Jason Gallagher is a writer, producer, Emmy-winning director. As head of production at ThreeFourTwo Productions, rubbing shoulders with NBA veterans Lebron James and J.J. Reddick is just another Tuesday — and he does it all from his home office in OKC.
In 2020, Jason and his wife moved from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City after stumbling upon their dream house (at a dream price). It was supposed to be a temporary stop, but now, Jason and his family are permanent Oklahomans. Here are a few reasons why.
Affordable Homes
We really love our house. It caught our eye because it reminded us of California in terms of the plant life. It’s all rock, all gravel, all cactus. It sort of reminded us of Joshua Tree. And honestly, the best part was the bang for your buck. A house like this would have cost millions and millions of dollars if we tried to do this in California, especially in a neighborhood this good.
Better Quality of Life
We absolutely love our quality of life in Oklahoma. It has improved night and day compared to California. Every day after school, my son gets on his bicycle. He goes and hangs out with his friends at the park down the street. They just run that place.
That’s something we could never have imagined. We trust that our son is going to be well taken care of. We know all of our neighbors that live around the park, and they always have an eye on him. You can’t beat that in terms of quality of life for your child, which, if you’re a parent, it’s the most important thing.
Oklahoma City Thunder
One of my favorite things about Oklahoma City is its relationship to the OKC Thunder basketball team. The community around it reminds me of a small European soccer town — the way the crowd chants things in unison, the way that they all buy in. That is something that doesn’t happen in other professional sports crowds.The way Oklahoma City feels success when the Thunder feels success. They feel the losses the way the Thunder feel the losses. It’s exciting to be here to witness what the basketball team is doing.
Remote-Friendly Lifestyle
After 2020, my industry became a place where you could work anywhere in the country. I run our studio in Brooklyn from my house here in Oklahoma City. When I do have to travel, the fact that I can get to the airport an hour before my flight and make the flight – direct flights to both LA and New York – is extremely convenient.
Healthy Work-Life Balance
Another thing about living in Oklahoma that was really unexpected, but one of the most fulfilling parts about living here, is it allowed me to tap into a creative side that I hadn’t seen in a long time. That comes with the fact that you have a healthy relationship with your work. Not everyone is asking if you’ve seen the latest “blah, blah.” Most of the parents in my life don’t even really know what I do. In fact, the only time I’ve ever heard them compliment something I do is when I appeared on a Down to Dunk episode, a local Oklahoma City Thunder podcast. They were saying, “Oh, wow, you do that?” And I was like, “I also work with LeBron James, but that’s fine.”
I never imagined a world where I could work in a creative space and get to clock out at 5 p.m. — mentally and emotionally clock out. The ability to direct, produce, do my job well, and still be very present in my child’s life, that is something that isn’t possible unless you live in a town like Oklahoma City.
