Tyler Perry Studios has launched Maxscene, a new specialty film division dedicated to expanding theatrical opportunities for filmmakers with distinctive voices.
The label, named after Perry’s late mother, Maxine, is designed as a creator-first home for independent storytellers who often struggle to get their work from festival screens to actual theaters.
Tyler Perry Studios Launches Maxscene, a New Specialty Film Division
The official Maxscene site describes the division as “creator-first, audience-focused, and beholden to no one’s blueprint.” It will develop, produce, and distribute films across genres, giving filmmakers a chance to build on existing audiences while reaching new ones.
Named for a mother’s belief
Perry has long credited his mother, Willie Maxine Perry — a New Orleans preschool teacher who died in 2009 — as the person who believed in him first. That personal history is the origin of the name.
“Everything I’ve built in my career carries my mother with it, and Maxscene is named in her honor,” Perry said. “My mother, Maxine, believed in me before anyone else did, and that belief is the reason I never stopped chasing this path. Maxscene exists to be that same source of belief for the next generation of storytellers. It’s about taking the confidence and encouragement she poured into me and paying it forward by championing filmmakers who need someone to believe in them, open the door, and help them reach the audience waiting on the other side.”
Leadership and mission
Antoinetta Stallings, Head of Development & Acquisitions at Tyler Perry Studios, will oversee Maxscene. She previously served as vice president of unscripted programming and helped launch the studio’s joint venture with Pantheon Media Group.
Stallings framed the launch as a response to a familiar industry problem: finished films that never find a path to audiences.
“I’ve spent my career working alongside filmmakers and watching incredibly talented storytellers struggle to find distribution for films that deserved to be seen,” she said. “That’s why launching Maxscene is such an exciting and necessary moment. We’re creating a home where independent filmmakers can build a career, not just release a movie. Maxscene gives creators the resources, support, and a path to distribution so their films have every opportunity to reach the audiences who may not have otherwise discovered them.”
Support is expected to vary by project. The division can acquire finished work, come in earlier during development or production, and offer access to Tyler Perry Studios’ Atlanta campus — including stages, infrastructure, and related resources.
First slate still under wraps
The first projects have been described only by genre so far: a thriller, a romantic comedy, and a coming-of-age story. Titles, casts, and release plans are expected in the coming months, with some reporting pointing to a first slate arriving in early 2027.3
Maxscene sits alongside other studio efforts to open doors for new talent, including the TPS Dreamers internship program and earlier filmmaker-development initiatives. For Perry, whose Atlanta lot has long been a production hub for his own films and series, the new label marks a clearer turn toward backing outside voices rather than only his own catalog.9
More information is available at maxscene.com and on Tyler Perry’s official site.
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