Director DeMane Davis Is Proud To Be A Part Of ‘The Ava Effect’

essence.com:

Queen Sugar to direct an episode of the Ava DuVernay series. Despite her temporary physical ailment, delaying the opportunity was not an option. “I had broken my ankle,” she told ESSENCE. “On both sides, I had to have two surgeries in one month.” Shortly after being discharged from the hospital, she got a phone call from Executive Producer Paul Garnes inviting her to visit the magnolia state where the OWN drama is filmed. “He was like ‘so you’ll come down to New Orleans?’ And I was like yep, yep absolutely,” she recalled.

Davis put one metal spear in front of the other for the chance to tell a chapter of the Bordelon siblings’ saga. She wanted to be part of the universe Ava DuVernay created – badly. “That’s what crutches are for,” she said with a laugh.  “Pro tip, if you ever break your ankle or you need to elevate your ankle, elevate both of your legs, because you will throw your hips off.

I learned that the hard way.”  The painful lesson wasn’t the first sacrifice Davis experienced on her journey to directing in Hollywood.

She was inspired by her mother whom she said “went to night school and raised four children as a single mom.” “That’s a big part of what continues to get me up every day, knowing that that’s something that she did and she would want me to do,” said Davis.