Andrew Callaghan

Callaghan grew up in Philadelphia before his parents moved to Seattle, where his high school journalism teacher let him leave class to cover events such as a Juggalo gathering and Occupy Seattle for the school newspaper.⁠[1]

He recalls that at 19, inspired by Ed Buryn’s Vagabonding in America, he spent several months hitchhiking alone across the United States, recording the stories of people he met, and a few years later transcribed the recordings and published them as a collection.⁠[2]

He studied journalism at Loyola University New Orleans, where for his courses he made short documentaries about a homeless man named King David and the Angola Prison Rodeo.⁠[3]

Working as a doorman on Bourbon Street, he and college friend Michael Moises interviewed drunk tourists about their darkest secrets for the video series Quarter Confessions, which he calls his first comedic video series; he graduated from college in 2019.⁠[3]

The All Gas No Brakes Instagram account started in August 2019, after which he traveled the country by RV to subcultural gatherings, saying he aimed to give viewers an insider’s look at the fringes of the culture without pushing a political agenda of his own.⁠[4]

Doing Things Media funded the project, giving him an RV, a $45,000 salary and equipment money; his partners were Nic Mosher and Evan Gilbert-Katz.⁠[5]

He said the video journalists he looks up to include Louis Theroux, Michael Moore and correspondents of The Daily Show, whose work has clear elements of comedy.⁠[4]

During the coronavirus lockdown he filmed a protest against it in Sacramento, a video that drew nearly two million views. He said he does not argue with conspiracy theorists and does not splice words to create sentences his subjects never said.⁠[6]

On May 30, 2020, three days after the murder of George Floyd, he interviewed protesters in Minneapolis with buildings burning behind him, a video that drew wide attention online.⁠[5]

He said he is neutral most of the time but will not give hate speech a platform, and once stopped filming at a Flat Earth conference when an interviewee cited figures verging on Holocaust denial.⁠[2]

He said the team wanted more serious subjects after the protests, clashing with a party-content deal; Doing Things Media said protests were too political for its comedy brand. They left the contract in March 2021, and Channel 5 premiered that April.⁠[1]

That year he worked on a film with Tim Heidecker and appeared as a correspondent on Showtime’s DESUS & MERO.⁠[5]

At a 2021 White Lives Matter rally he met a Trump supporter calling himself Kelly J. Patriot and filmed him for about four and a half years, documenting his radicalization, his quest for revenge against a private lender and his family’s efforts to pull him back, for his second feature, Dear Kelly.⁠[7]

A fully independent Channel 5 production, the film was shown on a screening tour, with its cut revised in response to audience feedback, and he planned to make it available to rent before seeking a larger platform.⁠[8]

The HBO original documentary This Place Rules, which he starred in, directed and executive produced, premiered and became available on HBO Max. It follows his 2020 RV journey across the country through political division, white nationalist groups and conspiracy theorists in the months before the Capitol attack.⁠[9]

It was his directorial debut, released on HBO in 2022.⁠[8]

Earlier, Channel 5 had released his interview with InfoWars host Alex Jones, Jones’s first interview since the Sandy Hook defamation verdict, in which Callaghan asked whether he felt responsible for what happened to the families.⁠[10]

Made with A24, the film’s producers included Jonah Hill, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, and its trailer featured him working out alongside Alex Jones.⁠[11]

Critic Nicholas Laskin called it one of the most unflinchingly honest accounts of the country’s state, mixing comedic gonzo journalism with political critique.⁠[12]

He said he would not go out of his way to record hateful people’s arguments for racial superiority, but that millions of Americans had been enveloped by QAnon ideology and the story needed to be told thoroughly.⁠[13]

In a conversation with Louis Theroux he described his work at its best as “radically empathetic, unbiased, civilian journalism,” and said he rents a place in Los Angeles as his editing base.⁠[14]

At the time Channel 5 had 2.25 million followers on YouTube and more than 106 million views since April 2021.⁠[15]

Several women accused him on social media of sexual pressure or coercion. He then posted an Instagram video thanking those who had spoken out and apologizing to them and to his collaborators, without confirming or denying specific accusations.⁠[15]

After the allegations in early 2023 he paused his work for about nine months before returning to YouTube with longer, more documentary-style videos.⁠[8]

On episode #425 he discussed his early life, hitchhiking, Quarter Confessions, Burning Man, January 6, QAnon, Alex Jones, politics, his response to the allegations and Channel 5, among other topics.⁠[16]

After Channel 5 released his interview with Hunter Biden, lawyers for First Lady Melania Trump sent Biden a letter demanding a retraction and apology over remarks about Jeffrey Epstein and the Trumps’ relationship and seeking $1 billion; he then released a follow-up interview in which Biden refused to apologize.⁠[17]

He reclaimed the full All Gas No Brakes catalog, brand rights and social accounts from his former partners, even getting the RV back, financing the buy-back with Patreon donations and revenue from Dear Kelly; he announced a reboot of the series, saying it would stay away from politics and focus on tight-knit communities.⁠[18]

Personal website: Public link: https://andrew-callaghan.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[16]

YouTube: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Channel5YouTube (opens in a new window)⁠[7]