Florida A&M University graduate and film producer Will Packer will be the keynote speaker for FAMU’s homecoming convocation scheduled for Friday, November 2, at 10:10 a.m. in Gaither Gymnasium.Honored by The Daily Variety magazine as one of their “10 Producers To Watch” in September 2007, Packer is co-founder and chairman of Rainforest Films. He is responsible for producing and overseeing the company’s studio financed and self-financed films and distribution projects. He co-founded Rainforest Films with partner Rob Hardy in the summer of 1994 while both were engineering students at FAMU. After graduating magna cum laude from FAMU with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering in 1996, Packer decided to forego job offers in the field of engineering to capitalize on his entrepreneurial instincts and his passion for filmmaking.
One of their most successful projects, Stomp The Yard (Sony/Screen Gems), held the #1 position at the box office for two weekends in January of 2007. Stomp The Yard chronicles warring fraternities at a historically black college. Stomp The Yard stars R&B sensations Ne-Yo and Chris Brown, as well as rising stars Megan Goode, Columbus Short, and Brian White. And may I add, Stomp the Yard just won BET hip-hop movie of the year.
In 2008, Packer is slated to produce several projects, including Bone Deep, a movie about a Los Angeles. detective gunning against a hip band of thieves as they prepare a $20 million heist and the urban remake of the classic film The Big Chill.
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