Derik Murray

Derik Murray, the founder and creative force behind Network Entertainment, first found his way to film through another artistic medium: photography. As a highly sought-after advertising photographer and television commercial director, Derik built a reputation early in his career for delivering award-winning, captivating work. He parlayed those skills for visual storytelling and launched a boutique publishing and packaging studio focused on global icons, and produced exclusively large-format pictorial books. His roster of titles - distributed globally - included Muhammad Ali: In Perspective, Arnold Palmer: A Personal Journey, Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky, and several books on the Hockey Hall of Fame and its roster of legendary players.

These publishing projects inspired and motivated the creation and production of Derik's first television production that he produced and directed, transforming his book Hockey Hall of Fame Legends into a documentary series. The production was a historic success in Canada, earning Derik the moniker the 'Ken Burns of Canada,' alongside The Hockey News declaring him as one of the game's 'Top 100 People of Power and Influence.' Broadcasts on TSN and ESPN, a radio series and an exhibit at the Hockey Hall of Fame would follow. From there, Derik established Network Entertainment and turned his focus and vision exclusively to premium documentary film and television production.

With multiple series and films under his belt, Derik focused his attention on establishing Network as a creator of superior quality global content. The first stake in the ground was Facing Ali, a feature documentary on Muhammad Ali. The film was financed by Lionsgate Entertainment and was shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2010. Leveraging the success of Facing Ali on the global stage, Derik architected a robust slate of premium documentary content, including the award-winning I AM series of feature documentaries, currently at 14 films and counting. Derik's ever-growing body of work boasts collaborations with revered pop culture icons, including legendary fashion designer John Varvatos and punk pioneer Iggy Pop on the four-part PUNK series, and Executive Producer and host Robert Downey Jr. on the eight-part The Age of A.I. series.

Derik recently produced a feature documentary film on Sidney Poitier - in partnership with Oprah Winfrey and directed by Reginald Hudlin, for Apple+; and Women Who Rock, a follow-up to the successful PUNK series, executive produced with John Varvatos and Jessica Hopper for EPIX. Additional high-profile feature documentaries and documentary series currently being produced include a feature documentary on Sly Stone, of Sly and the Family Stone - directed by Academy Award-winner and four-time Grammy and Sundance Film Festival Award-winner Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and independently financed by MRC Non-Fiction; a 10-part series Legends of Hockey: Greatness Calling, in partnership with the Hockey Hall of Fame, for TSN; and an entertaining and provocative new feature documentary exploring what it meant to be part of the Brat Pack - then and now, directed and executive produced by Andrew McCarthy for NEON.

Derik's work has been recognized by leading awards shows including the Oscars, the Emmys, and the Realscreen Awards, his films have screened at the most prestigious film festivals including TIFF, Tribeca and SXSW, and his projects generate high-profile broadcast media attention from Good Morning America to The Today Show, to articles in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Washington Post, and Rolling Stone, and numerous People magazine covers.