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 graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1991 and began attending Florida A&M University that fall.

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 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.

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 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.

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."

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.

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 which received significant criticism and controversy.

The ceremony is best known for the moment where Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.

Packer was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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.

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.

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.

Packer also served as executive producer on NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton and on 2016 television mini-series Roots.

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.

In 2017, Packer launched Will Packer Media, a branded content and digital production company, in partnership with Discovery Communications and Universal Pictures.

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), starring Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield, and Beast (2022), starring Idris Elba.