Will Packer + Sunny Hostin: Who Better Than You?

Join us for an in-person event with Emmy nominated producer and filmmaker Will Packer for the launch of his new memoir Who Better Than You? Joining Will in conversation is co-host of ABC's "The View" Sunny Hostin. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.

All tickets will include one signed copy of Who Better Than You?

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The trailblazing filmmaker and powerhouse CEO who produced Straight Outta Compton and Girls Trip uses powerful and illuminating stories from the frontlines of Hollywood to offer a clear vision on how to manifest your own success—by believing there is no one on the planet more deserving of it than you.

You know Will Packer’s movies. From Stomp the Yard to Ride Along to Girls Trip, they’ve grossed more than $1 billion at the box office, including ten films that opened at number one. And, in the vein of Shonda Rhimes, he did it by featuring authentically diverse stories that highlight black culture—something that Hollywood had long overlooked.

To outsiders, the hustle and unabashed confidence that fueled him since the days when he was trying to sell a micro-budget indie film in college may look like arrogance. To Packer, that’s just what he had to do to make it on his terms. With Who Better Than You?, Packer has created the success toolkit he wished he’d had back then, useful for anyone who’s just starting out or perhaps ready to make a major transition but doesn’t feel there are great career options or ready examples of people who’ve succeeded before them. This guidebook, full of reflections on the values and audacity that have carried him through his most successful projects, is filled with indispensable advice on business, leadership, and legacy.

Whether you’re aiming for the writer’s room or the boardroom (or somewhere else entirely), you will find encouragement, energy, and empowerment in his stories and lessons. As Kevin Hart says of working with Will Packer: "I became a student and learned from the way he was moving. The man helped me grow and gave me the knowledge."

Photo credit: Adam Linke

Will Packer, Founder and CEO of Will Packer Productions and Will Packer Media is one of Hollywood’s most prolific and commercially successful producers with a wide variety of projects on his slate. He can currently be found on The Hollywood Reporter’s illustrious Forces for Change list which draws attention to the heavyweights in Hollywood pushing for change. Most recently, Packer produced the critically acclaimed limited series “Fight Night” for Peacock, which launched on September 5, 2024, and received a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was the most-watched premiere in Peacock history and the #1 drama through its first weekend. Packer assembled an all-star cast including Kevin Hart, Taraji P Henson, Samuel L Jackson and Don Cheadle for this thriller about how a party after Muhammad Ali's 1970 comeback fight in Atlanta became an infamous heist.

Up next, Packer will release his most personal project to date, WHO BETTER THAN YOU? The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big on February 18, 2025. The memoir showcases his powerful and illuminating stories from the front lines of Hollywood.

Packer has produced or executive produced a wide range of movies grossing more than $1 billion worldwide at the box office, including “Girls Trip”, “Night School”, “Ride Along,” “Think Like a Man," and “Straight Outta Compton.” Packer’s television, digital, and branded content company, Will Packer Media, produces episodic scripted and unscripted series across television, podcasts and digital platforms and compelling content for brand clients and short-form digital content.

In 2022, Packer made history as the first Black producer and producing team to preside over the Academy Awards, for which he received an Emmy nomination. On May 21, 2024, it was announced that Packer became one of four new limited partners to the Atlanta Falcons ownership group. He serves on the board of the Atlanta Hawks Foundation, is a longtime supporter of HBCU initiatives, and a magna cum laude graduate of Florida A&M University (FAMU).

Four-time Emmy® Award-winner and New York Times bestselling author Sunny Hostin has been a co-host of ABC’s “The View” since 2016. Sunny previously served as a host and legal analyst at CNN, as well as a fill-in co-anchor for ABC News’ “World News Now” and “America This Morning.” In May 2021, Hostin released her debut novel, “Summer on the Bluffs” (William Morrow), which skyrocketed to No. 11 on The New York Times Bestsellers List. The success of this book led to the continuation of her summer trilogy with the release of “Summer on Sag Harbor” on May 2, 2023, which also became an instant New York Times bestseller. The series was completed with the release of “Summer on Highland Beach” in the summer of 2024. In the fall of 2020, Hostin released her memoir, “I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds,” with HarperOne, featuring an introspective look into the challenges she faced while being raised by teenage parents in the Bronx housing projects, the many obstacles she overcame to become a federal prosecutor, and her ultimate path to becoming an incredibly successful television journalist.

Hostin is also the founder and CEO of Sunny Hostin Productions, a global multiplatform media company that produces and creates premium film and television content highlighting important social justice issues, meaningful stories and underrepresented groups. The company’s first project is to develop her novel “Summer on the Bluffs” as a dramatic series alongside Octavia Spencer’s Orit Entertainment for Amazon MGM Studios.

As a highly respected attorney and investigative journalist, Sunny has made a name for herself using her expertise in federal prosecution and true crime to bring a number of high-profile stories to light. In 2019, Sunny hosted and executive produced the six-episode documentary series “Truth About M**der with Sunny Hostin” for Investigation Discovery, which explored some of the most infamous homicides in the nation. In the series, Sunny delves into each case, meeting with forensic experts, law enforcement officials, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the families of each victim to provide a comprehensive view of how cases are solved. In 2021, Sunny was part of the groundbreaking ABC primetime newscast “Soul of a Nation,” the first broadcast network newsmagazine aiming to put Black life in America front and center. Sunny moderated a provocative recurring conversational segment called “In the Kitchen,” where a group of talkers and thinkers joined her for a candid discussion on current events.

After graduating from Notre Dame Law School, Hostin began her career as an appellate law clerk and went on to become a trial attorney and federal prosecutor with the United States Justice Department. During her time as an assistant U.S. attorney, she was awarded the Special Achievement Award by Attorney General Janet Reno for her prosecution of child sexual predators. An inescapable voice from the top echelons of news and entertainment, she continues using her platform to advocate for and give voice to the marginalized.

A gifted storyteller, Sunny’s impressive depth of knowledge carries over to politics and the criminal justice system. She has brought clarity and context to some of the biggest stories of the past decade, including incisive political analysis of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and subsequent presidency; the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol; the Derek Chauvin trial and verdict; the college admission scandal; the George Zimmerman trial; the unrest in Ferguson and Baltimore; and the AME church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina. In May 2020, Sunny and a group of Black female activists penned an authoritative op-ed for The Washington Post urging presidential candidate Joe Biden to select a Black female vice-presidential candidate, ultimately predicting his selection of Kamala Harris. Sunny has won two Emmys for her work as a correspondent for ABC’s “Good Morning America,” one for her work as a correspondent for the ABC News special “The President and the People,” and one for her work on ABC’s special event coverage of New York City’s 2023 Puerto Rican Day Parade.

Sunny currently resides in New York with her husband Manny and two children.

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