Dan Flaherty is an award-winning showrunner, director, producer and writer with 35 years of experience making non-fiction television and documentary films.

He is a hands-on showrunner who has been in the trenches, with experience shooting and editing as well as writing and directing. He is a take-charge team leader with proven experience putting together crews that deliver exceptional programs on schedule and on budget.

As a filmmaker, finding dramatic stories and fascinating characters are the keys to his success across a wide range of projects. He has developed, produced, directed, written and edited a diverse slate of programing that includes historical & current event documentaries, social justice, true-crime, and follow-doc series for networks including A&E, Showtime, AMC, Sundance, Lifetime, Discovery, NatGeo, PBS, TLC, VH1, and Court TV.

His recent work includes showrunning, directing and executive producing multiple seasons of the series It Couldn't Happen here for AMC+ / SundanceTV, and serving as co-host for the companion podcast.

Previous series include The First 48 where he worked on 80 episodes over multiple seasons.  He was a showrunner, director and producer of the popular series Parking Wars and King of Cars and the showrunner for four medical series for Discovery Health, and produced episodes for iconic series Dog: The Bounty Hunter and Family Plots. He is also an experienced verité shooter - having worked as a videojournalist on several groundbreaking series for New York Times Television.

Dan has directed, produced, written and edited several documentary films.  He was honored with a New York Times Publisher’s Award in 2002, along with NYT journalist Robin Toner, for his documentary Your Money, Your Life: Health Care Now that he produced and directed for Showtime.  He also produced and directed the documentary Making the Grade, working with New York Times investigative reporters Diana Henriques and Jacques Steinberg, to expose issues with the standardized testing industry. He was a producer and editor of The New York Times documentary Show of Force working with C. Scott Willis and NYT military correspondent Michael Gordon during the military buildup in the Persian Gulf ahead of the U.S. the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Dan began his career as an editor. Highlights include editing PBS documentaries for NOVA and The American Experience, as well as music documentaries The History of Rock and Roll, VH1 Presents the 70’s, and The Gipsy Kings: Tierra Gitana. He also edited the documentary Reinventing the Taliban? for 2-time Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

Dan is a passionate storyteller - managing projects from inception to air; helming production crews in challenging environments; directing larger than life talent; and forging meaningful connections with his documentary subjects ranging from death row inmates to funeral directors.