Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
,
Essex, England
Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...
in 1962) is a British-American television producer. He emigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
"at the age of fifteen or sixteen", where he gained a degree in Telecommunications from
San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
. After graduating he started work in the US television industry, first as a casting assistant and then as a literary agent, working at Fenton Feinberg Casting and the ICM TV Literary Department training program.
In 1985, he was appointed Director of Drama Development at
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
. He then moved to
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
Television as a programming executive, and says he worked on shows such as ''
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...
'', ''
Thirtysomething
''Thirtysomething'' is an American drama television series created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for United Artists Television (under MGM/UA Television) and aired on ABC from September 29, 1987, to May 28, 1991."The 'don't trust anyo ...
'' and ''
China Beach
''China Beach'' is an American war drama television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe beach in the city of Đà Nẵng, Vietnam, nicknamed "China Beach" in English by American and Australia ...
''.
In 1989, he went to the BBC where he had a chat about the TV industry and asked about work on different shows, one of the ones he was most interested in was science fiction series ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''. Nothing came of this conversation but a week later ''Doctor Who'' was officially cancelled while the BBC searched for an American company to make a new series as a joint venture.
In 1991, he joined
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
's
Amblin Entertainment
Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshal ...
, where he became Vice President of Amblin Television, overseeing the production of ''
seaQuest DSV
''SeaQuest DSV'' (stylized as ''seaQuest DSV'' and also promoted as simply ''seaQuest'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it ...
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'' is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. Filming took place in various locations around the world, with "Old Indy" bookend segments filmed in Wilmington, North ...
''.
Segal reached out to the BBC, applying for the distribution rights of a new series of ''Doctor Who'' under Amblin. Collaborating with fellow English expatriate Peter Wagg (producer of ''
Max Headroom
Max Headroom is a fictional artificial intelligence (AI) character portrayed by actor Matt Frewer. Advertised as "the first computer-generated TV presenter", Max was known for his biting commentary on a variety of topical issues, arrogant wit, ...
'') they created the early drafts of what eventually became the ''Doctor Who'' television movie in 1996. Segal received an executive producer credit on the movie. In 2000, Segal co-wrote the book ''Doctor Who: Regeneration'' with
Gary Russell
Gary Russell (born 18 September 1963) is a British freelance writer, producer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs in other media. As an a ...
(HarperCollins, ), the making-of book about the movie.
Segal won the best director of a short film award from the NY International Film & Video Festival in 2000 for his short story The Other Side of Monday. Other directing credits include: a single episode of '' Mutant X'' according to IMDB and one episode of '' Andromeda'' for the Tribune Action Hours, and the feature film '' Hobbs End'' which he also co-wrote with Eric Truheart. In 2000 he became senior VP for scripted programming and development at Tribune Entertainment, overseeing ''Andromeda'', '' Beastmaster'' and other shows.
After a period working at Bunim-Murray Productions as Executive Vice-President, Segal joined Original Productions in 2006 as an executive producer. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Original in 2012 but left the company in 2017 when Original's parent company, Fremantle, decided not to renew his contract. His credits include ''
Ice Road Truckers
''Ice Road Truckers'' (commercially abbreviated ''IRT'') is a reality television series that premiered on History Channel, on June 17, 2007. It features the activities of drivers who operate trucks on seasonal routes crossing frozen lakes and ...
'' and ''
Ax Men
''Ax Men'' is an American reality television series that premiered on March 9, 2008 on History. The program follows the work of several logging crews in the second-growth forests of Northwestern Oregon, Washington and Montana and the rivers o ...
'' for ''
The History Channel
History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
Pitchmen
''PitchMen'' (original name: ''But Wait...There's More'')Swords: Life on the Line'' for
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
, ''
1000 Ways to Die
''1000 Ways to Die'' is an American anthology television series that aired on Spike from May 14, 2008 to July 15, 2012, and also aired on Comedy Central during its run. The program recreates unusual supposed deaths, true events, and debunked ...
'' for
Spike
Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Books
* ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave
* ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick
* ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...
Tru TV
TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows.
The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focuse ...
, ''
Wildlife Warriors
Wildlife Warriors, originally called the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, is a conservationist organization that was established in 2002 by Steve Irwin and his wife Terri, to involve and educate others in the protection of injured, threat ...
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...
, and ''
Storage Wars
''Storage Wars'' (stylized as ''STORAGE WAR$'') is an American reality television competition series that airs on A&E (TV channel), A&E. It initially aired for 12 seasons, from December 1, 2010, to January 30, 2019. A 13th season premiered in ...
'' for A&E. Segal lives in Glendale, California and in Medford, Oregon.