Superproducer Will Packer Credits His Billion Dollar Career to Viewers: ‘I Could Do This Without Hollywood’

variety.com:

Aramide Tinubu Will Packer does not make films for Hollywood. Though his career has spanned 30 years, and his movies have collectively grossed over $1 billion at the box office, the prolific producer learned this powerful lesson early on. “When I made that very first movie, ‘Chocolate City,’ I invited all of Hollywood to come to our world premiere,” he told Variety during a sit-down conversation at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF), where the series premiered. “This is how audacious we were: I did a black-tie premiere in Tallahassee, Florida, on the campus of Florida A&M University (FAMU) in the Lee Hall Student Auditorium.” He adds, “We invited all the Hollywood executives, and none of them showed up, but all the students showed up, and it was packed.

It was standing room only. It taught me something about the audience for which I’m making these films. I wasn’t making them for these executives in ivory towers who would never come.

I was making them for students who had not seen themselves on screen.” Three decades later, with a slew of number-one movies, including “Think Like A Man,” “Ride Along,” and “Girls Trip” (which all boast a predominantly Black cast), Packer has continued to flourish by defying the Hollywood structure and speaking directly to audiences who still long to see themselves represented. “​​Ultimately, that film was successful by any measure,” Packer says about 1994’s “Chocolate City.” “But that was an important moment that taught me I could do this without Hollywood.” 2007’s “Stomp the Yard” became Packer’s first number one hit at the box office, but “everybody passed on that movie,” he notes.