Sean Gallagher obit

Sean Gallagher Dies: Former Discovery Exec & Half Yard Productions Founder Was 57

 

He was not on the list.

Sean Gallagher, one of the founders of Say Yes to the Dress producer Half Yard Productions who spent over a decade at Discovery, died July 19 of cancer. He was 57.

Gallagher was heralded as a “pioneer” of reality television and a “kingmaker” as the industry took shape in its early years. Friends and colleagues including Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav and former A+E Networks CEO Nancy Dubuc paid tribute to Gallagher.

Gallagher founded Half Yard Productions in 2006 with Abby Greensfelder. In addition to TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress, the company made hundreds of hours of unscripted television including Bravo’s The Real Housewives of D.C., Animal Planet’s Hillbilly Handfishin’ and Discovery’s American Loggers and The Last Alaskans, Nat Geo’s Diggers and History’s How the States Got Their Shapes.

Before launching the Bethesda-based company, he spent over 10 years working at Discovery. He started as an AP, then executive producer before becoming head of development for Discovery and TLC. He was responsible for many of the cable network’s early hits, helping to move the company into franchise series after it previously aired mostly specials and anthologies.

He commissioned or exec produced series including Discovery Channel’s Monster Garage, American Chopper, Dirty Jobs, Deadliest Catch and MythBusters and TLC’s Little People, Big World. He also nurtured and identified early Discovery talent such as Jesse James, Mike Rowe, Adam Savage and Jamie Hynerman.

After he left Discovery, he founded Half Yard with Greensfelder in 2006, expanding in its first five years with offices in Maryland and New York before selling the company to Red Arrow in 2014. The company was named after a bar in New Haven that the pair frequented in college and that “served all types.”

“To work with Sean was always serious fun. It was the motto of the company we founded together in 2006,” Greensfelder said.

He left in December 2020 with plans to leave the television business, setting up Fiddlewicks Candle Company, named after the Maine fern, after becoming passionate about candles and making them by hand in his basement after experimenting on scents and ingredients for years.

Greensfelder met Gallagher on her first day as an intern at Discovery, where he was an AP. The pair were assigned to edit a show called Pandas: A Giant Stirs.

“The central storyline in the documentary was that Giant Pandas were not cute and cuddly, rather they were very dangerous,” Greensfelder said. “The culminating scene was when a panda mauled a visiting journalist in the panda reserve in China. The poor translation from Chinese to English in the doc was ‘He panda cut off his penis. It was such a pity.’ This line sent us into fits of hysteria, and we somehow managed to figure out how to send the recording of that line to about 10 colleagues on the nascent voicemail phone forwarding system at Discovery. We finished the edit, without that line due to broadcast sensitivities, and A Giant Stirs aired to great ratings. Little did I know then that Sean would become my business partner for well over two decades if you counted the years we worked together at Discovery.”

An Iron Man competitor, keen runner and former competitive swimmer, which got him into Southern Connecticut University, Gallagher was a very popular figure in the unscripted television business.

Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said: “I was heartbroken to hear of Sean’s passing. He was a fantastic person and a great talent behind so many wonderful shows, like the hit series Say Yes to the Dress. Our hearts go out to Sean’s family and loved ones. He will be missed by many for sure.”

Nancy Dubuc, former CEO of A+E Networks and Vice Media, said Gallagher was an “amazing person.”

“I actually met Sean back in our Christian Science Monitor days, which is where he met his wife [Deirdre] too,” she said. “Sean’s laugh and smile was infectious, and he had a way of lighting up a room that made whatever the situation was seem all right. The superlatives about Sean are many, but most of all he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”

Wheelhouse Entertainment founder Brent Montgomery said: “Sean Gallagher was as big of a character as those he put on TV. He was genuine and one of the handful of folks who have made so many incredible hit TV shows both as a commissioner and producer. No matter how many folks were in a crowded room, the gravitational pull would bring us together and we would dream up ways to one day work together. Our community that prides itself off on our scrappy nature lost an all time great today.”

