Will Packer Bio | Willpacker.com
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Will Packer
Founder / CEO

Will Packer, one of Hollywood’s most influential and record-breaking filmmakers, has produced or executive produced a wide range of movies grossing more than $1 billion worldwide at the box office. Ten of his films have opened at number one. Packer’s films “Girls Trip” and “Night School” were the highest grossing comedies at the box office for 2017 and 2018. Packer has received multiple Emmy nominations including one for his work leading the first all Black producing team to produce the Academy Awards. 

Packer is currently producing the true-crime limited series “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist”. Based on the acclaimed Packer-produced podcast of the same name, the series tells the infamous story of how an armed robbery during the night of Muhammad Ali’s historic 1970 comeback fight in Atlanta, GA changed not only one man’s life but an entire city’s destiny. The cast includes Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P Henson, Terrence Howard and Don Cheadle.

Packer recently released a new Christmas classic, “Dashing Through the Snow,” which premiered on Disney+ in November 2023, and starred Ludacris, Lil Rel Howery, and Teyonah Parris. In 2023, Packer’s first streaming platform feature film, “Praise This”, premiered to much acclaim on Peacock, with starring roles from Chloe Bailey, Druski, and Quavo. From 2019 to 2022, Packer was honored in USC Annenberg’s 8 Producers Making an Impact list recognizing the top producers behind the most inclusive films.

 

In 2022, he produced “Beast” starring frequent collaborator Idris Elba. Packer’s other productions include “The Photograph,” "Little,” “What Men Want,” the Ride Along series, the Think Like a Man series, “No Good Deed,” “Takers,” “Obsessed,” “Breaking In,” and “Stomp the Yard.” Packer also served as an executive producer on the megahit “Straight Outta Compton”. Packer has an overall movie development deal with Universal Pictures. 

Packer’s television, digital, and branded content company, Will Packer Media, produces episodic scripted and unscripted series across television, podcasts and digital platforms, as well as compelling content for brand clients and short-form digital content for millennial audiences. Most recently, Will Packer Media launched “ACross Generations with Tiffany Cross,” a plainspoken and candid conversation with Black women from different stages in life on iHeart Media. Will Packer Media produces several other scripted and unscripted podcasts with iHeart Media such as “Fight Night,” “The Lower Bottoms,” and “IDEA GENERATION’s All Angles.” Just ahead of its Season 9 finale, Will Packer Media’s hit dating show “Ready To Love” was renewed for a 10th season by OWN. “Queens Court,” a reality dating series starring Tamar Braxton, Evelyn Lozada, and Nivea debuted on Peacock in March 2023. 

Other Will Packer Media titles include, “Put a Ring On It” (OWN), “That Girl Lay Lay” (Nickelodeon), “Bigger” (BET+), the docuseries “Blackballed," “The Atlanta Child Murders,” (ID) and “The Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins” (OXYGEN). He has worked on various celebrity driven specials with the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Hart, and Tiffany Haddish as a part of Discovery’s annual Shark Week programming. 

Packer served as the executive producer on the remake of “Roots,” for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. He has executive produced primetime programming including “Ambitions” (OWN), “Truth be Told” (NBC), “Uncle Buck” (ABC), and “Being Mary Jane” (BET).

Packer is a member of the esteemed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and in 2022 served as lead Producer of the 94th Oscars Ceremony. Packer received a 2022 Emmy Award nomination for Producer, Outstanding Variety Special Live for the 2022 Oscars. 

He also served as Jury President for the 2021 American Black Film Festival (ABFF). Packer has appeared on the covers of multiple magazines and has been featured in several high-profile lists including Variety's “Billion Dollar Producers” and “10 Producers to Watch,” and Ebony's prestigious “Power 100 List.” In 2018, he won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture for “Girls Trip;” Packer received a 2013 BET Award in Best Movie for “Think Like a Man.” 

In 2023, Packer launched Collective Edge Management, a management company dedicated to creating a community of innovators who continuously push boundaries, inspire one another, and redefine what is possible.

On May 21, 2024, it was announced that Packer became one of four new limited partners to the Atlanta Falcons ownership group.

 

Packer serves on the board of the Atlanta Hawks Foundation and is a longtime supporter of HBCU initiatives. He has received an honorary doctoral degree from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) supporting his work as a leading industry and community leader. Packer is a magna cum laude graduate of Florida A&M University (FAMU) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. Packer received the Meritorious Achievement Award from Florida A&M, the highest honor the university bestows. In a 2021, ceremony FAMU dedicated and officially opened the Will Packer Student Performing Arts Amphitheater.

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