Atlanta-based film and television mogul Tyler Perry premieres his inaugural series on Thursday under a first-look deal with streaming giant Netflix.
“Beauty in Black” chronicles the lives of two Atlanta women with two extremely different backgrounds — Mallory (Crystle Stewart), the wealthy leader of a haircare dynasty, and Kimmie (Taylor Polidore Williams), a stripper caught in the shady underbelly of Atlanta’s nightlife.
Soon, the two women find themselves crossing paths under unusual, and potentially dangerous, circumstances.
“The hair care business here is huge [and] Magic City is huge, and I was like, ‘What happened if those worlds collided — the stripper world and this hair care business?’ ” Perry told Tudum by Netflix.
The series, comprised of 16 episodes divided into two parts, was filmed at Tyler Perry Studios and throughout the metro Atlanta area.
The lead actresses both have a layered history with the prolific filmmaker, as well as “Y’allywood.” Stewart previously starred in TPS programs “For Better or Worse” and “Too Close to Home” as a series regular, while Williams appeared earlier this year in Perry’s “Divorce in the Black” for Amazon.
Other Perry mainstays featured in the series include Terrell Carter (“Madea’s Class Reunion”, “Meet the Browns”), Richard Lawson (“For Colored Girls”, “Divorcee in Black”), Amber Reign Smith (“Bruh”, “The Oval”) and Debbi Morgan (“Divorce in the Black”).
“The demographic of my audience [is] all over the place,” Perry told Tudum. “I wanted to make sure that we’re not only bringing in new faces, but also bringing in faces that people know, that are familiar, and who can lend something incredible to the series.”
Perry originally signed a multi-year film deal with Netflix in late 2023, after the success of the mogul’s previous films on the platform, “A Fall from Grace,” “A Jazzman’s Blues” and “A Madea Homecoming.” “Mea Culpa,” the first film under Perry’s deal, premiered in February.
That same month, Perry struck a first-look series deal with the streamer, with “Beauty in Black” going into production shortly after. A first-look deal is a contract that allows a company or distributor to have the first opportunity to greenlight an unwritten project from a producer or writer. The deals are typically not exclusive, allowing talent to shop to other studios if the project is turned down.
Current TPS series include “Sistas,” “The Oval” and “Ruthless” on BET, as well as “All the Queen’s Men,” “Bruh” and “Zatima” on streaming service BET+.
“The Six Triple Eight,” the most recent project of Perry’s Netflix film deal, is scheduled for release on Dec. 20.
Part 1 of “Beauty in Black” is available to stream now.
