Sundance Screenwriters Lab and Sloan Commissioning Grant Finalist, and Montana Film Commission Big Sky Grant for Feature Film Recipient Jayk Gallagher started out writing, producing and directing (WPD) episodic series for Fremantle Media, Current TV, and Sun Microsystems, plus music videos called “a kick to the gut” by SPIN Magazine, and “breathtaking” by Huffington Post, praised by Stereogum and Flaunt.
Jayk is a queer, non-binary, Iberian, Italian, and Irish American filmmaker.
Jayk WPDed “Idyll”, which debuted at NY Latino Film Festival presented by HBO, starring Sundance Alum Andrea Sixtos (Series Regular CW’s Arrow, Hulu’s East Los High) & Vanessa Garcia (SWAT, MacGuyver), and won Grand Jury Prize Best Narrative Short at Awareness FF and Best Actress in a Drama at Official Latino FF, and the film played at Philadelphia Latino FF, North Carolina Gay & Lesbian FF, Oaxaca FF, San Francisco Latino FF, Seattle Latino FF, Silver State FF, Marina Del Rey IFF, and many others.
Jayk WPDed LA noir sci fi short and episodic proof of concept “Chronopath”, which won Directors’ Choice Award at Sci-On! IFF and Best Actress in a Sci Fi at Official Latino FF, debuted at MCNIFF, and has played at Juggernaut FF, First Contact FF, Atlanta Horror FF, Tampa Bay Underground FF and WMMIFF among others, and was nominated for the “Out of this World Award” at the Official Latino FF. VFX were by George Loucas (Beatriz at Dinner, Boss Level, Jumanji, Superman & Lois), consultation on project by Effie Brown, Reza Safai.
Working on the projects of others, Gallagher Cast and Associate Produced “Hajji” with Snowfort Pictures (XX), starring Dayo Okeniyi (The Hunger Games) and Ross Marquand (The Walking Dead). In 2019, Jayk cast and pre-produced MLB Feature Film RAGE starring Marci Miller (Days of Our Lives Series Reg) and Mykel Shannon Jenkins (Series Regular Bold & The Beautiful) In 2018, Gallagher Cast and Associate Produced a film called “Zero-Zero” which won Best Short Film, Best Child Actor, and Best Actor among other awards at Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema, and won Best Indie Film and Best Child Actor at the Independent Shorts Awards.
In 2020, Jayk Directed and Produced a comedy film Written and Executive Produced by Paige Elson called “Drunk Girl Therapist” which debuted at the San Francisco Black Film Festival, and screened at the HBO Women in Comedy Film Festival, and LA Comedy Film Festival among others.
2016, Jayk WPed short “Synching” starring Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us, Love) and Sundance Alum Adam Gifford (Longmire, Wristcutters: A Love Story).
Jayk is in pre-production for his feature film The Apprehension of Dr. Kaczysnki, for which he received the Montana Big Sky Grant in 2020. He is currently writing and executive producing a major, to-be-internationally-released re-watch podcast for a top-five podcast network, but the details of it are classified until the release date.