Former colleague Howard Lee, who is now President of Discovery Channel Networks and TLC, added: “Sean was a class act with the brightest and sharpest creative sensibilities. We’ll all miss him dearly – he was far too young to leave our world.”

Greensfelder said that shows such as Dirty Jobs, American Chopper, Monster Garage, Deadliest Catch and MythBusters might never have happened or could have been killed if not for Gallagher intervening and providing creative cover. “Not that he ever took credit,” she added.

“He had a special knack for forging bonds with network collaborators and talent,” she said. “But he also suffered no fools. I didn’t swear until I got into business with Sean, but I learned the art from the master. Sean was not afraid to level an F-bomb upon someone who was a bully or a bad actor. I’ve never worked with someone so honest and brave. The list of shows Sean has left us is long. But it’s his mark of personal integrity that I will hold most dear.  To not be afraid to be yourself and to fight for the people and ideas you believe in and love. That’s a legacy. We will miss you dearly, Sean. Fuck Cancer.”

Thom Beers, founder of Original Productions, which produced shows including Deadliest Catch and Monster Garage, agreed with Greensfelder, calling Gallagher “one of the finest executives I ever had the privilege to work with.” “If not for Sean and his partner Abby, there would’ve been no Deadliest Catch or Monster Garage. Sean was that rare executive who didn’t worry about his job. He worried about the art, the craft. He didn’t cover his ass, but he covered his producers’ passion and intelligence. He fought for you, he fought with you, but he never ever fought against you. With great love and admiration. Rest in peace, dear friend.”

Pilgrim Media Group’s Craig Piligian, who runs Lionsgate Alternative Television as its managing director, first sold a series, Inside the CIA, marking the first time the intelligence agency opened its doors to cameras, to Gallagher in 1997.

He said Gallagher was “instrumental” in Discovery’s growth.

“He helped build reality television. If it wasn’t for him, reality television wouldn’t have the expanse that it’s had. He busted boundaries with his shows and made it way bigger, quicker than anyone else had thought it could be. He was one of the pioneers,” Piligian, who also produced American Chopper and Dirty Jobs for the exec, added. “He was a really good guy, smart and honest. He was the most honest guy both creatively and personally. If he didn’t like it, he said he didn’t like and if he said it was great, he meant it. He’s going to be sorely missed.”

Dirk Hoogstra, who is now Chief Creative Officer at Lionsgate Alternative TV’s eOne U.S. label, took over from Gallagher running Half Yard Productions at the end of 2020. He called him a “close friend” and “mentor.” “He was a creative force who made a huge impact at the peak of the reality genre boom. He developed a staggering number of iconic reality hits. As a network executive he was fearless. When he believed in a project he was all in. Sean was a straight to series guy who followed his gut. A trait among network executives that is now extraordinarily rare. He built teams with trust as the top priority. We trusted each other, we cared for each other and we had honest conversations about the creative. His creativity allowed him to transition seamlessly into a wildly successful producer. Sean was loved by his friends, family and his colleagues. He will be missed and remembered often.”

Howard Owens, founder and CEO of Propagate Content and former President of National Geographic Channels, was close with Gallagher. “Sean was creative, smart and had a true gift for producing. But my real affection for Sean was who he was a person. He was a terrific wit, always able to lighten the mood with a funny and well-timed quip. He helped me a great deal when I was leading National Geographic Channels as in addition to being a producer he was a super successful executive at Discovery. He will be missed dearly.”

Gallagher, who was born in Bloomington, Indiana and raised in Bangor, Maine, is survived by his wife, Deirdre Gallagher, and children Finian, Fiona, and Declan Gallagher.

“He relished and burnished with pride to talk about his kids’ grit and competitiveness whether it was his son Finn at lacrosse, his daughter Fiona at triathlons, or his youngest son Declan at ice hockey. The Gallagher Grit was a family hallmark and it bred our awe and respect. He worked to live, not the other way around,” added Greensfelder.