Tammy Williams, an entertainment industry veteran, is establishing a multi-million dollar film production facility called Cinema South Studios that will be located in Fayetteville, Georgia just a few miles away from Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. Her new studio will be the first one to be owned by a Black woman in the state of Georgia.
With more than 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry, Williams has already written and produced dozens of film and television projects. Now, she is taking on a new role as a majority Black female owner of a production studio.
“We’ve been patient. This has not been an overnight thing, this vision for us,” she told AJC, adding that she has been wanting to build her own studio space for the past 12 years.
Williams also revealed that she has partnered with investor Gary Guidry to build the facility that will cost $135 million. It will occupy 60 acres and will feature up to 11 soundstages, a back-lot, a prop house, a wardrobe rental facility, a lighting grip rental house, a transportation company, and an office building with a theater and post-production facilities.
“The demand for soundstages is happening globally and the ownership rarely looks like us let alone an African American woman,” Guidry said. “When I choose to invest, I evaluate the need of the business and the ownership. Investing in Tammy Williams and her team of professionals convinced me that buying the land in Fayetteville, GA was a sound decision with the talents of her at the helm.”
What’s more, the facility will also house the Cinema South Film Academy and Tammy’Dele Films Workshops, where educational and job training seminars will be conducted, as well as Williams’ production company Tammy’Dele Films.