Will Packer

Will Packer, a trailblazing filmmaker in Hollywood, has produced or executive produced movies that collectively grossed over $1 billion worldwide. The founder of Will Packer Productions and Will Packer Media, he has a reputation for creating commercially successful and culturally resonant films.

Packer has consistently pushed boundaries, prioritizing representation and authenticity in his storytelling. Whether through high-energy blockbusters or thought-provoking TV shows, his projects have contributed significantly to amplifying Black voices and narratives in mainstream entertainment.

Packer's numerous box office hits include "Girls Trip," "Night School," "Think Like a Man," and "Straight Outta Compton." A multiple Emmy Award nominee, he also gained recognition for producing the Academy Awards in 2022, where he led the first all-Black producing team in the ceremony's history.

His most recent project is Peacock's "Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist," a true-crime limited series based on the acclaimed podcast he also produced. The series delves into the dramatic armed robbery that occurred during Muhammad Ali's historic 1970 comeback fight in Atlanta, a moment that reshaped the trajectory of one man’s life and the city’s history.

In 2023, Packer released a new Christmas classic, “Dashing Through the Snow”; the same year, his first streaming platform feature film, “Praise This”, premiered to much acclaim. 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.”

Will Packer Media, Packer's television, digital, and branded content company, produces a variety of impactful projects. Notable podcasts with iHeart Media include Fight Fight Night, The Lower Bottoms, and IDEA GENERATION’s All Angles, as well as “ACross Generations with Tiffany Cross,” a candid conversation series with Black women of different life stages. On television, the hit dating show “Ready To Love” (OWN) was renewed for its 10th season, while “Queens Court,” a reality series, debuted on Peacock in March 2023. Other 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).

Packer also 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). ​ 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. He has been featured in several other 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;” additionally, he received a 2013 BET Award in Best Movie for “Think Like a Man.” He served as Jury President for the 2021 American Black Film Festival.

On May 21, 2024, it was announced that Packer became one of four new limited partners to the Atlanta Falcons ownership group. He serves on the board of the Atlanta Hawks Foundation and is a passionate advocate for HBCU initiatives. A magna cum laude graduate of Florida A&M University with a degree in electrical engineering, he has been honored with the university’s highest accolade, the Meritorious Achievement Award. Packer also holds an honorary doctorate from Savannah College of Art and Design.