Dalton Delan

Delan got his start in television in 1979, working for ABC News in the ABC News Closeup documentary unit[31] under Pamela Hill.[32] There, he helped produce investigative reports with several big names in media, including a film featuring writer and historian William Manchester,[33] and hosts Hugh Downs,[34] Peter Jennings,[35] and Barbara Walters.[36] Titles that Delan worked on include "After the Sexual Revolution"[37] and "Growing Old in America".[38] "Rain of Terror", another of Delan's works, was deemed by a The Wall Street Journal editorial as "the single best piece of television journalism we've ever witnessed."[39]

In 1986, Delan was hired at HBO[40] to help build and serve as an executive producer of the America Undercover documentary series, as well as informational family programming specials. During his time working at HBO, Delan was known for recruiting filmmakers such as Alan and Susan Raymond,[41] Jon Alpert[42] and Albert Maysles,[43] and working on programs featuring TV personalities like Walter Cronkite[44] and Mary Tyler Moore.[45] Delan was hired by Lifetime Television in 1990[46] to develop a variety of series and specials ranging from game shows and documentaries, to live events and their first primetime nonfiction series, "Confessions of Crime",[47] as well as working with acclaimed actors and actresses, such as Glenn Close[48] on the documentary "Broken Hearts, Broken Homes".

When Landmark Communications in Norfolk, Virginia, purchased The Travel Channel, Delan was hired in 1992 to help restart and grow the network, based in Atlanta.[49] In addition to bringing in personalities such as Charles Kuralt,[50] he also premiered the long-running series Globe Trekker (originally titled Lonely Planet).

In 1996 the founder of the Sundance Film Festival, Robert Redford, approached Delan to be the Creative Director and Executive Vice President of the Sundance Channel[51] —a venture between Redford, Showtime, and Polygram.[31] Working directly with Redford and Festival director Geoffrey Gilmore, Delan produced live broadcasts from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.[52] Delan also worked with filmmakers to develop original films (Marina Zenovich on "Independent's Day" and Leslie McCleave on "Meeting Marty"), as well as with prominent actors like Jon Cryer, Susan Sarandon, and Meg Tilly.

From late 1998 to late 2019, Delan was the Executive Vice President and Chief Programming Officer of WETA Washington D.C.,[53] which he took from third to second largest producing station for PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), and the flagship public television station in the nation's capital. At WETA, Delan worked with Sharon Percy Rockefeller, wife of John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV, retired senior Senator from West Virginia.[54] In 1999, Ken Bode's contract as moderator on the popular news discussion talk show, "Washington Week in Review" was not renewed.[55] Despite criticism from Bode and his supporters, Delan held his ground in the ensuing media firestorm, and temporarily brought back long-time moderator Paul Duke before naming journalist Gwen Ifill as moderator.[56] This move would help create a newly successful Washington Week with Gwen Ifill.[57] Upon Ifill's death, Delan brought in Washington Post reporter Robert Costa as moderator.[58] Delan collaborated with Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, on an adaptation of her book Speak Truth to Power, which was filmed onstage at the Kennedy Center, with readings by Sigourney Weaver, John Malkovich and a number of other distinguished actors.[59] Delan also served as Executive in Charge of Production for WETA on the films of Ken Burns.[60] In 2003, Jerry Nachman, then-New York Post editor and editor-in-chief of MSNBC, called Delan "the so-called father of reality TV."[61]