Will Packer Media, Kinetic Content to adapt Tia Williams’ ‘Seven Days in June’
"Every so often I get to engage in a project that I am absolutely sure will be a game-changer. This is that project," said Packer
Will Packer has acquired the film and television rights to the bestselling romance novel “Seven Days in June,” by Tia Williams.
Packer’s production company and Red Arrow Studios’ Kinetic Content will adapt the novel for the small screen, according to Variety.
The novel from Grand Central Publishing follows two best-selling authors who reunite years after a high school fling. Per Variety, the story centers on “Eva Mercy, a successful erotica author and the daughter she’s raising on her own in Brooklyn. Unbeknownst to Eva, the love of her life is about to return— and she hasn’t seen him since their affair ended abruptly, fifteen years ago,” the outlet writes.
“Every so often I get to engage in a project that I am absolutely sure will be a game-changer. This is that project. ‘Seven Days in June’ is provocative, timely and wildly entertaining,” Packer said in a statement. “The sexiness, the intensity, the unashamed Blackness makes this an ideal project for us at Team Packer. Tia is so incredibly talented and Kinetic Content are such perfect partners, this is the right project for the right team at the right time!”
When the novel hit book stores this month, it immediately landed on the New York Times best seller list for fiction, according to the report.
“We were blown away by Tia’s masterful storytelling on ‘Seven Days in June’ and were passionate about winning the commission, which was sought after by so many in our industry,” Melissa Myers, president and partner of Kinetic Content, added. “We are excited about working with Tia and the team at Will Packer to bring this beautiful and emotional love story to the screen.”
Williams is also having her novel “The Perfect Find” adapted into a Netflix feature starring Gabrielle Union. As theGrio previously reported, Union will produce the film under her I’ll Have Another production company.
The official Netflix logline for the film reads as follows:
Union’s character is desperate to have a fresh start in the world of beauty journalism and takes the only job available to her at a magazine where her boss is her frenemy, Darcy. She finds herself struggling to keep up with her younger and more social media savvy co-workers while keeping her boss happy — and when she starts a relationship with the company’s new videographer, she thinks her life is finally turning around until she finds out that he’s the boss’s son.
Union will star opposite Niecy Nash and Keith Powers. The Perfect Find will reportedly start filming this month in Hudson County, NJ.
Packer, meanwhile, will serve as the first ever jury president for this year’s American Black Film Festival, theGrio reported.
ABFF Ventures LLC announced in March that Packer, the successful film producer of movies like Girls Trip, Straight Outta Compton, The Photograph, and more, will serve as jury president for the festival’s 25th anniversary. According to the official statement obtained by theGrio, Packer will “help the festival expand its Jury and curate a diverse slate of film and television content.”
The new role is being called a “coming home” for Packer, as he began his career with his film Trois, directed by Rob Hardy, which premiered at the festival back in 1999. Since then, Packer has maintained a healthy working relationship with ABFF, serving on their Advisory Board and “lending his expertise to mentor emerging artists.”
Packer said in a statement, “ABFF is one of the single most instrumental institutions in my career.” He also spoke to this step in his career as a way for him to pave the way for others to come up behind him, saying, “This is more than just a festival for me. It’s very existence guarantees there will be more Will Packers making movies from a unique perspective and telling the stories of underserved audiences.”
The ABFF runs from November 3rd to 14th. For more information on the festival, submissions, and more, head to abff.com. Follow ABFF on Twitter, Instagram, and use the hashtag #ABFF21 and #ABFF to join the ABFF conversation and stay up to date on the latest announcements.
theGRIO’s Jared Alexander contributed to this report.
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