Andrew Callaghan is an American journalist who is best known for his work on the YouTube series ‘All Gas No Brakes.’ In 2021, he announced his departure from the show, along with his crew consisting of Nic Mosher and Evan Gilbert-Katz., and Callaghan launched a new show via Patreon titled ‘Channel 5.’
Callaghan suffers from hallucinogen persisting perception disorder due to excessive psilocybin use early in his life, around age 13.
As a child, Callaghan ‘hated every class … from the first day of kindergarten to my last day of college,’ except for a journalism class in high school. The teacher of that class convinced Callaghan to pursue his passion of journalism. During this time, Callaghan interviewed people associated with the darknet market Silk Road, Occupy Seattle protesters, and Juggalos. Callaghan later relocated to New Orleans, working as a doorman on Bourbon Street. He eventually quit that job and began interviewing people on the streets of the city about their darkest secrets, which became known as ‘Quarter Confessions.’
In 2019, Callaghan published ‘All Gas, No Brakes: A Hitchhiker’s Diary,’ a memoir-zine recounting stories from a 70-day hitchhiking trip across America that he undertook two years prior at the age of 19. The idea for the YouTube series All Gas No Brakes was conceived from this memoir, before beginning his journalism studies at Loyola University New Orleans. Callaghan was a contributing writer for the Loyola school newspaper ‘The Maroon.’ ‘Quarter Confessions,’ which were uploaded to YouTube and Instagram led to a partnership between Callaghan and Doing Things Media.
In early 2020, Callaghan started an ‘All Gas No Brakes’ podcast, in response to travel restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. On the podcast, Callaghan interviews past subjects from ‘All Gas No Brakes’ over video chat.
In March 2021, Callaghan announced via social media that he, along with his team, are no longer involved with production of All Gas No Brakes, as well as its television series currently being produced. In a piece by ‘The New York Times,’ details of Callaghan’s contract emerged. Doing Things Media signed him to a contract granting him $45,000 salary plus expenses in exchange for intellectual property rights to the ‘All Gas No Brakes’ brand. Callaghan was to produce a set amount of content, however was granted creative freedom. Further, the Patreon set up for the show paid out a further 20% to Callaghan, 20% to the crew and 60% to Doing Things Media. Doing Things Media had become uncomfortable with the political context of some episodes, specifically covering the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis. By the end of 2020, Callaghan attempted to renegotiate his contract, which was set to expire in February 2022. Callaghan and his crew were first locked out of social media accounts, and later fired in March 2021.
In May 2020, Doing Things Media and Abso Lutely Productions entered a deal to develop a television series based on the channel. According to Callaghan, the partnership began when Abso Lutely co-founder Eric Wareheim privately messaged him on Twitter to ask about the prospects of creating a television series. Wareheim, Tim Heidecker, and Dave Kneebone will serve as executive producers for Abso Lutely, while Callaghan, Reid Hailey, and Max Benator will serve as executive producers for Doing Things Media. Following Callaghan’s departure from Doing Things Media, Tim Heidecker confirmed via Twitter that Abso Lutely was still working with Callaghan on ‘something major.’
On April 5, 2021 Callaghan released the first content for Channel 5 through Patreon. The show is created by the same core members of the crew in a similar style to All Gas No Brakes. The first episode was uploaded to YouTube on April 11, 2021 and documented spring breakers in Miami, it was removed by YouTube shortly thereafter due to being accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
The Daily Omnivore 
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