“Academy Conversations” Q&A With Will Packer Marks Org’s Sundance Debut

UTA’s Barbara Dreyfus Named Head Of Motion Pictures For Will Packer’s Production Company

Jen Yamato is a Deadline contributor.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will make its official debut at the Sundance Film Festival with an event featuring new member Will Packer, producer of such films as last year’s Think Like A Man, 2007’s Stomp The Yard and the 2009 Beyonce Knowles starrer Obsessed. Co-presented with The Blackhouse Foundation, an organization that promotes black filmmakers at festivals around the country, the inaugural Sundance edition of “Academy Conversations” will take place at 3:30 PM January 19 at Park City’s Buona Vita. Blackhouse Foundation chairman Brickson Diamond will moderate the discussion. In addition to the aforementioned Sony/Screen Gems movies, Packer’s Rainforest Films produced and self-distributed successful urban titles including 2000’s thriller Trois, which spawned two sequels and launched the feature directing career of Stomp The Yard’s Sylvain White. Saturday’s event will be followed by a reception “addressing such initiatives as Awards qualification rules, filmmaker engagement, educational programs, festival grants and membership” with Academy execs Randy Haberkamp, Patrick Harrison and Torene Svitil in attendance.

Packer next has
No Good Deed with Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson, Ride Along with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, and an all-black remake of About Last Night with Hart and Michael Ealy signed on, and he’s also developing Think Like A Man 2.

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