Joel Gallen
Joel Gallen is an American director and producer. He is the founder of Tenth Planet Productions, a Los Angeles-based film and television production company.
Joel Gallen
University of Rhode Island
Founder and president, Tenth Planet Productions
University of Rhode Island Harrington School of Communications and Media Executive Advisory Board
- Emmy award
- DGA award
- Peabody award
- PGA award
In 2001, Gallen produced and directed America: A Tribute to Heroes, a charity telethon and concert that raised money for victims of the 9/11 attacks. With no live audience, no celebrity introductions, and sparse staging, the production design became a template for charity concerts and events.
Gallen created the MTV Movie Awards and the comedic short films that became their signature. He produced and directed The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th Anniversary Concert in addition to 20 of its induction ceremonies. He also produced and directed stand-up shows and comedy specials for Comedy Central and HBO, directed Not Another Teen Movie, and executive produced the film Zoolander, which was based on a VH-1 Fashion Awards short film.
Gallen has received 14 Primetime Emmy nominations over the course of his career, from a 2001 nomination for Ellen DeGeneres' HBO special, The Beginning, to two 2023 nominations for Chris Rock's livestreamed Netflix special, Selective Outrage.
Early life and education[edit]
Gallen was born in Detroit, Michigan and raised in Rockville Centre, New York. He attended the University of Rhode Island, where as a member of the school's entertainment committee, he booked on-campus concerts by artists including Charlie Daniels, The J. Geils Band and Andy Kaufman. He also dj'd on the school's radio station, WRIU. He graduated with a BS in marketing.[1][2][3]
Los Angeles[edit]
Tenth Planet Productions[edit]
Mainly interested in directing and producing, Gallen's management role at MTV kept him from working in the trenches of production. In December 1993, he left MTV and moved from New York to Los Angeles, where he founded Tenth Planet Productions. At the time, he had two series in development—one for HBO and one for ABC—and a special in development at Fox. He continued to work in association with MTV, executive producing and directing the Movie Awards from 1995 through 2006 and in 2018.[25] He also executive produced and directed the VH1 Fashion Awards from 1996-1998. Gallen and head writer Drake Sather created the "professionally good-looking supermodel Derek Zoolander" for Ben Stiller for a Fashion Awards short film.[26]