Will Packer

Will Packer (born April 11, 1974) is an American film producer who founded Will Packer Productions, and Will Packer Media. Packer has produced or executive produced a wide range of movies that have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide at the box office, including 10 films that have opened at number one. He has produced more than 30 features including big-screen hit comedies such as '' Think Like a Man'' (2012), ''Ride Along'' (2014), ''Think Like a Man Too'' (2014), '' The Wedding Ringer'' (2015), ''Girls Trip'' (2017), ''Night School'' (2018), '' What Men Want'' (2019) and '' Little (2019).'' He also produced the 2022 Academy Awards Oscars ceremony, and received a 2022 Emmy award nomination as Producer, Outstanding Variety Special Live, for the Oscars.

Early life and education

Packer was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. He graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1991 and began attending Florida A&M University that fall. In 1996, Packer graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. On October 29, 2021, FAMU personally honored Packer by renaming its amphitheater the Will Packer Amphitheater. Packer also received the Meritorious Achievement Award from Florida A&M, the highest honor the university bestows.

Career

Rainforest Films

It was at FAMU that he started filmmaking with colleague and future business partner Rob Hardy while participating in an internship with veteran producer Warrington Hudlin. In 1994, Packer and Hardy produced their first film, ''Chocolate City'', for $20,000 and Packer helped broker a small distribution deal with Blockbuster video. After graduating, Packer and Hardy moved to Atlanta, Georgia and co-founded Rainforest Films. Packer produced and oversaw the company's studio-financed and self-financed films and distribution projects. Packer and Hardy's vision was to make films that would appeal to black audiences who hadn't seen genre films starring people like themselves.

In 2000, ''Trois'', Rainforest Film's first movie to be released theatrically, grossed over $1.2 million and became the fastest million-dollar grossing film independently distributed by African Americans. ''Trois'' was in the Top 50 Highest Grossing Independent Films of the year, according to ''Daily Variety'', and Rainforest Films was at #34 on the list of Top 100 Film Distributors of 2000 listed by ''The Hollywood Reporter'' in August 2001. Due to the success of their first film, Packer and Hardy were listed among the "New Establishment" of Black power brokers in Hollywood.

In 2001, Packer helped broker a deal with Sony to produce and distribute urban films including ''Trois''s sequel, '' Trois: The Escort'', and '' Motives''. The film ''Lockdown'', released on home video under this Rainforest-Sony collaboration. In 2005, Rainforest Films released ''The Gospel''. At this time, Packer started using the shortened moniker "Will Packer".

Packer and Hardy wanted Rainforest's films to include established actors and actresses as well as those who are up and coming. 2007's '' This Christmas'', a film about a middle-class family that reunites at Christmas time for the first time in many years, stars veteran actresses Loretta Devine and Regina King as well as R&B superstar Chris Brown in his feature film debut. Packer produced five #1 films with Rainforest, '' Stomp the Yard'', '' Obsessed'', ''Takers'', '' Think like a Man'' and ''Ride Along''. His biggest hits with Rainforest have been ''Think like a Man'', which grossed over $96 million worldwide after being released in April 2012, and ''Ride Along'', which brought in box office receipts totaling nearly $150 million as of April 2014.

In television, Packer, along with Andrew Young, Martin Luther King III, and Rainforest Films partner Rob Hardy, are co-founders of Bounce TV, a United States television network airing on digital terrestrial television stations. Promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created exclusively for African Americans," Bounce TV launched on September 26, 2011 and features programming geared toward blacks and African Americans in the 25–54 age range.

In June 2014, Packer and Hardy dissolved Rainforest Films. The pair were included in a lawsuit brought by former business partner Bernard Bronner in late June 2014.

Will Packer Productions

In 2013, Packer launched Will Packer Productions. In July 2013, he signed a two-year deal with Universal Television to develop new projects for the studio. Later that year, he signed a three-year deal with Universal Pictures. Packer-produced films under the Will Packer Productions banner include #1 box office openers ''Ride Along 2'', '' No Good Deed'' and ''Think Like a Man Too'' along with ''The Wedding Ringer'' and ''Girls Trip''. ''Girls Trip'' was the highest grossing live action comedy of 2017 and the first film written, directed, produced, and starring African-Americans to gross over $100 million. The film went on to gross $140 million on a $19 million budget. Packer also served as executive producer on NWA biopic ''Straight Outta Compton'' and on 2016 television mini-series ''Roots.''

He has produced the comedies ''Night School'' (2018), starring Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, '' What Men Want'' (2019), starring Taraji P. Henson, and '' Little'' (2019), starring Marsai Martin and Regina Hall, ''The Photograph'' (2020)'', staring'' Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfield, and ''Beast'' (2022), starring Idris Elba.  Packer has been included in several high-profile lists, including ''The Hollywood Reporter's "40(ish) Most Powerful People in Comedy"'', ''GIANT'' magazine's "The GIANT 100", '' Jet'' magazine's "Who's Hot To Watch in 2008" and ''Black Enterprise''s "Most Powerful Players Under 40."

Will Packer Media

In 2017, Packer launched Will Packer Media, a branded content and digital production company, in partnership with Discovery Communications and Universal Pictures. As part of the launch, the company acquired digital ad firm Narrative_ to serve as the new venture's branded content arm, WP Narrative. In 2018, Will Packer Media acquired women's lifestyle site xoNecole.

