Veteran music programming producer Joel Gallen has been tapped to produce ESPN's second American Sports Awards telecast, also known as the Espys.
Gallen will produce the televised event for the sports channel under his Tenth Planet Prods. banner, the boutique production operation he formed after leaving MTV two years ago.
The Espys' two-hour special will be hosted by comedian Dennis Miller on Feb. 28 at the Paramount Theater at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Last year's event was produced in-house at ESPN, and Gallen's hiring marks the channel's first use of an outside production staff.
Gallen will tap his expertise developed while producing several of MTV's award-winning mainstay programs, including the Video Music Awards, Sports Awards and its Movie Awards.
Tenth Planet's slate includes the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies in New York on Jan. 19, and Gallen has several cable and network series in development. "We will be doing less and less specials over the years, eventually getting into more mainstream type of programs," Gallen said. "Of course ours will have a lot more attitude."
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