Derek Helwig

Derek Helwig’s work has spanned the globe. He began his career producing 12 seasons of the hit Emmy-winning CBS series The Amazing Race, filming in more than 35 countries. He went on to produce unscripted series such as Best Bars in America (Esquire), United Shades of America (CNN), Huang's World (VICE), the American version of The Great British Baking Show (CBS) and the adventure series Ultimate Expedition (YouTube Red), where he climbed a mountain in Peru.

As the SVP of entertainment at Xpedition, Helwig created and executive produced the Discovery+ competition series Table Wars, starring Martha Stewart, before starting the company’s initiative to dive more into the documentary world. On that front, he produced the feature film Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn (Amazon Prime Video) with fellow executive producer Al Roker, along with the Emmy-nominated PBS short Angel Dose. He has two more documentary features planned for release in the upcoming year, partnering with Alex Gibney and Ondi Timoner, juggernauts in the documentary world.

Helwig received his M.A. from King’s College London and his BFA from Chapman’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. As an active Chapman alum, Helwig has served on the university’s Alumni Board and is spearheading Chapman Unscripted Alumni, a group that aims to bring together Dodge alums who work in the non-scripted fields of the entertainment industry. He is an active member of the Producers Guild of America and the International Documentary Association.