Derek Miller

Derek Miller has built a long and varied career in Canadian media as an award-winning journalist, news producer, and factual series showrunner. As Executive Producer of W5, he oversees all elements of the weekly production of Canada’s most-watched documentary series.

Since 2009, Miller has produced a multitude of W5 stories – ranging from light-hearted to hard-nosed, including several stories that have spurred change. “The Baby in the Snow” triggered the reopening of an unsolved murder case, 30 years after the death of an Ontario toddler. “No Witnesses” unveiled a Jehovah’s Witnesses edict that blocked police around the world from investigating sexual assault allegations. Additionally, his critical analysis of all-terrain vehicle safety regulations spawned a national review of the rules.

Miller has been recognized with a Canadian Screen Award as well as the RTDNA Dan McArthur Award for Investigative Journalism. He has been nominated for seven Canadian Screen/Gemini Awards, as well as a Canadian Association of Journalists Award.

Miller began his career in 1993 as a reporter for CJOH News, now CTV Ottawa, where he covered gang murders, a race riot, and the devastating 1998 ice storm, while regularly contributing stories to CTV NATIONAL NEWS.

In 2001, Miller joined the W5 unit in Toronto as a director and writer for the critically acclaimed current affairs series 21C. His work included investigations into how bullies were created, students who get into the sex trade to pay for tuition, and the teenage self-harm epidemic. His exposé on parent abuse earned a Gemini Award nomination for Best Factual Program.

He became one of Canada’s youngest news producers in 2004 at the helm of CityTV’s supper hour newscast in Toronto, quarterbacking local coverage of the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and Toronto’s infamous ‘year of the gun.’ During his tenure, the program was nominated for two Gemini Awards for Best Newscast.

Miller has also produced series for Discovery, HGTV, and Food Network. He developed and produced Discovery’s international hit series DON’T DRIVE HERE, which aired in more than 100 countries and won a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Factual Program.

His work has taken him around the globe including India, Haiti, and Kenya. Twice he has taught news production courses to TV professionals in Vietnam.

Originally from Nova Scotia, Derek Miller holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University and lives in Toronto.

He speaks English.