV business is more comfortable with niche shows and the successes of Seventh Heaven, Girlfriends, and Army Wives shows how far ahead TV is in its thinking. The concept of kitchen sink entertainment no longer works. With so many choices, you need to give people what they want when they want it.
2. Hollywood conventional wisdom is flawed. Even though there are several movies that are about and directed by women they will never really appeal to women because they have been developed in the Hollywood pipeline. We need to escape from Hollywood conventions and be adventerous.
3. Find independent financing outside the studio system. Venture capital has been streaming into the movie business and women need to get some of that money. When Perry first tried to get money for his films "Hollywood executives told him that African Americans who went to church did not go to the movies. None of the majors would take a chance on Perry on his terms so he cut a nonexclusive deal with Lions Gate, the independent studio known for its horror films Saw and Hostel. Lions Gate gave Perry total autonomy and released the $5-million movie, which was co-financed by the star. It grossed more than $50 million." (LA Times)
4. After you are a success, don't go Hollywood. This is the most important piece. Everybody wants to get a Hollywood deal and the studios bank on that. People try to parlay their small successes into bigger deals that at most times don't lead to movies being made. Perry has made a ton of money but has stuck with Lion's Gate and has just built a 75,000 foot production studio in Atlanta to make his films and TV. Keeping control of his vision and his brand is key to his success.
So, in following Perry's model, women we need our own money, our own studio and people who are willing to think outside the box. The issue I don't have any answer to is the distribution problem. There are a finite amount of screens and too much product. Perry could only get his film in 2,000 theatres.