Name: At Home Happy Hour with DeMane Davis — Massachusetts Production Coalition
Start: 2020-05-20T17:00:00-0400
End: 2020-05-20T18:30:00-0400
Location: At Home via Zoom

Co-presented with Roxbury International Film Festival

We’re thrilled to welcome Television Director, Filmmaker, Writer, Producer, and proud Roxbury native DeMane Davis for an inspiring Happy Hour conversation.

Pull up with a drink and get together to hear about DeMane’s mutifaceted career from boot-strapping indies; to directing and producing premier episodic series, and over 70 commercial spots; what inclusion in the industry means today and #TheAvaEffect; and the journey to bring important stories to wider audiences, in our industry and in our homes.

DeMane’s recent credits include producing and directing the recently released four-part Netﬂix series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker (starring Octavia Spencer, Blair Underwood and Tiffany Haddish), directing and producing for Queen Sugar on OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network), as well as directing episodes of How to Get Away with Murder and Station 19 (for Shonda Rhimes and ABC), among many others. Full bio below.

Moderated by Lisa Simmons, Director of the Roxbury International Film Festival.

Donations benefit the Roxbury International Film Festival.

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Proudly co-presented with

About DeMane Davis

DeMane Davis is a Television Director, Filmmaker, Writer and Producer whose most recent work is Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker. The limited four-part Netﬂix TV series stars Octavia Spencer, Blair Underwood & Tiffany Haddish. DeMane produced the series and directed the last two episodes.

Her television directing career began the day Ava DuVernay (WHEN THEY SEE US, 13th, A WRINKLE IN TIME) literally “slipped into her DMs.” Ava has changed the entire directing landscape (and the numbers) by only hiring female directors, speciﬁcally women who haven’t yet directed for TV. DeMane was invited her to direct on her groundbreaking series, Queen Sugar (Oprah Winfrey Network.) DeMane helmed two episodes and was asked back as the Producing Director for season three. A proud product of #TheAvaEffect, since then she has directed for Shonda Rhimes and ABC including two episodes of How To Get Away With Murder (one in the series ﬁnale); For The People; and two episodes of Station 19 (including the penultimate ep of season three which aired in May. She also directed on the limited series The Red Line from Ava and Greg Bertlanti (CBS) and season two of YOU starring Penn Badly and Chris D’Elia on Netﬂix. DeMane has had the honor of working with Cicely Tyson, Henry G. Saunders and Viola Davis multiple times.

In addition to TV, DeMane has written and directed two independent features. Both premiered In Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and internationally at Edinburgh. Her second ﬁlm, LIFT, starred Kerry Washington (Scandal, Little Fires Everywhere) in her ﬁrst leading role. LIFT was selected for the prestigious Sundance Director’s and Screenwriter’s Labs and revered with two Spirit Award nominations before it was purchased by Showtime. It’s now streaming on Amazon.

DeMane made both indie ﬁlms while still working in advertising. Her career as a Copywriter and Creative Director spans over twenty-ﬁve years and counts Nike, Snapple, Reebok, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Converse and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s very ﬁrst anti-smoking effort as clients. On the commercial production side DeMane has directed over seventy spots, is a Voice Over Talent and a proud Roxbury native.