Will Packer knows that diversity in movies is good business. The producer has become a standout in Hollywood, making films with mostly Black casts that cater to an underserved audience — and that audience has rewarded him for it. His 2017 film 'Girls Trip,' starring Tiffany Haddish, Regina Hall, Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith, was the highest-grossing comedy of that year. Comedies 'Think Like a Man' and 'Ride Along' have seen massive success at the box office.
There definitely has been progress — you look at the voices in front of and behind the camera, and they're more diverse than ever before. But we started from where there was such a dearth of any kind of real, authentic diversity, we have so far to go. Even though I'm optimistic, I don't have any delusions of thinking that we've turned some incredible corner.