Film studio set to come to Southfield

SOUTHFIELD — This February, a 12,000-square-foot film studio will open its doors in Southfield.

The Collective Studios will open at 4 p.m. Feb. 1 with a ribbon cutting. The studio offers 44 diverse set spaces for local filmmakers, photographers, television producers and commercial directors.

The set spaces include a police station, jail cells, courtroom, doctor’s office, hospital, church, airplane and more.

The Collective Studios is a collaboration between a group of 13 Detroit-based filmmakers, including Rockey Black and Tonja Ayers, “The Shoe Lady.”

Black and his wife, Janaya, have been in the independent Detroit filmmaking industry for 23 years and have been a part of 27 films.

“I got my first shot in the movie, ‘8 Mile’. Got a small role in there, and that gave me the acting bug,” Black said. “Me and my wife … got married at the age of 20 and 18, so it was like we wasn’t planning on being no movie actors, producers, directors. It’s just the way God led and where it fell, and we fell in love with it. And 23 years later, now we’re about to open a movie studio.”

Black acts, directs, produces and distributes, and his wife writes, directs, produces and edits.

The couple owns a distribution company called Silver Line Entertainment and a production company called Black-Smith Enterprises. Together, they create thrillers and faith-based films such as “Turn of the Cheek” and “Bigger than the Game.”

“We might be No. 2 in the country with making films now, behind Hollywood, and that’s of course, independent films,” Black said. “But we’re definitely in the top five.”

He explained that he and his wife never had plans of moving to Hollywood because the film industry is booming in Detroit.

“We probably have over 100 films now in the last three years,” Black said. “It’s grown tremendously, and that’s with the help of social media and the streaming platforms. We have a lot of connections, relationships, with Tubi, Peacock, YouTube, (and) Crackle. … People can make a living off this, so it’s grown tremendously.”

Black connected with Ayers through their late mutual friend, Melissa Talbot, who was also in the local film industry.

“She connected a lot of people with each other and she had been in the film business a long time, too,” Black said. “She passed away two years ago, but she connected a lot of us together.”

Before getting into the film industry, Ayers sold shoes.

She went from shoes to the screen after a friend suggested that she develop one of her books, “Stay in Your Place,” into a stage play.

It was eventually adapted into a movie.

According to Ayers, collectively, her and Black have been a part of seven movies in the last year.

Her personal office is located in the same building as the film studio, and the connection to Southfield means something to her.

“I love that the studio is there,” Ayers said. “I was already familiar with the area. I love how accessible it is because we’re right at Southfield Road, (with) Greenfield right up the street. Everything is there. And one of my movies I filmed in Southfield.”

For more information about Collective Studios, which is located at 18000 W. Nine Mile Road, suite 450 in Southfield, visit thecollectivestudios248.com.

To learn more about Rockey and Janaya Black’s work, visit black-smithenterprises.com or silverline-ent.com.

To learn more about Ayers’ films, visit theshoeladyproductions.com.