Joel Gallen (born September 29, 1957) is an American television and film director, producer, screenwriter, and founder and president of Tenth Planet Productions. He is a graduate of the
University of Rhode Island
The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...
, and currently serves on the University's Harrington School of Communication and Media Executive Advisory Board.
Gallen has produced and directed many live television events and has won numerous awards, including an
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
,
Peabody,
PGA and
DGA award for producing and directing ''
America: A Tribute to Heroes'' immediately following the
9/11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Suicide attack, suicide List of terrorist incidents, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, ...
. He has executive produced and directed the last fourteen ''
Comedy Central Roasts
''Comedy Central Roast'' is a series of celebrity roast specials that air on the American television channel Comedy Central. The first official ''Comedy Central Roast'' premiered on August 10, 2003. On average one or two roasts air every year. Th ...
'', including Justin Bieber, Bruce Willis, and Pam Anderson. Gallen has directed and produced 19
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
induction ceremonies between 1993 and 2021, and executive produced and directed the multiple Emmy winning 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert at Madison Square Garden in 2009. From 2007 through 2010, Gallen was the executive producer and director of ''
CNN Heroes
''CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute'' is a television special created by CNN to honor individuals who make extraordinary contributions to humanitarian aid and make a difference in their communities. The program was started in 2007. Since 2016, the ...
''. Gallen executive produced and directed the ''
Stand Up to Cancer
Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) is a charitable program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF). SU2C aims to raise significant funds for translational cancer research through online and televised efforts. Central to the program is a telethon tha ...
'' live multi-network broadcasts in 2012 and 2014.
The 2014 broadcast raised more than 100 million dollars for new clinical trials.
He also produced and directed ''
The Concert for Valor
The Concert for Valor was a Veterans Day concert that took place on November 11, 2014, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The concert was arranged by HBO, with Chase, and Starbucks as major sponsors.
Performers included Bruce Springste ...
'' for
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
in November 2014 held on the
Mall
Mall commonly refers to a:
* Shopping mall
* Strip mall
* Pedestrian street
* Esplanade
Mall or MALL may also refer to:
Places Shopping complexes
* The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria
* The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India
* M ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
In March, 2022, Gallen will executive produce and direct the
Independent Spirit Awards
The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...
for the eighth consecutive year. Joel produced and directed
Chris Rock
Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his work in comic film, television and stage, he has received multiple accolades, including three Grammy Awards for best come ...
’s HBO Special “
Never Scared
''Never Scared'' is a television special that premiered on HBO on April 17, 2004, starring comedian Chris Rock. It is the fourth special by Chris Rock recorded at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2004.
CD version
The ...
” and also produced and directed both HBO Specials for
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...
in the early 2000s. He more recently executive produced and directed Ellen's first stand-up special in 15 years—
Relatable—which premiered on Netflix in December 2018.
In January of 2019 Gallen produced "I Am The Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell", a 5-hour concert event hosted by Jimmy Kimmel with special guests including Foo Fighters, Metallica, Miley Cyrus, Brandi Carlile, Brad Pitt, Chris Stapleton, Jack Black, Miguel, Taylor Momsen, Josh Brolin, Perry Farrell, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog and Soundgarden. Joel will executive produce the iHeart Radio Music Awards for the 3rd consecutive year live on Fox in March.2022. In March 2020, Joel executive produced and directed the first live event broadcast in reaction to the Covid pandemic - "The iHeart Living Room Concert for America". In November 2021, Joel executive produced and directed The 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, marking the 19th time he's helmed that show.
Gallen was the executive producer of two prime-time reality-competition series: ''
The Sing-Off
''The Sing-Off'' was an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It debuted on NBC on December 14, 2009, and was produced by Sony Pictures Television and Outlaw Productions, with Mark Burnett's One Three Media (for a ...
'', an a cappella competition series for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
for 3 seasons (2009–11); and
America's Best Dance Crew, a dance competition series for MTV for 7 seasons (2008-2012). More recently, Gallen executive produced and directed 8 episodes of The Comedy Jam for Comedy Central (2017), and also 14 episodes of Roast Battle (2016–18).
Gallen was an executive at
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
in the early 90s where he created and produced a number of popular shows and specials including the
MTV Movie Awards
The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editi ...
.
He went on to produce 14 of the first 15 MTV Movie Awards shows between 1992 and 2006. Gallen returned to helm the MTV Movie and TV Awards in 2018 and 2019 and the show's ratings were the highest in years. Gallen conceived and directed many of the Movie Award short comedic films that featured
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as ...
,
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...
,
Jack Black
Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), ''Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ''E ...
,
Will Ferrell
John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 200 ...
,
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...
,
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The Ton ...
and
Tiffany Haddish
Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish (born December 3, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. After guest-starring on several television series and lead role on a cable drama, Haddish gained prominence for her role as Nekeisha Williams on ...
.
Gallen produced a short film for ''
Zoolander
''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' television ...
'' while producing the
VH-1 Fashion Awards in the late 1990s and executive produced the movie for
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
in 2001. He directed the hit comedy ''
Not Another Teen Movie
''Not Another Teen Movie'' is a 2001 American teen parody film directed by Joel Gallen and written by Mike Bender, Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson, Phil Beauman, and Buddy Johnson. It features an ensemble cast including Chyler Leigh, Chris E ...
'' for
Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
that same year.
Gallen lives in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
with his son Max.
Filmography
References
External links
*
Tenth Planet Productions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallen, Joel
Living people
1957 births
American television producers
American film directors