This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 11 LOS ANGELES - The DM from Ava DuVernay came on a Thursday afternoon. DeMane Davis wasn't expecting it. It was just another day at the Boston advertising agency where she worked when the intriguing message landed. Davis had never met DuVernay, but she knew the director was just coming off her breakthrough film, "Selma." DuVernay also was developing a series for Oprah Winfrey's OWN network based on Natalie Baszile's 2014 novel "Queen Sugar." In the message, DuVernay told Davis she was a fan of "Lift," the 2001 independent film she co-directed starring a pre-"Scandal" Kerry Washington. "Wondering," she asked. "Have you written any episodic TV specs by chance?" Davis had written a pair of unfilmed scripts. But she had pretty much ruled out directing TV. "Because the adage was, you have to have experience to get this job and you … [Read more...] about How ‘Queen Sugar’ changed the lives of its female directors