DeMane Davis (born ) is an American film and television director and producer. Originally from

Roxbury, Massachusetts Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for n ...

, Davis's first production was 1997's ''Black & White & Red All Over'', which she co-wrote with Khari Streeter.

''Lift'' (2001)

In 2001, Davis and Streeter worked together again, co-directing the crime-thriller ''Lift'', which premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

. ''Lift'' starred

Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...

as a young woman who works in a department store but who is also a professional

shoplifter Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...

—a so-called "booster". Davis says that she based the character on real-life boosters in her hometown, including her sister-in-law. Rapper

Sticky Fingaz Kirk Jones (born November 3, 1973), better known by his stage name Sticky Fingaz, is an American hardcore rapper, record producer, and actor best known as a member of multi-platinum hardcore rap group Onyx. Sticky Fingaz was discovered by Jam ...

also appeared in the film. Davis and Streeter received a $250,000 grant from Sundance to produce the film, and found a small production company in Boston which provided the remainder of the $3 million budget. ''Lift'' was later broadcast on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

and

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

and won the Grand Jury prize at the 2001 Urbanworld Film Festival.

Television (2018–present)

Although her first two films found some success, she was unable to find enough work in the field, so moved from Boston to New York, where she worked for an agency writing and directing advertisements. Davis finally got the opportunity to direct longer pieces again when Ava DuVernay asked her to direct an episode of DuVernay's 2016–2022 television drama, ''

Queen Sugar Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

''. This opportunity led to her producing and directing for other episodic television productions, including ''

How to Get Away With Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal thriller television series that premiered on ABC on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk, and produced by Shonda Rhimes and ABC Studios. Th ...

'', ''

Station 19 ''Station 19'' is an American action-drama television series created by Stacy McKee for ABC that premiered on March 22, 2018. It is the second spin-off of ''Grey's Anatomy'' (after ''Private Practice''). Set in Seattle, the series focuses on th ...

'', ''

The Red Line ''The Red Line'' (''Punainen viiva'') is an opera in two acts with music by Aulis Sallinen to a libretto by the composer, which premiered on 30 November 1978 at the Finnish National Opera.Arni E. The Red Line. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Ope ...

'', and ''

You In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

''. She also directed two of the four episodes of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

'' Self Made'' about the life of

Madam C. J. Walker Madam C.J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove; December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919) was an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political and social activist. She is recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the '' G ...

. In 2021 Davis signed a multi-year, exclusive deal with Warner Bros. Television Group which will see her act as co-executive producer with DuVernay on the superhero drama, ''

Naomi Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name), a female given name and a list of people with the name * Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth * Naomi (Romanian singer) (bo ...

''. In 2022 it was announced that she would direct the pilot of NBC's ''Found''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Demane Living people 1967 births African-American film directors African-American film producers African-American screenwriters African-American television directors African-American television producers American film producers American television directors American women film directors American women film producers American women screenwriters Film directors from Massachusetts Film producers from Massachusetts Mass media people from Boston Screenwriters from Massachusetts Television producers from Massachusetts American women television directors American women television producers American women television writers Writers from Boston American television writers 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century African-American writers