SYNOPSIS 

In Revolution Studios’ riotous new comedy Anger Management, Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson star as patient and therapist, though at times it’s hard to tell which one is which. 

After a misunderstanding aboard an airplane that escalates out of control, the mild-mannered Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) is ordered by Judge Daniels (Lynne Thigpen) to attend anger management sessions run by Doctor Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson), which are filled with highly eccentric and volatile men and women.

Buddy’s unorthodox approach to therapy is confrontational and abrasive and Dave is bewildered by it. Then, after yet another mishap, Judge Daniels orders Dave to step up his therapy or wind up in jail. So, Buddy moves in with Dave to help him battle his inner demons. Buddy himself has no inner demons since he acts out at every opportunity and that includes making lewd comments about Dave’s girlfriend Linda (Marisa Tomei) and goading Dave into confronting every slight, past or present, head-on.

But Buddy finally goes too far and Dave must decide whether to crawl back into his shell or stand up for himself. Could it be that Buddy’s confounding and contradictory treatment is just what the doctor ordered?

Anger Management is scheduled for release nationwide April 11, 2003.

Revolution Studios Presents A Happy Madison Production Anger Management, a Columbia Pictures release starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson. The co-stars are Marisa Tomei, Luis Guzman and Lynne Thigpen, with Woody Harrelson and John Turturro. The director is Peter Segal. The film is written by David Dorfman. The producers are Jack Giarraputo and Barry Bernardi. The executive producers are Adam Sandler, Allen Covert, Tim Herlihy, Todd Garner and John Jacobs. The director of photography is Donald M. McAlpine, ACS, ASC. The editor is Jeff Gourson. The production designer is Alan Au. The music supervision is by Michael Dilbeck. The music is by Teddy Castellucci. The costumes are by Ellen Lutter.

Anger Management is rated PG-13 for crude sexual content and language.

ANGER MANAGEMENT: GOOD FOR THE GOOSFRABA 

“What made the idea of Anger Management so funny to me,” says screenwriter David Dorfman, “was to start with the last guy in the world you’d ever think would need anger management and then pair him with a therapist who makes him angry.”

The true test of such a concept, he concedes, is whether the story can maintain the cleverness of its initial premise. The script for Anger Management passed that test, according to the film’s star and executive producer Adam Sandler. When Revolution Studios founder Joe Roth asked him to read the script, Sandler says he picked it up and “I immediately liked the title and knew I needed some in real life, so I figured I should at least take a look. Then I read it and I was laughing.  And I just kept going and it didn’t let me down.”

The reason Dorfman’s screenplay worked so well, explains Revolution Studios partner Todd Garner, also an executive producer on the film, is that it used humor to get under the skin of a real issue and not merely for the sake of generating some good gags. “At its core, it’s about a man who’s having a tough time expressing himself and another man who comes into his life and helps him deal with that,” says Garner. 

In his writing, Dorfman says he took care to make the therapy as unusual as the disease. “Doctor Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) makes Dave (Sandler) do all the things he hates. He puts him through every possible comedic nightmare, which finally forces Dave to take action in order to survive.  In the end Dave is cured, but in an unexpected way.”

Among the indignities Dave must suffer to rid himself of his pent-up anger are group sessions with a decidedly eccentric bunch of men and women who also suffer from anger control issues, confronting a childhood tormentor, being propositioned by a transvestite, singing “I Feel Pretty” on the Queensboro bridge during rush hour and shacking up with Doctor Buddy, who proves to be a disruptive and demanding roommate.  

“Doctor Buddy keeps pushing Dave’s buttons to see how long he can go without snapping,” says Sandler. “Basically he’s trying to get him to come out of his shell.” 

“TEMPER IS THE ONE THING YOU CAN’T GET RID OF BY LOSING IT.” -- DOCTOR BUDDY RYDELL

“Buddy puts Dave through a series of tests,” says Anger Management director Peter Segal, “through which he confronts his demons and graduates to the next level. The reason Buddy exposes him to all these things is to get him to overcome them and emerge a better person.” 

Somehow this oddball treatment works and Dave’s life actually improves, though he’s never sure exactly how he got there, observes Garner. “The humor flows from an unorthodox vein,” says Garner, “but by the end, Dave really has broken through, which makes the story all the more satisfying.”

That undertow of reality, however skewed, brought energy to the film’s comedic possibilities, according to Segal. “The script really sucks you in because, when you start out, you don’t think there’s anything wrong with Dave Buznik (Sandler),” says Segal. “He seems innocent and trapped. He doesn’t seem to deserve his fate.”

