Will Packer teaming with OWN for two new shows

BY MELISSA RUGGIERI/AJC Music Scene

(I’m helping to fill in for Rodney Ho while he’s out of the country. This post was originally filed at 12:41 a.m. April 12.)

Atlanta-based super-producer Will Packer will spearhead a pair of new shows for the OWN network – a soap opera/drama called “Ambitions” and an unscripted dating series, “Ready to Love.”

Packer, the guiding force behind a litany of hits including “Girls Trip,” “Straight Outta Compton” and “Ride Along,” will executive produce the shows under his Will Packer Media banner. They are the first TV series created under Packer’s “first-look” deal with the Oprah Winfrey-rooted network.

“Ready to Love” will begin production in Atlanta this spring and join OWN’s current lineup of unscripted programming on Saturday nights later this year. The show will offer the usual "men and women looking for lasting love" theme, but with a focus on the men’s perspectives about dating.

“Ambitions” will begin production later this year – also in Atlanta – and debut on OWN in 2019. The family saga is centered around a woman who relocates her life and must take on power players in an (unnamed) city while working to revitalize her marriage.