Giovanna Desselle

Originally from Houston, Texas, Giovanna has happily turned her childhood television obsession into a career as Director of Original Programming for STARZ.  In her role, Giovanna manages both Current series and Development for scripted projects across the network including POWER BOOK II: GHOST, POWER BOOK III: RAISING KANAN, comedy RUN THE WORLD, as well as period dramas BECOMING ELIZABETH and the upcoming DANGEROUS LIAISONS.  Giovanna joined STARZ from ARRAY, the production company led by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay, where she shepherded critically acclaimed series QUEEN SUGAR and CHERISH THE DAY.  She was also instrumental in launching DuVernay’s inaugural slate of projects, developing and selling nine new series including NAOMI, COLIN IN BLACK AND WHITE with Colin Kaepernick, DMZ with Rosario Dawson, and several forthcoming shows.   Giovanna’s tenure at ARRAY represented a monumental career shift from her extensive background in marketing and publicity.  Prior to ARRAY, Giovanna led West Coast corporate communications and series publicity for BET Networks, where she managed numerous scripted, unscripted and tentpole programs including BEING MARY JANE, REAL HUSBANDS OF HOLLYWOOD, BOOMERANG, AMERICAN SOUL, BET AWARDS, among many others.  She also held marketing and publicity roles at Showtime Networks, UPP Entertainment, and The Rose Group Agency; she started her career at CAA in Television Packaging.  Giovanna holds a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania.  She currently serves on the Advisory Board of The Geffen Playhouse.  The former triathlete is a die-hard foodie, with a penchant for logic puzzles, sweeping costume dramas, true crime, and all tales of the grift.