Nick Davis
President and Executive Producer
An accomplished writer, director, and producer, Nick Davis got his start in film and television by interning on Ken Burns’ Baseball. His first task was to build a desk. In addition to his work with Burns, which included jobs on Cornerstone and The West, Davis worked for filmmaker David Grubin—co-producing The Language of Life with Bill Moyers for PBS and producing Money and Power: The History of Business for CNBC. In 1993, he directed the Emmy Award–winning Jack: The Last Kennedy Film, produced with his father, Peter Davis.
In 1998, Nick wrote and directed 1999, a black-comedy feature starring Jennifer Garner, Dan Futterman, and Amanda Peet. The film aired on the Sundance Channel and screened at more than 20 festivals worldwide.
In 2001, he founded Nick Davis Productions. Having seen Young Frankenstein ten times as a child, Nick was thrilled that the company’s first job was producing a Bravo Profile of Gene Wilder. Since then, NDP has produced more than 80 hours of television—and, over the past two decades, more than 300 commissioned films for organizations, institutions, and private clients.
In 2004, the company produced its first film for a nonprofit. As the company grew, Nick realized he loved putting himself in the service of others—helping people and organizations tell their stories with the same cinematic craft he brought to traditional television and documentary work. NDP’s clients have ranged from academic institutions (including Harvard, Brearley, Brown, and Marymount) to financial firms such as Neuberger Berman; nonprofits including New Yorkers for Children and The New Jewish Home; publishers and producers such as Alfred A. Knopf and Scribner; and cultural organizations and theatrical productions, including Broadway titles like On the Town and Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. The company has also produced films for many of New York City’s leading law firms.
Alongside this institutional work, NDP has carved out a distinctive niche in private, invitation-only films for individuals and families: legacy films and family documentaries; milestone pieces (birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations, memorial films); and custom short films, including music-video–style celebration pieces. These films are produced with the same care, discretion, and narrative rigor as NDP’s public-facing work—each one shaped collaboratively and crafted by hand.
Meanwhile, Nick’s public-facing documentary work has continued to grow. In 2018, he produced and directed the PBS American Masters film Ted Williams: “The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived,” narrated by Emmy- and Golden Globe–winner Jon Hamm. In 2021, he directed the acclaimed Once Upon a Time in Queens, a multi-part 30 for 30 documentary on the 1986 Mets, in partnership with ESPN Films, Kimmelot, ITV America, and Major League Baseball. In 2024, he won an Emmy Award for executive producing Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox for Netflix.
In 2025, Nick organized his work into two distinct entities: Series of Dreams, a boutique production company for films made for wide audiences, founded with his wife, novelist Jane Mendelsohn — and NICK DAVIS PRODUCTIONS, his commissioned-film studio.
A filmmaker whose work is known for its humanity, humor, and emotional depth, Nick has a particular love for the private films, where the stakes are personal and the storytelling can be intimate, funny, and deeply meaningful.
Prior to his work in film and television, Nick performed improv comedy in New York City nightclubs and co-wrote the novel Boone (with Brooks Hansen), published in 1990 and named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His book Competing With Idiots—a dual portrait of his grandfather Herman Mankiewicz and great-uncle Joseph Mankiewicz—was published by Knopf in 2021 and shortlisted for the LA Times Book Prize (Biography).
Nick lives in New York City with Jane and their two daughters.