Publication: St. Petersburg Times [US]
Date: March 6, 1990
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Title: "In Minneapolis, Purple Reigns Prince's Hometown Entertains Visions of Becoming A Mecca"
Written By: Eben Shapiro

The entertainment realm of the pop-music superstar Prince is radically altering the reputation of a city whose main contribution to the movie industry used to be industrial training films.

Since the 31-year-old singer built a $ 10-million studio amid the farms and ranch houses of the southwest Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen three years ago, the likes of Boy George, Fine Young Cannibals and Paula Abdul have flown in to use its three recording areas.

Artists have used the studio to produce not only records but also music videos, feature films and TV commercials.

With a cavernous sound stage for making films, Prince, whose real name is Prince Rogers Nelson, is stepping up his effort to attract commercial film and video production work for his studio, known as Paisley Park.

Riding on Prince's stylish coattails is Minnesota's film and recording industry.

Prince's decision to base his operations in his hometown of Minneapolis instead of a more traditional location has given that industry a considerable lift.

"It has legitimized the whole state," said Harry Grossman, vice president of studio operations for Walt Disney Pictures and Television, the Disney production company, who used to work at Paisley.

Prince rarely talks to the press and, through a spokeswoman j j declined to be interviewed.

His businesses are private and his representatives would not disclose any financial information.

Forbes estimated that his various holdings earned $ 20-million in pretax profit in 1989. That includes earnings on his record albums; nine of his 11 have sold more than 1-million copies.

The success of the 65,000-square-foot studio has polished his renown for business acumen.

"As good as he is artistically, he is a better businessman," said Randy Adamsick, the executive director of the Minnesota Film Board, charged with luring film production business.

Not only does Prince write and record his own records, he also dashes off songs for singers including Sheena Easton, Patti LaBelle and Kenny Rogers.

In his spare time, Prince scouts performers to sign to his own record label and writes and stars in movies produced by his own film production company.

His various companies are controlled by the umbrella corporation Paisley Park Enterprises.

At one point last summer, four of the top 10 albums on the charts had been produced or partly produced at Paisley Park. They were The Raw and the Cooked by the Fine Young Cannibals, Like a Prayer by Madonna, Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul and Batman, by Prince himself.

Among the recent projects attracted to Paisley Park have been a pioneering high-definition TV project intended for viewing at this year's Osaka World Expo in Japan and the feature film Old Explorers, starring Jose Ferrer and James Whitmore.

Shooting began Feb. 15 for Prince's fourth feature film, Graffiti Bridge. The plot is similar to his successful first movie, Purple Rain, filmed in Minneapolis in 1984. That film grossed more than $ 75-million, and the sound track was a best seller.

The studio, which has 35 fulltime and 13 part-time employees, has also been busy with a steady stream of commercial work, including commercials for Huggies diapers and Comet cleanser. Minneapolis' vital advertising community, with firms like Fallon McElligott and Campbell-Mithun-Esty, has made good use of Paisley Park.

Local video production companies have benefited from the activity at Paisley Park.

"They are getting spill-over work," Adamsick said.

Minneapolis ranks fourth in film and video production revenues, behind Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, he said.

A 1989 study by the Minneapolis Office of Film, Video and Recording said film and video production generated $ 137-million in revenue for the state in 1987, the most recent year for which figures are available. About 5,000 people work in the film industry in Minnesota.

One Minneapolis rock critic who asked not to be identified said big record companies send artists to Paisley Park to record a song or two in the hope that Prince might wander by the session and contribute a song.

Prince's presence means that local artists no longer feel compelled to leave home to make a mark.

Partly following on Prince's reputation, practitioners of "the Minneapolis sound," an aggressive style of rhythm and blues, have gained international acclaim.