But when anger management specialist Doctor Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) enters Dave’s life, the story evolves in completely unexpected ways. “Buddy provokes Dave to get a reaction and, at first, you’re not sure that reaction emanates from Dave’s pent up anger or is being created by Buddy,” Segal continues. “As you go along, however, you realize that when Buddy comments on Dave’s past he shows a great deal of insight. That’s when the story really started to get interesting for me, when I realized he wasn’t just badgering Dave to get a reaction. He was actually intuitive and really getting inside the guy’s head.”

The combination of a great premise and a skillful execution united Sandler and Segal and lured a third major talent, Oscar® winner Jack Nicholson, to assume the role of Doctor Buddy Rydell.

Sandler had envisioned Nicholson for the role while he was reading the script because “I tried to imagine Buddy as someone who made me feel nervous at times and comfortable at other times, and I immediately thought of Jack,” he says. “As I continued reading and imagining Jack in the role, I laughed even harder, which made it more fun to read. And then, he actually said yes.”

“Jack brings legitimacy to the role to Doctor Buddy Rydell because, in his attention to detail, he sounds like a therapist and embodies Buddy’s philosophy,” says Segal. “But he also brings that menacing edge that is innately Jack, which plays against all the caring qualities you expect from a reputable therapist.”

Not only did Nicholson bring his persona and precise sense of character to bear on Doctor Buddy Rydell, he brought the same kind of attention to the overall structure of the story. “Jack was involved in helping us shape not only his character but providing ideas and jokes that made the whole film funnier,” says executive producer Allen Covert, who also portrays Andrew, Dave’s rival for the affections of his girlfriend Linda (Marisa Tomei). 

Nicholson’s suggestions gave the comedy additional resonance, says Sandler. “The audience laughs at the funny stuff, but they also laugh when the story fools them, when it shakes them up.”

Coming from two distinct disciplines, the mesh between Sandler and Nicholson proved to be ideal. “There was an immediate chemistry between them,” says Covert.

“The combo of the concept and the casting is a dream come true,” says Segal. “Anytime I describe Anger Management – ‘It’s a comedy about a guy played by Adam Sandler who has to take anger management classes. And Jack Nicholson is the therapist,’ – the reaction is immediate. Everyone says the same thing: ‘I’m there.’”

For Segal, the blend of Sandler and Nicholson’s distinct approaches toward character proved to be the best of both worlds. “Adam likes to experiment on the set. If things are going well, he tries something different to see if he can make it even better. If things aren’t working, he doesn’t leave until they do. It was fun to keep the camera rolling at times with Adam just so he could try different things.”

And how exactly did Nicholson approach Doctor Buddy? “One thing we talked about was bringing an off-balance sense to the audience’s perception of Buddy,” says Segal, “so they’d constantly be asking themselves if he is really a good therapist or maybe a bit insane and dangerous. The more he kept the audience guessing, the better he thought the story would be.”

“KNOW BUDDY CARES.” – DOCTOR BUDDY RYDELL

The other benefit of combining two distinct talents like Sandler and Nicholson, according to Covert, is that it draws other top-flight performers to the project as well. For the pivotal role of Sandler’s girlfriend Linda, another Oscar® winner, Marisa Tomei, came aboard.  

“The thing that was so wonderful about Marisa playing Linda was her natural ability to make things seem real, like we were a couple who already had a history,” says Sandler.  

It’s through Linda’s character that the audience sees the first symptoms of Dave’s problems. “Dave is a really nice guy, almost a little too nice,” says Tomei. “He’s also very uncomfortable demonstrating any affection for me in public, even to say goodbye. Instead of kissing me, he shakes my hand.” 

“Linda’s a nice girl and they’re really in love,” explains Sandler. “But he’s afraid to move to the next level because he thinks he’s not worthy of her and that she’s disappointed in him because he’s made no advancement in his career. I think he constantly wonders if she’s going to leave him.” 

Not helping matters is the character of Andrew (Covert), who preys on Dave’s outward passivity and fear of confrontation by always hanging around with Linda, his ex-girlfriend from college days. “I’m this rich dilettante who is stuck on Linda,” explains Covert, “but I’m not aggressive about it. I’m just there to show that there are other alternatives.”   

“Dave pretends that he’s okay with Linda seeing Andrew as a friend, but it eats him up inside,” says Sandler. “Like other people, Andrew senses that weakness and takes advantage of it.”

John Turturro, who had co-starred with Sandler in the hit comedy Mr. Deeds, was cast in the role of Chuck, one of the more explosive members of the anger management therapy group, and a man who is in every way Dave’s opposite. “Chuck is probably the biggest nightmare of the class,” says Sandler, “a man who is completely and totally in touch with his anger.”

