Daryn Strauss is a Writers Guild Award–winning writer, producer, and director whose work has earned over 250 million views across digital, social, live, and television platforms.

As the Founder & CEO of Digital Chick Productions, she brings 15 years of experience at the intersection of content, experiential, and technology, helping brands and creators connect storytelling across every touchpoint in the marketing funnel.

Daryn’s journey began in 2009, when she uploaded the first episode of her scripted web series Downsized to YouTube while working as a temp paralegal in New York City after attending UCLA’s screenwriting program. The pioneering series was named to Best of the Web lists by the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Boston Globe, and IndieWire, and earned her first Writers Guild Award nomination. She later won a Writers Guild Award for her comedy series Weight.

As the programming director for PBS’s Emmy-nominated documentary series MAKERS: Women Who Make America, she led the largest social content activation in AOL & PBS history, across multiple platforms, YouTube, social media, and live events, partnering with Gloria Steinem, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, and many other iconic women and women's organizations to reach 40 million video views and trend #1 on Twitter. She also directed the series’ star-studded red carpet premiere at Lincoln Center.

Daryn later served as a strategic advisor to former MTV Chief Judy McGrath, helping launch her digital media company Astronauts Wanted with Sony Music. There, she created and produced #DAYOFF, a social-first reimagining of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off starring influencers Cameron Dallas, Nash Grier, and Lauren Giraldo.

Daryn has produced large-scale NewFronts, Upfronts, conferences, and live experiences for clients including NBCUniversal, Sony Music, AOL, PBS, and the 4As, where she oversaw live event production and helped transform its programming from in-person to virtual to hybrid during the pandemic. She also served as the digital producer for the 2017 NBCUniversal Upfront, producing the digital companion experience and livestream from Radio City Music Hall.

Her credits also include writing for the Emmy-winning series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (nearly 100M YouTube views) and creating the award-winning AI social thriller I AM YOU for the Rizzle App during the pandemic.

Today, Daryn brings her storytelling and production expertise to the creator economy. On her YouTube channel and inside her community, The Storytelling Room, she teaches creators, coaches, and founders how to build binge-worthy brands through storytelling and showrunner strategy.