Joel Gallen

Joel Gallen

Joel Gallen 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, 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, Peabody, PGA and DGA award for producing and directing America: A Tribute to Heroes immediately following the 9/11 attacks. He has executive produced and directed the last fourteen Comedy Central Roasts, including the recent Alec Baldwin Roast. Gallen has directed and produced 17 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies between 1993 and 2014, 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. Gallen executive produced and directed the Stand Up to Cancer 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 for HBO in November 2014 held on the Mall in Washington, D. C. In 2020, Gallen executive produced and directed the Independent Spirit Awards for the sixth consecutive year. Joel produced and directed Chris Rock’s HBO Special “Never Scared” and also produced and directed both HBO Specials for Ellen DeGeneres 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. Currently, Joel is executive producing the iHeart Radio Music Awards broadcast live on Fox. In May of 2020, Joel is executive producing and directing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for the 18th time, and this will be the first time the show will be broadcast live on HBO.

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