Tammy Williams is set to be the first Black woman majority owner of a multi-million dollar film studio and post-production facility in Georgia. And the second Black person to own a studio in the state. Up until now, Tyler Perry was the only Black person to own studio space in Georgia with Tyler Perry Studios.
Williams has partnered with investor Gary Guidry to build Cinema South Studios, a $135 million facility.
Tammy, an entertainment industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience, told AJC that she has been wanting to build this studioe for the past 12 years. “We’ve been patient. This has not been an overnight thing, this vision for us.”
The studio is being constructed on 60 acres of land on the northern edge of Fayette County in Fayetteville, Georgia. It will feature 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.
It will also house the Cinema South Film Academy and Tammy’Dele Films Workshops. This will be for educational and job training seminars. Tammy’Dele Films, Tammy’s production company launched in 2016, will also be housed there.
Guidry, her business partner added that the demand for sound stages is, “happening globally and the ownership rarely looks like us, let alone an African American woman.”
“When I choose to invest, I evaluate the need of the business and the ownership,” Guidry added. “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.”
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They will begin to break ground in March and Tammy is hoping that the first two sound stages will be built by the first quarter of 2023.