Katy Dierks is an Emmy Award-winning showrunner, producer, and development executive with more than 20 years of experience in unscripted television and documentary. She began her television career at Nickelodeon Studios on the Universal Studios Orlando lot, where she first learned how big entertainment gets made from the inside out. From there, she built a career spanning field production, story, post, directing, showrunning, development, and current programming, eventually serving as Senior Vice President of Current Programming at 3Ball Entertainment. Her work has crossed broadcast, cable, and streaming, with credits including Kitchen Nightmares, Kitchen Undercover, Ice Road Truckers, Deadliest Catch, Bar Rescue, Science Fair: The Series, and The Jim Jefferies Show.

Originally from Sarasota, Florida (the original beachtown), Katy has always been drawn to interesting people and unexpected worlds most people never get to experience. Her career has taken her from live television and field shoots to large-scale franchises, documentaries, and original format development, but the throughline has stayed the same: find the authentic story, connect with the characters, and figure out what makes someone want to keep watching.

Through Beachtown Entertainment, she now focuses on creating and developing original unscripted and documentary projects from the ground up—combining two decades of production experience with the freedom to chase ideas that feel fresh, human, surprising, and worth making.

Fun Fact: In 1974, the Tiger shark used in the movie JAWS was caught off the coast of a quaint little beach town: Sarasota, Florida. They called the 13-foot tiger shark “Oscar”.