Will Packer Media has announced three hires that are meant to bolster the company’s television and digital development and production.
Sheila Ducksworth has joined as head of scripted television, Jaime Primak Sullivan as head of digital development and production, and Kelly Smith will take on the role of head of development and production, unscripted.
Ducksworth comes to Will Packer Media from her own Ducksworth Productions. She served as an executive produce alongside Gabrielle Union on the Lifetime original movie With This Ring, starring Regina Hall, and produced the Joan Rivers documentary Why We Laugh: Funny Women for Lionsgate. She previously served as the head of development for Susanne Daniels’ First Move based at 20th Century Fox and also served at UPN as a current executive, overseeing day-to-day production on Veronica Mars.
Sullivan, whose early background is in public relations, was the creator, executive producer and star of Bravo reality series Jersey Belle and is executive producer on the upcoming Gabrielle Union thriller Breaking In.
Smith joins from Randy Jackson’s 1963 Entertainment, where he served as vp development with responsibility for packaging and selling series to cable, broadcast and digital networks, placing projects at both E! and BET. Prior to 1963, he was vp development at Drew Barrymore’s and Nancy Juvonen’s Flower Films.
These hires come three months after the producer announced the creation of his eponymous Will Packer Media, including a partnership with Universal Pictures and Discovery Communications for a TV production and branded-content deal. Under the agreement the newly formed company will produce a wide range of media, from scripted and unscripted series to advertising campaigns to shortform content on a branded digital platform.
“We are thrilled to welcome Sheila, Jaime and Kelly to the Will Packer Media team,” said Packer. “All of them bring phenomenal vision and creativity to their work along with the hustle and dealmaking savvy to bring great projects to life. They will be critical players in our mission of making standout entertainment across all devices and platforms.”
Most recently, Packer released the Universal comedy Girls Trip starring Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith, which grossed $137 million at the global box office on a $19 million budget.
