Jeff Davis (born June 13, 1975) is an American writer and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

best known for creating ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Jeff Davis that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral ...

'' and ''

Teen Wolf ''Teen Wolf'' is a 1985 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as the title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is changed when he discover ...

''.

Early life

Davis was born in

Milford, Connecticut Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, between New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the Vill ...

. He graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

with a degree in film and he then went on to receive a master's degree in screenwriting from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. Davis worked as a script reader, editorial assistant, writer for computer software manuals and computer support specialist in Los Angeles while struggling to sell his own writing.

Career

In 2003, Davis sold a script to

CBS Television CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

that eventually became the hit series ''

''. He served as co-executive producer during the first season of the show. In 2011, Davis began talks with

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

about a reboot of the Michael J. Fox '80s comedy ''

''. He says he jumped at the project due to his love of the horror genre. He notes among his influences writers

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

and

Thomas Harris William Thomas Harris III (born September 22, 1940) is an American writer. He is the author of a series of suspense novels about Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, including '' The Silence o ...

. Davis has also stated that he is a fan of ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

'', ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...

'', and '' Moonlighting''. As executive producer, head writer and show creator, Jeff Davis was the creative force behind ''Teen Wolf''. After the second season of ''Teen Wolf'' ended, Davis split his time between Los Angeles and Atlanta, Georgia, where he filmed the show. Davis sold a series adaption of the Swedish horror film '' Let the Right One In'', for the U.S. television channel A&E. The script was then ordered to pilot at TNT. The pilot was shot in Vancouver, but ultimately, TNT decided not to proceed with a series. More recently, he signed a deal with MTV Entertainment Studios through his First Cause production company.

Personal life

Davis is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. Davis is also a fan of Batman, to the point of even naming characters from his hit TV show ''Teen Wolf,'' after characters in Batman.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Jeff 1975 births Living people Television writers from California American male television writers American gay writers LGBTQ television producers American LGBTQ screenwriters LGBTQ people from Connecticut People from Milford, Connecticut American showrunners Television producers from California USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Vassar College alumni Writers from Atlanta Writers from Los Angeles Screenwriters from Connecticut Screenwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Television producers from Connecticut