The President of Atlanta Tyler Perry Studies He died Friday night when the small plane he was piloting crashed off Florida’s Gulf Coast.
The studio confirmed Saturday that Steve Mensch, its 62-year-old president and CEO, had died.
“We are incredibly saddened by the passing of our dear friend Steve Mensch,” the studio said in a statement. “Steve was a beloved member of our team for over eight years and well-loved in the Atlanta community. It’s hard to imagine not seeing him smiling around the halls. He will be greatly missed. Our hearts he goes with his family as we all send them our prayers.”
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles via AP
The accident happened in Homosassa, about 60 kilometers north of Tampa. Photos from the scene show the plane upside down on a road. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
According to FAA records, the single-engine Vans RV-12IS was registered to Mensch at his home in the Atlanta suburb of Fayetteville.
Mensch helped defend and maintain Georgia Film Tax Credit of more than one billion dollars annually. These lavish subsidies have made Georgia one of the most active locations in the United States for film and television production.
Mensch got into the film business when he started working for Feature Systems, which provides equipment for the film industry. He was hired by Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting to lead its studio operations, then became director of strategic production partnerships. It was there that he began lobbying the state government for more help in film and television production.
Ric Reitz, an actor who also helped create the tax credits, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Mensch helped market the state before the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and helped launch the Georgia Production Partnership, an entertainment industry lobby group.
“I was trying to formulate the market vision before the Olympics and I wanted a think tank of people in the community to make Georgia competitive,” Reitz said. “He was an important figure in our growth to become a strong film and television market.”
After a year helping plan and build a giant studio in China and a brief stint helping open Third Rail Studios in suburban Atlanta. Perry hired Mensch to help create and run his eponymous studio in 2016. The studio spans 330 acres of a former Army base south of Atlanta that Perry acquired in 2015.
Mensch died the same day Perry released “The Six Triple Eight,” a war drama about an all-black, all-female World War II battalion. The film was shot at the studio in Atlanta.
Mensch is survived by his wife, Danila, and three children.