Joel Gallen is an American director and producer. He is the founder of Tenth Planet Productions, a Los Angeles-based production company.
In addition to the 2025 concert Fire Aid, which raised $100 million for wildfire relief in Los Angeles, Gallen has produced and directed charity telethons and concerts that have cumatively raised more than $540 million for victims of the September 11 attacks; Hurricane Katrina; the 2010 Haiti earthquake and cancer research. In 2025, he produced and directed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony—his 22nd—and executive produced the IHeartRadio Music Awards for the fifth time.
Gallen created the MTV Movie Awards and the comedic short films that became their signature. 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.
He has been nominated for 14 Emmy awards, 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 Gallen was born in Detroit, Michigan and raised in Rockville Centre, New York. He attended the University of Rhode Island where he, as a member of the school's entertainment committee, 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.(June 2, 2000). "Offbeat show offers Gallen of fun", Tampa TribuneMelton, Mary, (December 2001), "Burden of spoof: in the editing room with director Joel Gallen" Los Angeles Magazine (Vol. 46, Issue 12)Whelan, Jeff (June 10, 1999) "Pharmacy worker by day but a funnyman tonight on MTV" Providence Journal, C-01
Career New York Uncle Floyd, Deja View, Top of the Pops After working in the mailroom at ICM,Rensin, D. (2003). The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up. United States: Ballantine Books, p. 192 Gallen was hired by a television syndication company, George Back and Associates (later known as All-American Television). Over the next four years, Gallen marketed, syndicated and produced television shows, including the Uncle Floyd Show, a Newark New Jersey UHF program that Back and Gallen syndicated to NBC affiliates. Gallen's first job in production, his role included booking musical guests such as the Ramones, Paul Simon and Blue Öyster Cult.
Gallen believed there was a substantial audience for music videos by artists from the 60s and 70s, and as MTV (and the videos by new artists it programmed) became increasingly popular, he created and produced Deja View, two one-hour specials composed of original music videos for older hit songs, often featuring the original artists. The video for Sly and the Family Stone's Everyday People" starred Sly Stone; "Good Lovin'" starred Felix Cavaliere; "Bus Stop featured Graham Nash; and the Beach Boys hit "Don't Worry Baby" starred Brian Wilson. Actors also appeared in Deja View videos -- "A Whiter Shade of Pale" featured Harry Dean Stanton (as well as Bernie Taupin), and She's Not There starred Teri Garr. Hosted by John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful, the specials were sponsored by Lincoln-Mercury.(December 6, 1985), Hanauer, John, "Video show features hits of 1960s", Ottawa Citizen via UPI
Gallen subsequently produced A Soul Session: James Brown and Friends; a Cinemax special taped at a small club in Detroit, it featured Brown and Aretha Franklin. He also produced the American version of the long-running UK music show, Top of the Pops. Unlike the British program, where bands lip-synced to their music, he had the artists play live. Among others, David Bowie, Bryan Adams, Sting, INXS, Belinda Carlisle and Depeche Mode performed on the show, which aired on CBS for 26 weeks.
Video Music Awards, Unplugged, MTV Movie Awards In 1989 Gallen was named head of production for MTV. During his first year at the network, he served as the producer of the Video Music Awards and the executive producer of MTV Unplugged, which he helped to develop. Gallen said: "The real big win for Unplugged (was) we got the big arena acts to strip down and go acoustic." Among others, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Elton John and LL Cool J performed. McCartney released an Unplugged album, as did Clapton, whose Unplugged album went 26x platinum and became the best-selling live album of all time.
Gallen produced the VMAs from 1990-1993. Approaching the broadcast as "a rock n' roll show first and a television show second," Cerrone, Daniel (September 2, 1993) "MTV:10 Years of Heavy Rotation A Bash That Puts the Rock in Raucous" Los Angeles Times, p 1.Lynch, Steven (June 3, 1998) "Do it MTV Style' MTV, With So Many of its Images and Techniques reflecting the pulse of Youth, Has Become the Creative Font of Hollywood"; Orange County Register, P 3E the 1992 VMAs featured Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, Pearl Jam, The Black Crowes, and Def Leppard, among others. In his book Your Favorite Band is Killing Me, Steven Hyden wrote: "The 1992 VMAs were the fulcrum between the ’80s and ’90s, a show where you could actually watch one era end and another begin in real time."
