Derek Lee McPhatter

Derek writes TV, theater, and digital projects, with a penchant for comedy, dramedy and sharp dialogue. He builds narratives that reflect his unique, queer black perspective, and has a soft spot for sci-fi and fantasy.

Derek’s TV writing portfolio led to semifinalist placement in the Disney Writing Program (top 50 out of 4,000), a nomination for the Fox Writing Program, a slot in the Disney-ABC Diversity Impact Workshop, and a Fellowship in the Guy Hanks and Marvin Miller Screenwriting Program at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. In development: HIVE, a futurist anthology series he co-created with Stephanie Jeter and Tim Maupin. The proof of concept is a featured selection in SeriesFest Seven and Minnesota Webfest, and a semi-finalist for the 2021 Fade In Sci-Fi Awards.

Derek is a 2021 Creative Capital Awardee and 2020 Resident Playwright with Chicago Dramatists, where he is developing, NightQueen, an Afro-surreal performance trilogy. Bring the Beat Back is his queer, black, afro-futuristic, music-theatre passion project -- a 2020 O'Neill semi-finalist, and a featured presentation in the 2019 Polyphone Music Festival. He has written five musicals for The Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Outside of writing and producing, Derek works as a fundraising consultant for non-profit organizations. He holds degrees from Morehouse College and New York University and splits his time between Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.