EXCLUSIVE: DeMane Davis, who has directed episodes of Queen Sugar and Netflix’s Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker, has been tapped to helm NBC pilot Found.
Davis will direct the pilot episode of the missing-persons drama, which comes from Nkechi Okoro Carroll, Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. TV.
It reunites the director with Berlanti, who she worked with on episodes of Netflix’s You and The Red Line.
It comes after Davis recently signed an overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group and extends a relationship that began in 2017 when Ava DuVernay gave Davis her television series directing debut on an episode of the Array Filmworks drama series Queen Sugar.
She then became a producing director of the show in season three and supervised the all-female directing team on the show, a DuVernay-created initiative that continues throughout the show’s upcoming sixth season.
She has also directed episodes of Shondaland’s How to Get Away with Murder, Station 19, and For the People for ABC and recently co-exec produced CBS drama Clarice and directed the two-part season finale.
Found is headlined and produced by Shameless alumna Shanola Hampton, who plays public relations specialist Gabi Mosley.
The series looks at missing persons in the U.S. – in any given year, more than 600,000 people are reported missing in the U.S and more than half that number are people of color that the country seems to forget about.
Hampton’s Mosley, who was once herself one of those forgotten ones, and her crisis management team make sure there is always someone looking out for the forgotten missing people. But unbeknownst to anyone, this everyday hero is hiding a chilling secret of her own.
Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and David Madden executive produce for Berlanti Productions, along with Carroll and Lindsay Dunn for Carroll’s Rock My Soul. Berlanti Productions and Rock My Soul Productions produce in association with Warner Bros. TV.
Davis is repped by APA.