a second chance in 1998 , when a promoter booked the show in the Tabernacle , a former church turned concert hall in downtown Atlanta . It was a sold out hit and the little boy from inner-city New Orleans was well on his way . Perry then took his plays on the road and traveled the so-called `` chitlin ' circuit '' to theaters in Memphis , Tennessee , Detroit , Michigan , and Baltimore , Maryland -- where black entertainers historically performed for predominantly black audiences . He began making a name for himself with African-Americans . In 2004 , he started looking for backers for his first movie project `` Diary of Mad Black Woman , '' a story about a devoted wife in a bad marriage . He said he faced a wall of ignorance when he pitched white executives in Hollywood . One told him the project was doomed to fail at the box office because the core audience for Perry 's stage plays -- black churchgoers -- would n't go to the movies . Another said the dialogue for his characters was unrealistic . Though he was largely unknown to white audiences , Perry
ATLANTA , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Tyler Perry is known today as the first African-American to own a major film and TV studio . He 's a pioneer whose own life story is a rags-to-riches tale that reads like a screenplay . Tyler Perry is the first African-American to own a major film and TV studio . Now a writer , actor , director and producer -- Perry 's success grew out of a troubled home in a poor neighborhood in New Orleans , Louisiana . Strong on faith , Perry named his first play `` I Know I 've Been Changed , '' after an old Negro spiritual . It was a gospel musical about two adult survivors of child abuse . In 1991 , he moved to Atlanta , Georgia , where he worked as a bill collector and eventually scraped together enough money to rent a small theatre and stage the play . With only 30 people in the audience , the play was a flop . For the next several years , he struggled and was often broke and sometimes lived in his car . But Perry refused to give up . He finally got