Denise DiIanni
WRITER / FILMMAKER / MEDIA CONSULTANT
Story-telling shapes all my work, from documentary filmmaking and television to personal essays and fiction.
Currently, I'm at work on a novel.
For many years, as a senior leader at WGBH Boston, I developed and produced national programming for PBS focused on science, culture and society, and public affairs.
Earlier in my career, I wrote and produced award-winning documentaries for NOVA, including films exploring reproductive technologies, archeology, women's health, and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, among others.
My films received numerous honors, including national and regional Emmys, Murrow Awards, and the Robert F. Kennedy Award.
I serve as a judge for the Emmys, DuPont Awards, and Peabody Awards, and as a juror for film festivals.
I live near Boston, where I continue to mentor nonfiction filmmakers.
I'd like to hear from you.
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
My films explore issues in science, history, education, public affairs, and civics. I've led documentary series, studio productions, and public affairs programs, among other notable projects.
Among my many acclaimed PBS national productions are a broadcast town hall on gun violence, a limited series exploring the impact of race within six geographically diverse U.S. communities, a four-part series on the history of mental illness, and a cross-platform series examining work in America. I created and produced a debate program dedicated to fostering civil dialogue on the most pressing issues confronting the nation.
Before my executive work, I was an accomplished WGA East writer, producer, and director. During my tenure with the NOVA Science Unit, I authored multiple hour-long documentaries and executive-produced a celebrated international natural history series. Notably, one NOVA documentary—my award-winning film on the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study—helped prompt a long-overdue presidential apology to the study’s subjects.
SELECT FILMOGRAPHY
Future of Work - (3 episodes) Executive Producer - link
Mysteries of Mental Illness (4 episodes)- Executive Producer - link
Third Rail - (8 episodes) Creator, Executive Producer - link
Point Taken - (10 episodes) Creator, Executive Producer
I'll Have What Phil's Having (8 episodes)- Co-Executive Producer
Sacred Journeys - (6 episodes) Co-Executive Producer
America After Ferguson - Executive Producer
America After Charleston - Executive Producer
Eye On Education - Creator, Executive Producer
Wild Europe - (6 episodes) Writer, US Executive Producer
Fine Art of Faking It - Writer, Producer, Director - link
The Big Spill - Writer, Producer, Director
The Deadly Deception - Writer, Producer, Director - link
What's New About Menopause? - Writer, Producer, Director
Kidnapped by UFO? - Writer, Producer, Director
The Deadly Shadow of Vesuvius - Writer, Producer, Director
ESSAYS
New York Times
Modern Love
May, 2026
New York Times
Modern Love
February 7, 2025
Pangryus
Things Will Not Stay Put
July 25th, 2023
Literary Mama
Eruptions
September/October 2023
Gemini Magazine
A Man Locks His Wife in the Trunk
March 2025