Gilberto Duavit Jr.

Roy Duavit, the daughter of former Philippine Senator Jose Roy (1904–1986).

His older sister, Judith Duavit Vasquez, previously served as a GMA board member.

Gilberto "Jimmy" Roy Duavit Jr. (born October 16, 1963) is a Filipino businessman, philanthropist, producer, and writer.

He is the president and chief executive officer of GMA Network Inc., one of the largest media networks in the Philippines.

Duavit inherited the position from his father, Gilberto "Bibit" Duavit Sr., who was the network's founding chairman.

Duavit was born on October 16, 1963, as the second eldest child of GMA Network chairman Gilberto Duavit Sr.. (1934–2018) and Vilma

After the success of GMA Films in the late 1990s, Duavit ventured into television production at GMA Network.

Since 1991, Duavit has served as the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Film Experts Inc., a magnetic storage and optical disc manufacturer based in Makati.

Duavit first became involved with GMA in 1993 as a film producer for the network's production company, GMA Pictures, which was then named Cinemax Studios and later GMA Films.

In 1995, the GMA Network launched Cinemax Studios with Duavit as one of the supervisors.

He produced some of the company's most successful films, including José Rizal (1998) and Muro-Ami (1999), both of which won the Metro Manila Film Festival Award for Best Picture successively.

In 1998, Cinemax Studios was renamed to GMA Films in order to avoid confusion with HBO's sister channel Cinemax, which had then recently entered into the Southeast Asian market.

Duavit was involved in the production of the studio's first films following the move, Sa Pusod ng Dagat and José Rizal, serving as the two films' producer.

Both films were directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya and were critical and commercial successes.

José Rizal won all the 17 awards it was nominated for at the 1998 Metro Manila Film Festival, including Best Picture.

The following year, Duavit produced another of Diaz-Abaya's films, Muro-Ami.

Muro-Ami grossed ₱66,987,181 at the box office and won 13 awards at the 1999 Metro Manila Film Festival, including Best Picture.

In 1999, Duavit was elected to the GMA Network's board of directors.

He conceptualized the horror drama series Liwanag ng Hatinggabi, which premiered on December 6, 1999.

Duavit was inspired by the concept of magic realism, a style of fiction often associated with Latin American literature.

The series was directed by Joel Lamangan and starred Lorna Tolentino, Angelika Dela Cruz, and Victor Neri in the lead roles.

After his promotion as the network's vice president in 2000, Duavit became involved in the network's television production, having created the shows Liwanag ng Hatinggabi (1999–2000), Ang Iibigin ay Ikaw (2002–03), and Hanggang Kailan (2004).

It ran for a total of 17 episodes until March 27, 2000.

In 2000, Duavit collaborated again with Lamangan for the melodrama film Deathrow; Lamangan directed, while Duavit served as one of the film's producers.

The film was shown at the Cairo International Film Festival in Egypt, the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, and the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.

It was awarded the Prix Du Meilleur Film Engage au Service d’une Cause (Prize for the Best Committed Film Championing a Cause) at the Brussels Independent Film Festival in Belgium for its depiction of capital punishment on juvenile offenders.

On December 31, 2000, Duavit became the network's executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO).

As COO, Duavit continued his work on writing television shows for the network.

His youngest brother, Michael John Duavit, currently serves as a representative for Rizal's 1st district, which he has served for five terms since 2001, a position that his father and second youngest brother, Joel Roy Duavit, also served; Duavit Sr. served as the district's congressman from 1994 to 2001, while Joel served the position for two consecutive terms from 2010 to 2016.

Duavit graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy.

In 2002, he created the drama romance series Ang Iibigin ay Ikaw, starring Christopher de Leon, Alice Dixson, and Richard Gomez.

The series ran for a total of 200 episodes between July 8, 2002, and April 11, 2003.

It was commercially successful through its run, resulting in GMA Network producing a sequel series, Ang Iibigin ay Ikaw Pa Rin.

It replaced the timeslot of Ang Iibigin ay Ikaw and ran for a total of 93 episodes, concluding on August 22, 2003.

Duavit served as producer for the sequel series.

Since Duavit assumed the presidency from the network's longtime chairman Felipe Gozon in 2010, he and Gozon, who became CEO, have been attributed for the network's rise as one of the country's leading media networks.

Duavit concurrently served as GMA's chief operating officer until 2023.

The network had won several Peabody Awards, Asian Television Awards, and the New York Television Festival awards during Duavit's presidency.

Duavit replaced the retiring Gozon as the company's CEO from January 2024, while the latter continues to serve as chairman.

Duavit is the thirty-seventh-wealthiest person in the Philippines, with a net worth of $440 million, according to Forbes.