He is of half British and half Japanese-American descent. Directing nearly 100 music videos, he has also directed commercials for Macy's, and Monster Headphones. At the age of 8, Derek had a drawing published in Sports Illustrated Kids. He attended Carrabassett Valley Academy and was a nationally ranked snowboarder. Some of his sponsors included Arbor Snowboards, Smith Optics, Adidas, Giro, and Swix. Derek graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where he majored in Film and Television, and as a freshman walked on to the NYU soccer team. At age 21, he became one of the youngest directors to have a music video featured on MTV. In 2014, Derek travelled to Cuba to direct a documentary on Grammy Nominated Cuban pianist Chuchito Valdes. In 2015, Derek sold his first screenplay titled A Choreographed Romance.