Michael Sorensen serves as Vice President, Development and Production for Discovery Channel. In this role he is responsible for bringing new series and specials to Discovery while supervising the development and production of concepts to green light, in addition to maintaining the quality of current series through production and delivery, including Shark Week. Additionally, Sorensen identifies writers, producers and talent necessary to develop compelling new characters and programming. He also helps set development strategy for the network while overseeing select productions, including the upcoming The West and Survival Live, on which he also serves as Executive Producer.

Earlier, Sorensen served as senior director of development for Discovery Channel where he developed programming including Skywire Live With Nik Wallenda, Bering Sea Gold: Under The Ice and Yukon Men. Sorensen also oversaw Discovery Channel’s slate of 2013 Shark Week programming, the most watched and highest rated year of Shark Week in the history of the event. 

Prior to his tenure with Discovery Channel, Sorensen was senior director of program development at Science Channel, where he worked on series such as Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, Dark Matters and Oddities. He also led the creative team in establishing the network’s ‘Sci-Sports’ strand with programming such as Punkin’ Chunkin’ and Large Dangerous Rocket Ships (LDRS).

Sorensen earlier worked at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles in the Television Alternative Department. He earlier worked as a development executive for Atlas Media Corporation in New York where he worked on such shows as It Can Happen Tomorrow for The Weather Channel and Skeleton Stories for Discovery Health. He received his Masters of Science in Media Studies from Brooklyn College and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Television and Film Production from Chapman University.

Speaking on: Speed Pitching One