Introduce Yourself : Jenise Davis -- Owner and content creator for Jenise Davis Productions by Jenise Davis

Hello to all of my Stage 32 colleagues and fellow creatives. I want to take this time to introduce myself as one of the latest members of this spectacular social networking forum. My name is Jenise Davis, and I am a native Washingtonian with a passion for the creative arts. Since childhood, I have had a passion for the creative arts but was steered in a different direction. Playing the cello in the D.C. Youth Orchestra and wanting to follow a career path in music was halted, with my mother instilling in me the importance of “having a back up plan, and getting a real job”. Well, now that I’m an adult, I have done that…gotten a back up plan, but the creative passion never left and I feel compelled to follow that passion. And in doing so, I have honed my craft over the years and have stepped out and formed a production company – Jenise Davis Productions (“JDP”) -- to bring my ideas to the masses. I am of the mindset of not sitting back and waiting for something to fall into my lap, but to go out and get it with tenacious voracity. The word NO is a foreign language to me. My current projects include: Arm Candy, Drama Capitol, and Love and Latkes. In fact, I have written, directed and produced a pilot episode of Drama Capitol that I am currently revamping into a web series. I have also served as a producer for Current TV (before it changed to the Al Jazeerah Network ) to provide commercials and treatments for their sponsors as part of their VCAM program. In doing so, JDP created a PSA for Allstate and submitted treatments for Clorox’s Bleach it Away campaign. Aside from that, JDP has entered into the Crash the Super bowl Doritos Contest, and other challenges. While we didn’t win, I am proud to say that it’s something that can be added to our body of work. With the Internet changing the game and the landscape of releasing ones creative talents to the masses, I find myself at a crossroads. I have decided to turn the above-mentioned titles into web series’. However, I’m finding that networks are picking up similar shows. For example, the other day, I learned that my series, Love and Latkes, a dramaedy about an African American woman and a Jewish man finding love and the trials and tribulations that they experience coming from two diverse backgrounds, has been picked up by a network. The name of the show is called Kosher Soul and is the exact reverse (An African American man and Jewish woman finding love, etc.) to what my show is about. Although my show is somewhat different, the concept remains the same. My question to all of my fellow creatives is what is a good strategy to get ones work pitched and noticed by a network exec? Being from D.C., I know that it’s all about who you know. I obviously have great ideas, as they are being recognized by networks that have decided to green light these ideas pitched by others. Am I wasting my time creating web series’, or should I aim for getting representation that can get me straight to the network? Any advice would be helpful!