Speaker Colin Davis

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Colin Davis

Executive Vice President, Comedy Development

Roku

Colin Davis is Head of Scripted Originals at The Roku Channel, Roku’s free ad-supported streaming service, presiding over a diverse slate of programming across drama, comedy and animation. He is in charge of Roku’s scripted content strategy, including volume, genre, and talent for future original commissions leading a team of strategic creatives that are setting the standard for what audiences can expect out of the free streaming experience. Davis spearheaded the rollout of successful series including Die Hart seasons 1-2 starring Kevin Hart, Reno 911! Defunded, Emmy-award winning series Mapleworth Murders, Swimming with Sharks starring Kiernan Shipka and Diane Kruger, Most Dangerous Game starring Liam Hemsworth and Christoph Waltz and more. Under Davis’ oversight, The Roku Channel has greenlit several highly anticipated productions including Weird: The Al Yankovic Story starring Daniel Radcliffe, female-driven comedy Slip staring, directed and created by Zoe Lister-Jones, endearing and relatable comedy Children Ruin Everything created by Schitt’s Creek alum Kurt Smeaton, and more. He oversaw many “Roku firsts” including the launch of the company’s first original feature film Zoey’s Original Christmas, which brought back the full cast from the original series, and Doomlands, the company’s first-ever animated scripted series. As The Roku Channel continues to expand its slate original content, Davis is dedicated to connecting Hollywood’s best storytellers directly to its built-in audiences of millions of streamers.

Prior to joining Roku, Davis led Scripted programming for the short-form streaming service Quibi, where he was tasked with quickly ushering and developing high quality original shows with Hollywood’s biggest talent. In 18 short months he oversaw over 15 new series that married traditional media with a new innovative format and technology partnering with filmmakers including Jason Reitman, Antoine Fuqua, and Steven Soderbergh. Davis’ work has earned multiple Emmy nominations (and three wins).

During his time as Senior Director of Original programming at TBS, he was a key contributor to the network rebrand and is recognized as a champion of the critical darling SEARCH PARTY and the most watched original cable show of 2016, WRECKED. He also creatively managed six primetime original series, a late-night comedy block, multiple pitch-to-screen scripted development projects, and an adult prime animation pipeline.

Davis began his career at Fox Broadcasting Company in their inaugural Opportunity Fox program as a full-time Apprentice to the Chairman of Entertainment (Kevin Reilly). He has been recognized in both The Hollywood Reporter (Next Gen 2019: Hollywood's 35 Rising Executives 35 and Under 35) and Variety (2013 Hollywood’s New Leaders: 10 Assistants To Watch). Davis is a graduate of UCLA's School of Theater Film and Television with a concentration in screenwriting.

Speaking on: Selling scripted

At the Banff Media Festival, we met with Netflix and took a ride up Sulphur Mountain on the gondola. That’s where we made the pitch.
- Naveen Prasad, EVP and GM, Elevation Pictures

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