He also produced the 2022 Academy Awards Oscars ceremony which was best known for the moment where Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.
In 1996, Packer graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering.
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.
Due to the success of their first film, Packer and Hardy were listed among the "New Establishment" of Black power brokers in Hollywood.
The pair were included in a lawsuit brought by former business partner Bernard Bronner in late June 2014.
[21] 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.
Packer also served as executive producer on NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton and on 2016 television mini-series Roots.
[27] As part of the launch, the company acquired digital ad firm Narrative_[28] to serve as the new venture's branded content arm, WP Narrative.
[citation needed] Packer served as the executive producer of the remake of Roots, for which he received an Emmy Award nomination.
[34] Central Ave, an entertainment magazine series, debuted November 4, 2019 on Fox television stations.
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).
Kelly Lawler of USA Today wrote of the ceremony, "It was equal parts boring and terrifying, cringe-worthy and interminable.