Derek Manansala is a Filipino-American genre writer and filmmaker based in LA.

He has written projects directed by his wife, Grace Hanna, including LOLA, a sci-fi awarded by the DGA, Television Academy, and Imagine Entertainment, with selections at Fantasia Film Festival, AFI Fest, and SeriesFest, among others. It is currently streaming on Air Canada, and Shudder in October 2025.

Derek wrote and produced their next film, HALCYON DAYS, a surreal family dramedy starring an ensemble of Filipino-American comedy talent including Chris Renfro, Rachel Marsh, and Mike Cabellon, premiering at festivals in 2026.

As a writing team, Derek and Grace recently completed the feature screenplay, THEN AGAIN, a horror-thriller on The Black List’s Mystery & Suspense Top List.

Derek completed the improv & sketch programs at UCB, wrote on The Pack Theater’s house teams, and performs stand-up in condemned LA basements. He received a BS in Civil Engineering from Rutgers University and was a Walt Disney Imagineer before earning an MFA in Film & TV Production from USC.