Awake is an American police procedural fantasy drama television series that originally aired on NBC for one season from March 1 to May 24, 2012. The pilot episode had an early release on Hulu on February 16, 2012, two weeks before the series' premiere on television. Kyle Killen, the series' creator, was primarily responsible for the program's concept. Killen and David Slade served as executive producers of the pilot episode, and Killen continued producing the series along with Jeffrey Reiner and Howard Gordon.

David Aldrin Slade is a British film and television director and actor. His works include the films Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Slade is also a director for television, directing episodes for Breaking Bad, Awake, Hannibal, Crossbones, Powers, American Gods and Black Mirror. Before he was a film director, Slade was a director of commercials and music videos.