Bringing a love of teaching and storytelling to GPB.
As far back as she can recall, Insley Davis has had a fascination with film. “I grew up in Henry County where my dad always took me to the movies. In college, I was helping friends produce photo shoots and videos. I was drawn to entertainment,” she says.
At the same time, Davis says she was raised to value education. Her grandmother, mother and aunts were educators, and her great-great-grandfather was among the group that launched the school that is now Fort Valley State University, a historically Black college south of Macon. “Educating students so they could have jobs and upward mobility was the mission, and it’s always been the same,” says Davis, a Fort Valley grad herself.
After working a number of freelance jobs, her career took on a focused trajectory when she enrolled in UGA’s film school and became a teaching assistant in screenwriting. “It blew my mind how passionate the students were,” she says. “I was really drawn to the aspect of teaching the next person.”
Davis earned an MFA in 2020 and was ready to combine her love of film and education. But when the pandemic put a freeze on job opportunities, she forged her own path.
“I turned to TikTok, which turned out to be a great thing,” says Davis, who now has 35,000 followers on that platform. “I told stories about our state and its history as a way to have a creative outlet and use my skills to produce content. From there, I created a portfolio that led to other opportunities in casting, production and teaching in an Athens middle school for two years.”
Last year, Davis saw Georgia Public Broadcasting was looking for a production manager to update the offerings on “Georgia Stories,” a series about the state that includes videos, teacher materials and primary sources that meet mandated middle school standards. Getting the job in June 2024 was particularly poignant.
“I watched ‘Georgia Stories’ when I was in school,” she says. “I love working in public media, especially now, as we’re seeing how people are banding together to support us and how much they love GPB. It’s very rewarding.” The job often takes Davis and production crews to different parts of the state where a story is waiting to be told. The process has provided a number of remarkable experiences, from accessing archives at the Auburn Avenue Research Library to meeting a Freedom Rider who had Martin Luther King Jr.’s phone number written on a scrap of paper. “Getting to touch the physical pieces of history also touches my heart,” she says. “I’m also learning so much. This is exactly where I want to be: at the cornerstone of entertainment and education.”
Davis says living in Buckhead is exactly where she wants to be. “I’m in one of the best places in the world to relax. I can head to the gym on the roof of my building and see great views. I can take a neighborhood walk. I’m a nerd at heart, and I love to be informed, and in a weird way, my relaxation is using my social media and voice to share that with others.”
gpb.org/author/insley-davis
@inzlay
