DeMane Davis Signs Overall Deal, Joins "Naomi" Creative Team
Acclaimed television director/producer and award-winning filmmaker DeMane Davis (Queen Sugar, Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker) has signed an overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group and joined the creative team of the highly anticipated upcoming new DC drama Naomi — from executive producers/writers Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship, ARRAY Filmworks, and Warner Bros. Television for The CW.
Under terms of the pact, Davis will be a co-executive producer on Naomi and will serve as the producing director on the series, helming multiple episodes throughout the season and overseeing the show’s directing team. Beyond her work on Naomi, Davis will render additional directing services exclusively for the Studio. She will also develop new original programming for all platforms, including WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, external streaming services, cable, and the broadcast networks.
Per Studio practice, terms were not disclosed, but WBTVG can confirm that it is an exclusive, multiyear agreement.
DeMane Davis said: “Growing up, I would scarf down Cap’n Crunch while watching Bugs Bunny every Saturday. I imagined a lot of things, but back then seeing him lean up against the Warner Bros. logo, I don’t think I imagined this. I’m forever grateful to Ava for putting me in this rocket ship. Getting to go ‘home’ and work with her and my ARRAY family on Naomi is a gift.”
This marks Davis’s first overall deal with WBTVG and extends a relationship that began in 2017 when DuVernay gave Davis her television series directing debut on an episode of the ARRAY Filmworks drama series Queen Sugar, produced by the Studio for OWN. DuVernay then tapped Davis to become producing director of Queen Sugar in season three. She helmed several additional episodes of the acclaimed series and supervised the all-female directing team on the show, a DuVernay-created initiative that continues throughout the show’s upcoming sixth season.
After Queen Sugar, Davis continued working with the Studio, directing episodes of The Red Line (from DuVernay’s ARRAY and Berlanti Productions) for CBS and You for Netflix, as well as the last two episodes of the four-part limited series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker for Netflix, all produced by WBTVG. Davis also directed episodes of Shondaland’s How to Get Away with Murder, Station 19, and For the People for ABC. Most recently, she was co-executive producer of the CBS drama Clarice and directed the two-part season finale.
Davis began her career writing and directing indie features. Both of her films premiered in Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and internationally at Edinburgh. She’s best known for Lift, the story of a “booster” (or professional shoplifter), which was selected for the prestigious Sundance Director’s and Screenwriter’s Labs. It starred Kerry Washington in her first leading role. Lift was honored with two Film Independent Spirit Award nominations before airing originally on Showtime and now is streaming on Amazon. Davis was also honored with the Sundance Institute’s NHK Award for her work on the film.
