Tyler Perry launches Maxscene, a new film division aimed at independent filmmakers
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Named after Perry’s mother, Maxine, the division will help filmmakers develop, produce and distribute movies for theatrical audiences.
Tyler Perry Studios is launching Maxscene, a new specialty film division designed to help independent filmmakers develop, produce and distribute movies for theatrical audiences. The launch of Maxscene comes as the Atlanta studio continues creating new pathways for talent through efforts including its TPS Dreamers internship program and the infrastructure of its Black-owned studio complex.
Tyler Perry Studios said Maxscene will focus on creator-first, audience-focused projects that do not have to follow a traditional studio blueprint. The division will work across genres and support filmmakers as they build existing audiences and reach new ones.
Maxscene is named after Perry’s mother, Maxine. Perry said her belief in him before his success gave him the confidence to continue pursuing his career, and he wants the new division to offer that same kind of support to emerging filmmakers.
Antoinetta Stallings, Tyler Perry Studios’ head of development and acquisitions, will oversee Maxscene. Stallings previously served as vice president of unscripted programming and helped launch the studio’s joint venture with Pantheon Media Group.
Stallings said she has watched talented independent filmmakers struggle to find distribution for movies that deserved an audience. Maxscene is intended to give creators resources, support and a path to distribution so they can “build a career, not just release a movie.”
The Maxscene film division will develop, produce and distribute films across multiple genres. Georgia Entertainment reported that its first projects will include a thriller, a romantic comedy and a coming-of-age story. Titles, casting and release plans are expected to be announced in the coming months.
The launch broadens Perry’s role beyond producing and distributing projects under his own name. Tyler Perry Studios officially opened its Atlanta complex in 2019 and has since expanded its production infrastructure, training programs and partnerships.
Maxscene also arrives as independent filmmakers continue facing one of the industry’s longstanding challenges: getting completed movies in front of audiences. Perry’s new division is positioning itself as a bridge between filmmakers with distinctive voices and theatrical distribution.
For Perry, the name makes that mission personal. He said Maxine believed in him before anyone else did, and Maxscene is meant to pay that belief forward by helping a new generation of storytellers reach the audiences waiting for their work.