Will Packer Media produces episodic scripted and unscripted series across television and digital platforms, as well as compelling content for brand clients and short-form digital content for millennial audiences. Current productions include ''Ready to Love'' and ''Put a Ring On It'' for OWN, and ''That Girl Lay Lay'' for Nickelodeon. Will Packer Media also produces scripted and unscripted podcasts with iHeart Media including ''Fight Night'' and ''The Lower Bottoms''.

Packer served as the executive producer of the remake of ''Roots'', for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. The company's WP Narrative_ division was a 2018 Webby Award Winner and 10th Annual Shorty Award winner for its work producing video short #TakeAKnee. WP Narrative was also honored for its #BackedByAxe campaign created for Showtime's ''Billions'', winning at the Clio Entertainment awards, 10th Annual Shorty Awards and 2018 D&AD Awards.

''Central Ave'', an entertainment magazine series, debuted November 4, 2019 on Fox television stations.

2022 Oscar ceremony

Packer was named the Producer of the 94th Annual Academy Awards which aired on March 27, 2022. This marked his first "live" television production credit for a major show on a major television network (ABC) and was televised in more than 200 territories worldwide. The 94th Oscars was the highest-rated entertainment special in primetime on any network in two years in both total viewers (16.6 million) and adults 18-49 (3.8/28).

Best Supporting Actor winner Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man and second deaf individual overall to win an acting award. Best Supporting Actress winner Ariana DeBose was the first Afro-Latina person and first openly gay woman of color to win an acting Oscar.

Personal life

Packer is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity (inducted into the Beta Nu Chapter at FAMU). Packer married his first wife Nina Packer (general manager of Bryant Management and Dir. Of Operations for Blueprint Group, the artist management firm for Lil' Wayne and his YMCMB label from 2007-2014) in July 2001 and they have two daughters together, Nija Packer and Maya Packer. They were divorced in February 2009. Packer proposed to his fiancé Heather Hayslett live on stage at the 2013 Essence Music Festival. They were married in August 2015 in Georgia.

Filmography

Feature films

* ''Chocolate City'' (1994) (producer)
* ''Trois'' (2000) (writer, producer)
* ''Trois 2: Pandora's Box'' (2002) (story writer, producer)
* ''Motives'' (2004) (producer)
* ''Trois: The Escort'' (2004) (executive producer)
* ''The Gospel'' (2005) (producer)
* ''The Gospel Live'' (2005) (executive producer)
* ''Puff, Puff, Pass'' (2006) (producer)
* ''Stomp the Yard'' (2007) (producer)
* ''Motives 2'' (2007) (producer)
* ''This Christmas'' (2007) (producer)
* ''Three Can Play That Game'' (2008) (producer)
* ''Obsessed'' (2009) (producer)
* ''Takers'' (2010) (producer)
* ''Stomp the Yard: Homecoming'' (2010) (producer)
* ''Alpha Man: The Brotherhood Of MLK'' (2011) (executive producer)
* ''Think Like a Man'' (2012) (producer, cameo appearance)
* ''Battle of the Year'' (2013) (executive producer)
* ''Ride Along'' (2014) (producer)
* ''About Last Night'' (2014) (producer)
* ''Think Like a Man Too'' (2014) (producer, cameo appearance)
* ''No Good Deed'' (2014) (producer)
* ''The Wedding Ringer'' (2015) (producer)
* ''Straight Outta Compton'' (2015) (executive producer)
* ''Ride Along 2'' (2016) (producer)
* ''Almost Christmas'' (2016) (producer)
* ''Girls Trip'' (2017) (producer)
* ''Breaking In'' (2018) (producer)
* ''Night School'' (2018) (producer)
* ''What Men Want'' (2019) (producer)
* ''Little'' (2019) (producer)
* ''Jacob's Ladder'' (2019) (producer)
* ''The Photograph'' (2020) (producer)
* ''Beast'' (2022) (producer)
* ''Praise This'' (2023) (producer)
* ''Dashing Through the Snow'' (TBA) (producer)

*

Television

* ''Truth Be Told'' (2015)  (executive producer)
* ''Roots'' (2016) (executive producer)
* ''Uncle Buck'' (2016) (executive producer)
* ''Being Mary Jane'' (2017-2019) (executive producer)
* ''The Quad'' (2017-2018) (executive producer)
* ''Ready to Love'' (2018) (executive producer)
* ''Put a Ring on It (''2019'')'' (executive producer)
* ''Ambitions'' (2019) (executive producer)
* ''The Atlanta Child Murders'' (2019) (executive producer)
* ''The Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins'' (2019) (executive producer)
* ''Bigger'' (2019-2021) (executive producer)
* ''That Girl Lay Lay'' (2021) (producer)
* ''The Return'' (2022) (executive producer)
* ''94th Academy Awards'' (2022) (producer)

References

External links

*

Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Packer, William
1974 births
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century African-American people
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century African-American people
African-American businesspeople
African-American film producers
Film producers from Florida
Film producers from Georgia
Florida A&M University alumni
Living people
People from St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg High School alumni