During a career spanning over 25 years Derren has helped to launch 2 UK TV channels, two production divisions and the first Black national radio station in the UK and was part of the team behind the BAFTA award-winning film, THE BLACK COP.

Prior to DARE Pictures, he was Creative Director at Woodcut Media where he played a pivotal role in the creation of over 300 hours of TV and executive produced a trio of documentaries that sold to Netflix – the BFI funded feature documentary GENERATION REVOLUTION, as well as MANDELA, MY DAD AND ME and CUT FROM A DIFFERENT CLOTH, both co-produced with Idris Elba. Further notable EP credits include FIENNES: RETURN TO THE NILE a 3-part commission for National Geographic featuring Joseph Fiennes and Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Derren entered the industry as a trained journalist before helping to launch youth TV channel, whereits.at and then joining the BBC where he worked for over 10 years.  There he helped to launch radio station 1Xtra, SVOD service BBC Global iPlayer, secured a number of BBC Three documentary commissions. He was also heralded as a short form documentary pioneer advising a then unknown YouTuber, Jamal Edwards and working with Ashley Walters and Daniel Kaluuya among others in the ground-breaking series, JAIL TALES. During this period he also became the first Multiplatform Editor for BBC One’s PANORAMA and subsequently the Multiplatform Executive Producer for the award-winning BBC Three series OUR WAR.

He left the BBC to launch a content division with award-winning social enterprise and marketing agency Livity overseeing a range of TV, online and brand funded content for the likes of YouTube, Channel 4, Blackberry and Public Health England.  While there, Derren made his debut in Powerlist’s Under 40s before joining the launch team at London Live where he acquired and commissioned documentaries,  scripted, non-scripted and music series. As a result, in 2014 Derren was named in the British Interactive Media Association’s Hot 100.

Since launching DARE Pictures in 2022 his credits include THE QUEEN OF CRYPTO for Channel 4 and Sky Germany and THE SECRETS OF UK PRISONS for Channel 4. During this time he has also executive produced three feature documentaries that have premiered at major festivals, ROADS TO REGENERATION (Hot Docs 2022), DALTON’S DREAM (Sheffield DocFest 2023 and BBC Storyville) and A BIT OF A STRANGER (Berlinale, 2024 and ZDF ARTE).

In addition to his role at DARE Pictures, Derren is a Trustee for Sheffield Doc/Fest, on the Advisory Board for the David Lyle Foundation and mentors international feature documentary filmmakers as part of the Documentary Campus Masterschool programme.