In 1992, Gallen created the MTV Movie Awards. Irreverent in tone, Gallen said it was the opposite of the Oscars. "We wanted to have some fun with it and come up with categories that our audience cared about.” The categories included "Best Kiss", "Best Villain" and "Best Fight."Covert, Colin (June 10, 1999); "Irreverent MTV Movie Awards are the anti-Oscars", Minneapolis Star-Tribune p. 01E. "A hilarious spoof of the Oscars and a celebration of movies," Gallen developed, directed and produced the short film parodies that became a signature of the MTV Movie Awards; they included Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and The Matrix and Ben Stiller as Tom Cruise's stunt double in Mission: Improbable. Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Samuel L. Jackson and Justin Timberlake, among others, also appeared in the MTV Movie Awards film parodies.
Los Angeles Tenth Planet Productions 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. 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.
Benefit concerts, telethons, and tributes: America: A Tribute to Heroes, Concert for the Gulf Coast, Hope for Haiti Now, Taylor Hawkins and Chris Cornell Tribute Concerts, Fire Aid Four days after the September 11 attacks Gallen was enlisted by the heads of the four major television networks to produce and direct America: A Tribute to Heroes, a benefit to raise money for victims of the 9/11 attacks. 22 artists performed on candle-lit soundstages in New York, Los Angeles and London, and 20 actors spoke briefly from the stage. Other actors and celebrities—organized by George Clooney—manned phone banks to collect donations. Put together in six days, the telethon aired live on September 21, 2001.Hoffmeister, Sally (21 September 2001), "Logistical Nightmare for an Unprecedented Telethon" [Home Edition] Los Angeles, Calif. F.1. Gallen said: "I did not want the show to feel celebratory. I did not want a live audience...no introductions, no applause, no fanfare." A Tribute to Heroes was simulcast commercial-free by more than 35 broadcast and cable networks and 8000 radio stations. Seen in 120 countries, it raised an estimated $150 million in two hours. Gallen won an Emmy (Outstanding Producing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program), a Peabody Award, and a Director's Guild Award. He also won the first Producers Guild Visionary Award.
On September 9, 2005—again enlisted by the heads of several broadcast networks—Gallen produced and directed Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast. A benefit for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the tone of the concert was similar to that of A Tribute to Heroes: solemn. The one-hour show aired live and commercial-free on 30 broadcast and cable networks and raised $30 million for Red Cross and Salvation Army relief efforts.
In 2010, in association with MTV, he executive produced and directed Hope for Haiti Now, a concert telethon that raised money for victims of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. Developed by Gallen, Clooney, and Wyclef Jean, the show was broadcast live from stages in New York, Los Angeles, and London. Anderson Cooper reported live from Port-au-Prince. Airing on 60 broadcast, cable, and online outlets, it was then the most widely distributed telethon in history. The telethon raised $61 million for Haitian relief through seven non-profit organizations. An album that included all of the live performances from the event debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts.
Gallen produced and directed the Stand Up to Cancer telethons in 2012 and 2014. It was nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Informational Series or Special category in 2013 and raised $100 million for clinical trials in 2014. Gallen executive produced the live broadcasts with Gwyneth Paltrow. In 2014, he directed and produced The Concert for Valor. Created to raise awareness and money for veteran's charities, HBO broadcast the concert live from the National Mall in Washington DC on Veterans Day. He produced 'Eric Clapton and Friends In Concert: A Benefit for the Crossroads Centre at Antigua; Paul McCartney and Friends Live: PETA's Millennium Concert; The Concert of the Century: A Benefit for VH-1 Save the Music; and produced and directed CNN Heroes from 2007-2010.
Gallen directed and executive produced the 2022 London and Los Angeles concerts in honor of Taylor Hawkins following his death. Produced in partnership with the Hawkins family and the Foo Fighters, it was "one of the most emotional, eclectic and joyous celebrations of rock music in recent memory: a fitting tribute for one of rock's most beautiful souls." The London concert, which was broadcast live worldwide, featured Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney, Queen, Rush, Pretenders, and Wolfgang Van Halen, among others. In 2019, he produced I Am the Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, it featured performances by artists including Metallica, Miley Cyrus, Miguel, Brandi Carlile and Chris Stapleton in addition to Cornell's daughter, Toni, and his bandmates from Temple of the Dog, Audioslave, and Soundgarden.
Gallen signed on to executive produce and direct FireAid two days after the 2025 California wildfires began. "Part-concert, part-fundraiser and part-community-building," he worked with a team that included Shelli and Irving Azoff, who conceived of and initiated the benefit. FireAid was put together in three weeks. It took place in two venues, featured 30 artists, and streamed live on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, iHeart, KTLA+, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock/NBCNewsNow, SiriusXM, TikTok, Veeps and YouTube on January 30, 2025. As of February 7, FireAid had raised more than $100 million for wildfire relief.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, awards shows, and other events