Will Packer’s movies have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, with 10 films that opened at number one.
However, “a lot of people think I just popped up with Will Packer Productions,” Packer said.
“They don’t know about the grind years and years and years before that.”Packer made his first film, “Chocolate City,” when he was an engineering undergrad at Florida A&m University in 1994.
Scrappy indies led to direct-to-video “urban” features to low-budget genre titles like Beyonce’s fatal-attraction drama “Obsessed” (2009) and the Taraji P.
Henson thriller “No Good Deed” (2014).
The reviews were often unimpressive, but all were made for a price, all featured black casts, and all made money.Today he leads his eponymous production company, with credits that include the “Ride Along” franchise as well as critically acclaimed titles like “Girls Trip,” “Straight Outta Compton,” and most recently “The Photograph” starring Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield.
Read full article