Producer Will Packer Works to Get Out the Vote, Fundraise for HBCUs

Producer Will Packer has never been shy about sharing his opinion, even as he’s become a public figure. In a season when so many of Hollywood’s boldface names have kept a low profile when it comes to politics, Packer has taken to stages in recent weeks to advocate for causes and candidates that he believes in.

On Oct. 23, Packer led a rally at his alma mater, Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, where he urged students to flex their power by voting in Tuesday’s midterm elections. He appeared with Angie Nixon and David Jolly, Democratic candidates in Florida’s election for U.S. and governor, respectively. He told the crowd that decades of Republican control in the Sunshine State have led to significant underfunding of Florida A&M (also known as FAMU), and that it is time for change.

At the event, Packer revealed that he is launching a private fundraising effort for FAMU, which is part of Florida’s state university system. It is one of 107 schools in the U.S. that are designated Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Packer aims to build a private fundraising model for FAMU that he intends to extend to other HBCUs down the road.

Packer has built his public profile as a prolific supplier of distinctive movies and TV shows, from “Girls Trip” and “Straight Outta Compton” to the Peacock limited series “Fight Night” and the 2022 Academy Awards telecast. With the extraordinary events of the past two years — from the Trump administration’s assault on DEI programs to Florida’s efforts to denude the history of slavery from high school curriculums — Packer felt strongly motivated to speak out in support of candidates including Nixon and Jolly as well as Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat who is running for governor of Georgia.

“I’m in a unique position because I work in Hollywood. I’m not in front of the camera, but I still have a profile, certainly with African American audiences who have been very supportive of my content,” Packer tells Variety. “I have always said that my opinion is not any more important than anybody else’s, but it’s certainly not any less important.”

Yes, taking strong position at a time of bitter political polarization in the U.S. is risky for any public figure. Packer feels a responsibility to speak out against what he sees as grave threats to the future of the nation and the democratic system. Packer echoes the sentiments of other commentators and pollsters who say a strong turnout among Black voters in key states such as Florida, Georgia and Texas could tip the scales for Democrats in those states.

“Turnout is the key to electoral success, and turnout is about energy and excitement. Black voters have been the key to the Democrats’ success because of our engaged turnout. When we are excited, engaged, and come out as a community and let our voices be heard, it matters,” Packer says. “So, for me, as somebody that’s got a very strong relationship with that community, I feel like I would be remiss if I wasn’t at least saying to people, ‘Let me tell you what I’m going to do. Let me tell you how I see this.’ ”

From Packer’s perspective, a large percentage of Black voters feel disenfranchised by the events of the past two years. He’s trying to remind them that the most powerful step they can take to initiate change is to fill out a ballot by Nov. 3.

“I see there’s an opportunity in places like the governorship in Georgia, the governorship in Florida, the Senate race in both states that I’m very close to and states where I know that Black voter turnout is absolutely going to matter,” Packer says. “I feel that it is incumbent upon me as somebody is never shy about saying, ‘Hey, you know what? This is what’s important in the movie industry. I think people should come out and support this type of film because this will say that to the industry that this is we should use our economic power.’ So why would I stop there, especially when it’s something that is so important? I think we’re in an existential moment in terms of our democracy and which direction we’re going to go.”

Packer’s FAMU rally was carried live on “Roland Martin Unfiltered,” the daily news and commentary program that airs on Martin’s Black Star Network and YouTube. “Roland Martin Unfiltered” has been on the road for the past two weeks, going deep into battleground states to cover local rallies and events and hosting lengthy discussions with local candidates well down the ballot.

Packer knows that there is considerable risk in being vocal about politics. He likens it to the dynamic that he encountered while trying to recruit a host for the 2022 Oscar telecast.

“I have a lot of friends across the industry who say that speaking out makes them very nervous because it’s so polarized. I was having a conversation with a very high-profile rapper-slash-actor. And this person said to me that there is literally no win to coming out and saying anything politically. You’re always going to piss off half the people, and especially right now, half the people are going to hate you if you say anything political at all. And that was this person’s very, very strong belief,” Packer says.

“It reminds me of when I was when I was having conversation with people about hosting the Oscars, and people said to me, ‘Why would I do this? I can only lose.’ So I hear the same thing about politics. But I feel like, we’re on this earth for however long God allows us to be. What are you doing with yourself and your human voice and your mission? If you’re not out there influencing people and doing things that you can feel proud of and sleep well at night, then have you really given it your all? Have you really made the most impactful legacy that you have on this earth? That’s why I got to where I am today,” he says.

Packer broke the news of his plan to launch the Rattler Freedom Fund (a nod to FAMU’s rattlesnake mascot) during the Oct. 23 rally. Since then, he’s received calls from other HBCUs looking to be involved. FAMU in recent years has been buffeted by “some very hard core MAGA philosophy” that has penetrated the Florida statehouse, he says.

“Florida A&M, like many HBCUs, is a public university, and so it is subject to the political leanings of whoever is in charge and in power. What we saw recently was something that many of us in the HBCU community thought could never happen, which is basically a MAGA takeover of a very, very prominent institution,” Packer says. “What we need to have is an independent financing source. This is not about Democrats versus Republicans. It is about HBCUs and saying we need to be able to fund our own purposes and aims and goals, independent of whoever may be in the governor’s house and whoever may control the state legislature. When you are completely dependent on resources and financing from a government, then you are subject to the whims of that government and we’re seeing that play out in real time.”

The fate of FAMU is deeply personal to Packer, who graduated magna cum laude in 1996 with a degree in electrical engineering. His career path was destined to take him to work the awards circuit more than circuit boards. But he credits the boost that he got from attending FAMU as providing the educational and cultural foundation that allowed him to take the radical detour to become a successful movie and TV producer.

“If it was not for my HBCU experience, I wouldn’t be where I am. It’s where I found my voice. It’s where I really found the foundation for me being a creative producer that I am,” Packer says. “The Rattler Freedom Fund is a completely nonpartisan, independent organization to finance the aims and missions and students at our schools, so that we’re not so reliant on government financing. This is something that we have to do in order to maintain these great, great institutions, who have who have helped create some of the greatest Black leaders and Black minds across so many fields. We have to create a system for us to be self-supporting and self-sustaining.”

(Pictured: Producer Will Packer, center, at the Oct. 23 Florida A&M University rally, flanked by Gwen Graham, candidate for Florida Lt. Gov.; Annette Taddeo, candidate for Florida chief financial officer; Angie Nixon, Florida candidate for U.S. Senate; and David Jolly, Florida candidate for governor.)