Tyler Perry, 'Atlanta's Lex Luthor,' now has a say in Georgia's next government
The man Georgia's film tax credits helped make a billionaire is now co-chairing the transition of the governor who'll decide those credits' future.
Georgia governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms — whose win on Tuesday made her the state's first Black and first woman governor, ending a 24-year Republican run — announced her transition team on November 6, and the entertainment name jumped out of the civic roll call: Tyler Perry, co-chair of "Georgia's Promise," alongside Home Depot's Arthur Blank, Delta's Richard Cox, and Jason Carter. Bottoms introduced him as an "entertainment mogul" who is "a huge philanthropic part of our Georgia community and owns Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta."
That last credential is precisely the point. Perry's 330-acre studio on the former Fort McPherson Army base — twelve soundstages, one of the largest production facilities in the country — exists because Georgia's uncapped 30% film tax credit turned the state into Hollywood's busiest backlot, hosting everything from Marvel to The Walking Dead. The credit made Perry's empire possible; the empire made Perry, by Forbes' 2020 accounting, a billionaire. Now the program's single most visible beneficiary sits inside the team shaping the administration that will defend or reform it.
Georgia's film credit built Perry's twelve soundstages. Perry now co-chairs the transition of the governor who inherits the credit.
What Fauxmoi got right about the résumé
When the announcement hit r/Fauxmoi, someone asked what qualifies Perry for a gubernatorial transition. The answer, in full:
"Money, connections, and influence"
It's flippant and it's accurate — transition co-chairs are chosen as signals, not civil servants, and a Blank-Delta-Perry troika tells Georgia's business class the new administration means continuity. For Hollywood, the signal is even more specific. Legislators have taken runs at capping the film credit for years; putting its poster child this close to the governor's ear is the clearest "don't worry" the industry could ask for. Another commenter's nickname for Perry — "Atlanta's Lex Luthor" — lands because of that exact mix: civic benefactor, employer of thousands, and a man whose private interests and public roles have stopped pretending to be separate.
The appointment comes with an asterisk the entertainment press flagged immediately: Variety noted Perry faces sexual assault lawsuits from two former actors seeking $77 million and $260 million, with allegations of coercion and retaliation. Perry denies all of it and has called one suit a "shakedown" and a "money grab." Bottoms named him anyway, which says something about how insulated he is in Georgia — or how much the state's film economy needs the reassurance only he symbolizes.
Don't miss: Nobody Wants This season 4 reunites Adam Brody with the co-star who went after him on Instagram
For the industry watching from Los Angeles, the takeaway is practical. Productions plan years ahead, and they plan around incentives. As of this week, the person most invested in Georgia's staying open for business is in the room where that future gets drafted.
Previously we wrote: Bear Grylls baptized Russell Brand after the rape allegations — and only now is glad justice was served