Derek Diorio

Derek Diorio is a Canadian writer, director, producer and actor. Derek Diorio arrived in Ottawa from Montreal in the mid-seventies to attend Carleton University. Within four years he had dropped out of Carleton but had picked up a valuable education at CKCU-FM, Carleton's campus radio station, where he acquired a taste for broadcast media and entertainment as well as an appreciation of the vast talent available in Ottawa. It was at CKCU that he developed a desire to create and be part of an Ottawa entertainment scene. Between 1979 and 1999 he co-founded Sound Venture Productions, the Ottawa Improv League, the Skit Row comedy troupe, the Skit Row Comedy Club, the Creative Block, Diorio Production and Distinct Features Inc. He started his career as an award winning radio advertising copywriter and moved on to co-write with Dan Lalande and Rick Jones for a number of Ottawa based television series and specials. In the eighties he produced, performed and promoted several live stage productions with Skit Row in both the Theatre and Studio of the National Arts Centre while simultaneously developing a corporate video business. In the nineties he started directing television shows for the then nascent Canadian specialty channels.