Jayk Gallagher

Jacob Gallagher is a Talent Manager and Senior Partner at Calliope West Artist Management as well as the Founder and Creator of education company Instruction & Dragons. Under his creative moniker of Jayk Gallagher, he is an accomplished Writer/Director/Producer as well as a retired, former Actor.

Writer Director Producer Background

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. It debuted to the non-festival public on August 9, 2024 via Omeleto and is viewable here.

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.

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. He was commissioned by a top-five podcast network to write and executive produce a major re-watch podcast led by John O’Hurley and featuring guests such as Jason Alexander, Kevin Dunn and Alec Berg. 12 episodes were produced but are currently under wraps awaiting release.

Talent Management

The owner and Senior Partner at Calliope West Artist Management, Jacob Gallagher has been a talent manager for the last 17 years. Having always been an independent-minded individual, he dove right into growing a roster of talent when he was 24. He started by repping a handful of developmental actors, as he worked side jobs to support his dream. Jacob’s efforts gathered steam over the years to become the successful company of which he heads today.

Calliope West shares clients with WME, Gersh, UTA, IAG, Innovative, Stewart Talent, AKA, AEFH, Talentworks, BRS Gage, SMS, Sovereign, Metropolitan, Ellis Talent Group and more. Many clients are series regulars, studio feature stars and celebrities. Review our partial client list here.

He originally started Drexel Talent, part of Drexel Box Productions, then moved to Insomnia Media Group to co-head their talent management arm, and then started the company which is now HG5 with another fellow, Erik Heintz. About ten years ago, Greg Strangis and Jacob started Calliope West Artist Management together, and Greg retired about six years back. Many of Jacob’s clients have been with him through the whole journey (Regi Davis, Kevin Brief, Reggie De Leon etc).

Along with his life-long excitement for representing artists, Gallagher has led a creative life, finding past success as a grunge musician, music promoter, radio host, playwright, rapper and rap battler, stand-up comedian, and more. But as he aged he decided to simplify and unify his efforts so that all his energies focus on only one thing: Helping people he cares about achieve their dreams. Jacob is deeply grateful to devote his life to growing Calliope West Artist Management, providing personal service to his clients with kindness, moral transparency, and a spirit of collaboration.

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Education

Beyond his prolific work as a Talent Manager and Writer / Producer / Director, Jayk Gallagher has a thriving educational business called Instruction and Dragons, viewable here.

Jayk is a tutor and teacher specializing in learning differences and executive functioning who has achieved excellent results in the Los Angeles area over the last 17 years, working with students on Executive Functioning Coaching, Mentoring, and Soft Skills building, helping them improve their scholastic performance as well as on standardized tests like the SAT, ACT, ISEE, SSAT, GED, CHSPE, and HSPT.

His extensive experience includes working one-one-one with students of various backgrounds to improve their confidence and performance, using techniques and experience gained through Jayk’s personal experiences with his own OCD, ADD and other differences. In addition, Jayk has taught classrooms of ESL and SAT Prep along with one-on-one sessions delving deeply into such subjects as American History, Spanish, Essay Writing, English Grammar and European History. Jayk has worked with every major tutoring company in Los Angeles, many of which have provided extensive training year after year in honing skills to help students overcome differences, and he has worked with many private clients over multi-year spans, watching them develop from struggling 8th graders to successful high school seniors. His students have gone on to achieve superlative test scores and attend Ivy League colleges.

Jayk holds a BA from Emerson College, and has had successful careers over the years as a grunge musician, rapper, actor, radio show host, filmmaker and screenwriter among other creative pursuits. He’s also been a small business owner for the past 17 years as a talent manager, helping extremely talented and well-known actors achieve their dreams in movies and television shows of which you’ve no doubt heard.

When it comes to tutoring style, Jayk believes in hard work and repetition, list-making and detailed notes. But, he approaches his method with an added casual sense and slightly informal tone, which helps build an alliance with the student in order to work together to achieve goals while both avoiding mistakes, and practicing self-kindness.

Jayk created Instruction & Dragons, a successful program that dynamically builds both executive functioning and soft skills tutoring and mentoring onto the structure of TTRPGs like Hasbro's D&D, creating an engaging, fun and extremely transformational experience that has produced prodigious results in students with ADHD, OCD, ASD and other learning differences.

Showreel

Other Past Work

Jacob is a retired, former actor, who worked under his creative moniker of Jayk Gallagher. He booked some great work in his twenties, such as The Social Network, Veep, CSI: NY, and more, but his passion for management led him to leave acting years back to triple down on his focus and commitment to Calliope West. Jacob’s experience as an actor greatly influences his work with his clients, allowing him to more deeply understand their concerns and struggles, as well as the preparation and work required for success in the career.

Along with his life-long excitement for representing artists, telling stories and helping others, Gallagher has led a creative life, finding past success as a grunge musician, music promoter, radio host, playwright, rapper and rap battler, stand-up comedian, and more. But as he aged he decided to simplify and unify his efforts so that all his energies focus on only one thing: Helping people he cares about achieve their dreams while affecting positive social change through art and education. Jacob is deeply grateful to devote his life to raising his daughter while providing personal service to his clients with kindness, moral transparency, and a spirit of collaboration.