Mike Gallay
Mike Gallay (born September 24, 1975) is a Canadian writer, director, and documentarian. He is the principal founder of GHIdeas (http://www.ghideas.com), a documentary film production company in Toronto, Canada, focused on creating clever, social-issue driven films and writings for a global audience. Previously, he had been one of three co-founders of Gallay/Hartt Productions (http://www.gallayhartt.com), a Toronto-based documentary and comedy production company.
Mike is the son of Henry Gallay and Barbara Gallay of Toronto, Ontario. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario.[1]
In 2000, Gallay co-founded with Colin Filkow (a former EMI executive) Platinum Partners, an artist management company in Beverly Hills. They discovered and managed Bonnie McKee (Warner Music/Reprise),[2] as well as artists at DreamWorks and Universal Music. In 2002, Gallay worked with Platinum's fledgling Canadian act, Pilate, and helped get them signed to Maple Music/Universal Music Canada.[3] That same year, Platinum signed Bonnie McKee to a then-record 2.5 million dollar recording deal with Warner/Reprise. Her first album, Trouble, was released to critical acclaim in 2004.[4] Bonnie has since gone on to be one of the leading songwriters in the world, her singles for Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Taio Cruz and others, having sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.
Prior to the formation of Gallay/Hartt Productions in late-2004, Gallay had also acted as a producer for the Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. He was a producer for the Toronto Raptors post-game show and live game broadcasts from 2001-2005 and occasionally to this day. He worked on over 500 NBA games and over 100 NHL games.[5]
While at Gallay/Hartt, Gallay produced several commercials and short works, including Black Belts: Tommy Nitro,[6] which was nominated for a TOTY (annual Toy Of The Year Awards in New York).[7] In 2006, he created and wrote the advertising campaign to launch MTV into Canada, known internally as the "Water Campaign".[8] When he moved to GHIdeas, Gallay directed and produced his inaugural documentary, Tagged (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1387475/combined), released in 2009, with participation from the National Film Board of Canada. Tagged[9] was nominated for two awards, including Best Director, at the Yorkton Film Festival in 2010.[10]
In 2013, Gallay co-directed and shot the documentary feature The Manor,[11][12] the story of a strip club-owning couple from a small town west of Toronto. The documentary was filmed over the course of three years and documented the couple's battles with their health and each other.[13] It was selected as the Opening Night film for the 2013 edition of Hot Docs, the largest documentary festival in North America. The film has since won multiple awards and positive critical response.[14] Gallay's next film, Helen, looks to be released in 2015.[15]
From 2011 to present day, Gallay has been a regular contributor to The Huffington Post. Of note, in the latter half of the 2000s, Gallay wrote sports columns for the Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs, one of his basketball columns being the first citation on the Wikipedia entry for Chris Bosh.
References
- ↑ IMDB bio, , retrieved November 11, 2013.
- ↑ A&R Network Worldwide interview from 2002
- ↑ plantandgarden.com archive via zoominfo.com
- ↑ Allmusic.com
- ↑ imdb.com, referenced programming example
- ↑ imdb.com entry
- ↑ toyassociation.org
- ↑ remotectrl.tv, , with several youtube.com links.
- ↑ imaginesciencefilms.org
- ↑ goldensheafawards.com, , retrieved November 11, 2013.
- ↑ imdb.com entry
- ↑ The Manor website
- ↑ The Globe & Mail, , critical review from May 10, 2013.
- ↑ IndieWire
- ↑ Sourced from main page of ghideas.com, , retrieved November, 2013.
External links
- Official page
- GHIdeas Official page
- Mike Gallay at the Internet Movie Database
- Mike Gallay on Facebook
- Mike Gallay on Twitter
- Mike Gallay on Twitter (alternate humour account)