‘Maxine’s Baby’, Film documenting Tyler Perry and his late mother coming to Amazon Prime

ATLANTA — Atlanta media mogul Tyler Perry is sharing his personal story in a documentary on Amazon Prime.

“Maxine’s Baby”, the Tyler Perry story, which was his mother’s name, was shot over ten years and produced by his former girlfriend Geilila Bekele and Armani Ortiz.

Channel 2′s Karyn Greer had a chance to talk to them about what they really want people to know about the filmmaker’s troubled and dark past, his rise to fame, and his future, which includes his son Aman.

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Channel 2 Action News was there for the historic opening of the new Tyler Perry Studios in October 2019. Little did we know but work was already being done to document his life for the world to see.

Bekele is an independent filmmaker, she and Perry became a couple and parents during the making of the documentary.

“I started from a personal space wanting to document this man who’s becoming busier than ever around the end of 2014. And how to explain to someone what it looks like for someone to acquire an army base and turn it into a major motion picture studio,” she said. “On top of that he was touring, directing, producing, writing, you know, the TV and films, not wanting to miss anything, and just wanted to archive. And again, I believe history is, you know, nothing but the history of great men and women. And I think he’s one of them.”

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Amazon Studios Presents Atlanta Special Screening Of Maxine's Baby: A Tyler Perry Story (L-R) Tyler Perry and Gelila Bekele attend the special screening of "Maxine's Baby: A Tyler Perry Story" presented by Amazon Studios at the Rialto Center for the Arts on November 08, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carol Lee Rose/Getty Images for Amazon Studios) (Carol Lee Rose/Getty Images for Amazon Studios)

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Co-producer Armani Ortiz wants people to know the iconic Tyler Perry, but this time from in front of the camera lens.

“I really hope that they see themselves in it. I hope that they’d know that Tyler Perry’s iconic story is an amazing thing, but also he came from where we came from,” Ortiz said. “And he’s giving opportunities to people that may have never even dreamed of having an opportunity. So hopefully when they see him with their families, they say, ‘Hey, you can do that, too. You can do that too.’”

The documentary kicks off on Amazon Prime on Friday.

Bekele said she and Perry will always be family and plans may be in the works to document his next 20 years on film once again.

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