About Dan Demello

DAN DeMELLO (Publicist) has coordinated press campaigns across the United States and internationally – in Canada, Mexico City, Dublin, London, Berlin, Paris and New Delhi. For over a decade, he’s publicized hundreds of companies in tech and theater.

He has handled the publicity for many first-rate non-profit organizations such as Harlem Repertory Theatre, Abingdon Theatre Company, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, The Living Theatre and Judith Malina, The Talking Band, The Irish Repertory Theatre, New Federal Theatre, The Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, The Wings Theatre Company, Theater by the Blind and The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation among others.

Among his current clients: The Theater Center, Singfeld! A Musical Parody About Nothing, The Office! A Musical Parody, and Friends! The Musical Parody. He also reps the longest running play in NYC history – Perfect Crime. 

In tech, Dan designed and carried out the global publicity campaigns that helped Perry Street Software secure countless top-tier news and feature stories for SCRUFF - one of the biggest gay social networking and dating apps in the world. He also designed and deployed the highly successful publicity campaign for StageWrite Software (now regularly utilized by many Broadway shows).

He is the co-creator and producer of the hit NYC Easter attraction Full Bunny Contact and is also co-creater and producer (with his partner Nathaniel Nowak) of Broadway Roasts - a series of comedy roasts (100% of ticket sales go to charity). His inaugural roast skewered the beloved and famed entertainment journalist Michael Musto and raised over $100,000 for Called-Lorde in one single night - thanks in large part to the generosity of special guest Host Rosie O’Donnell, who matched all of the ticket sales raised that night.

In 2021, Dan spent the majority of the year solely representing first responders in New York City - securing top tier news coverage for many first responder events in New York, New Jersey, and across the country - and most importantly, for children who lost their parents in the terrorist attacks on the WTC in 2001 as they went off to college. His “The Children of 9/11 are all Grown Up and Becoming Rescuers Themselves” pitch helped land the students (many of whom were becoming nurses and first responders themselves) and the charity attention in feature stories from outlets like The Today Show, E.W. Scripps, and BBC News). Through his work with the organization, he also coordinated press at many NYPD and FDNY events across New York City, as well as first responder charitable events in over 30 cities across the United States.

As a result of his outreach, DDPR clients past and present, have been featured regularly - by top tier media outlets such as: The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, Time Out New York, Newsday, USA Today, The New York Observer, ABC News, NBC News, CBS This Morning, Fox News, WPIX Morning News, Today, Good Day New York, CNN, MSNBC, WNYC, NPR, SWABC, WNBC, WCBS, Sirius XM in addition to The Wendy Williams Show, The Chew, The View, The Rachael Ray Show, The Associated Press, Reuters, VICE, BuzzFeed, Quartz, Axios, The Los Angeles Times, The Gay City News, The Washington Post, The Sunday Times, Daily Mail, and The Guardian - among many others.

Dan began his career in media as a paper boy at the age of 10. Around that same time he was the editor of his 5th Grade Yearbook. He went on to serve as a writer for (and eventually editor of) his high school and college newspapers, and at age 20, was the youngest correspondent ever hired by The New Bedford Standard Times in New Bedford, MA. After 3 years as an entertainment writer there, he began interning for ABC News in Providence, Rhode Island. Upon moving to New York, he worked as a production assistant for Good Morning America at their Times Square studios on 44th Street. He started out in theatrical PR by serving as an apprentice to and working closely with veteran theatrical press agents Max Eisen and Shirley Herz. After several years working for the equally legendary theatrical Press Agent David Gersten, he began working independently under the title DDPR, having opened his own office in the heart of Times Square in 2010. Since then, he’s been securing big publicity for small shows - and wakes up every day loving what he does, filled with gratitude that he gets to create attention for Off-Broadway productions.

Admittedly, he is a news junkie, and watches way too much of it for fun. But when he’s not working or consuming local, national, and international news, he loves to be with his family and friends acting like the giant goofball that he is. He is an avid theatergoer, a total tree-hugger (he has planted well over 100 trees in his life), can be found in the gym often, and is the kind of nerd who throws an adult tantrum if he misses any of the previews when he goes to the movies.

Courtesy – DDPR (Daniel Demello Public Relations).