"Make bloody choices." This is what Martin Landau taught me when I was a directing member of the Actors Studio Playwrights/Directors Lab in Los Angeles. This has become even more relevant now that I am developing three horror projects.
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  • Derrick M. Davis
I am an award-winning film and theater director. As a producer, I've had development deals at New Line, HBO, and Steven J. Cannell Productions. My short film “Evening Class,” produced for Showtime, was adapted from a critically acclaimed theater production which I directed at the Powerhouse Theatre in LA. The film won the Gold Medal at the New York Festivals and the CableACE Award for Best Actress. The film has experienced a remarkable resurgence – since December, 2025, “Evening Class” has been named an Official Selection in 75% of festival submissions, winning numerous awards, including Best Director at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, Best Overall Film at The International Horror Hotel Film Festival, and Best of the Fest at The Dunwich Horror Fest.
In theater, I directed stars James Farentino and Len Lesser (Uncle Leo on Seinfeld) in the world premiere of “My Father’s House” by Jerry Mazza at the Seven Angels Regional Theatre in Connecticut. I also staged a massive reading of Aristophanes' anti-war comedy “Lysistrata” (part of the Lysistrata Project protesting the invasion of Iraq) that featured more than 80 actors, including stars Julie Christie, Alfre Woodard, Christine Lahti, Mary McDonnell, Eric Stoltz, and Roscoe Lee Browne, with music by John Densmore of the Doors. Performed live for 400 audience members, the production was streamed to an international audience.
My production of “Up the Mountain” by Kevin Arkadie won four NAACP Theatre Awards (including Best Director). My previous short film, “Art Lover,” starring Sally Kirkland, won the Silver Lone Star Award at the Houston International Film Festival.
My work outside film – building a forensic genealogy practice that solves some of the most complex estate cases in California – sharpened the story instincts I bring to my current projects: a horror feature I'm adapting from a published short story (Blackstone Publishing), and a limited series based on Eric Beetner's acclaimed Minnesota-noir Carter McCoy crime trilogy.
Winner - Best Short Film
Evening Class
Sweden Film Awards
2026
Certificate of Merit - Acting
Evening Class
Rochester International Film Festival
2026
Winner - Silver Award, Best Thriller Short
Evening Class
Independent Shorts Awards
2026
Nominated - Best Thriller Short
Evening Class
Indie Short Fest
2026
Nominated - Best Thriller Short
Evening Class
Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival
2026
Winner - Best Writer, Nominated - Best Actress
Evening Class
AltFF Alternative Film Festival
2025
Winner - Best Drama, Nominated - Best Actress
Evening Class
Couch Film Festival
2025
Winner - Best of the Fest
Evening Class
The Dunwich Horror Fest
2025
Silver Medal
Art Lover
Houston Film Festival
Winner - Gold Medal
Evening Class
New York Festivals
Winner - Best Actress, Nominated - Best Dramatic Series
Evening Class
CableACE Awards
College
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut
BA in Film and Theater, with High Honors in Theater
High School
American Embassy School, New Delhi, India
High School
St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire
Birth City
Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Current City
Los Angeles, CA
Hometown
Washington, DC
Married To
June Christopher
Children
Angie Haney and Alex Haney
Mariangela Pino beat out Helen Mirren and Isabella Rossellini to win the CableACE Award for Best Actress in "Evening Class."
As a kid, I lived in Yugoslavia, Mali, Vietnam, the Philippines, Poland, and India. My own kids have only known one house their whole lives. Order can come from chaos - isn't that the director's job?
"Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the Earth" - Archimedes
"Failure is falling upward" - Coretta Scott King
"We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones" - Stephen King
"Make bloody choices." This is what Martin Landau taught me when I was a directing member of the Actors Studio Playwrights/Directors Lab in Los Angeles. This has become even more relevant now that I am developing three horror projects.
Contact
Legal Representative
Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang
1 Representative
  • Derrick M. Davis
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