Doctor Buddy pairs Chuck and Dave as partners outside of class, which leads to comic mayhem.  Again the combination of the two talents clicked, according to Segal. “As they showed in Mr. Deeds, John and Adam’s energies play well off one another. John is very collaborative, very inventive, very intense. And as with Adam, we’d do a series of takes and just leave the cameras rolling.”

Rounding out the cast is a group of actors with proven comic ability, says Covert – former SNL vet Kevin Nealon (as Dave’s delightfully inept attorney), Luis Guzman (as a flamboyant member of the anger management group), recent Oscar® nominee John C. Reilly (as Arnie Shankman, Dave’s childhood bully tormentor turned Buddhist monk), Woody Harrelson (as the transvestite Galaxia) and Heather Graham (playing a beautiful woman Dave tries to pick up). “All these guys have done comedy, and they get comedy,” observes Covert. “They can all work on the fly.”

And even some of the film’s cameo players like former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Indiana University’s legendary coach Bobby Knight, managed to get into the film’s antic spirit. “I didn’t even know that Bobby Knight was a funny guy,” Covert confesses. “When I asked his wife she said, ‘oh yeah, that’s why I married him.’”

In preparation for directing the film, director Segal attended several anger management classes. “While it’s a comedy, I wanted the film to accurately reflect the kinds of treatment used for people with anger problems,” says Segal. “I wanted to have fun telling the story and at the same time make sure we didn’t disrespect the subject.”

While listening to the therapist list the symptoms of this kind of dysfunctional behavior, Segal suddenly realized to his dismay, “that I had nine or ten of them,” he laughs, “things from pent-up hostility while sitting in traffic, to not telling people how you really feel.”

Lending authenticity to Sandler’s passive, cool-on-the-outside character, Segal took his cue from one particular woman, whom he describes as “the sweetest girl on the outside and a real psycho on the inside. When she talked about why she had been ordered to come to these classes, you realized that she belonged there. She appears calm and controlled, but in a moment she can snap. As she said, ‘I’d go from happy to angry and I’d skip sad.’”   

Anger Management was shot in New York and Los Angeles, and while on location in the east, director Segal made sure to use some of New York City’s most notable landmarks for some of the film’s most memorable moments. A scene between Dave and Buddy driving to work was moved to the Queensboro Bridge, which connects Queens with Manhattan (and is the basis for Simon & Garfunkel’s famous “59^th Street Bridge Song,” aka “Feeling Groovy”). “I just thought it would give the scene more visual interest and tension to have Dave and Buddy stop in the middle of the bridge during rush hour to sing “I Feel Pretty,” (one of Doctor Buddy’s unconventional relaxation techniques).

 When the production contacted the New York City film commission, however, their shooting opportunities on the bridge were seriously limited. “We could film at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning and because of scheduling conflicts, neither Adam nor Jack was available.”

A second unit was sent to shoot the exteriors with doubles in the car, while back in Los Angeles on a soundstage, with a blue screen backdrop, Segal worked with Nicholson and Sandler. “It actually turned out much better,” Segal recalls. “It’s difficult to get a singing performance out of two actors when there’s traffic backed up behind them halfway through Queens.”

There were even greater limitations in using Yankee Stadium for the film’s climactic scene, Segal explains. The fictitious Yankees-Red Sox game would normally be sold out, but bringing in 50,000 was impractical both for time and budgetary considerations. “We used about 3,500 extras and 1,200 cardboard cut-outs,” says Segal, “the rest was the work of Sony Imageworks.”

Sony’s special effects division used “wire frames,” computerized skeletons of human forms that were then convincingly fleshed out to resemble a stadium full of baseball fans. 

After that, the film’s final scene, which takes place in Central Park, would seem to be a cakewalk. But even Sony Pictures Imageworks couldn’t do anything about the scorching 95-degree heat wave that had gripped Manhattan and the loyal but persistent fans that crowded around, limiting Segal’s camera angles. “We went through all the duplicates of the costumes for the scene,” says Segal. “As soon as the actors put them on they were drenched. It was a very simple scene, but Jack and Adam will tell you they probably lost about twelve pounds shooting it.”

ABOUT THE CAST 

ADAM SANDLER (Dave Buznik, and Executive Producer) has enjoyed phenomenal success in the entertainment industry as an actor, writer, producer, director and musician. He first gained international recognition as a cast member of television’s “Saturday Night Live.” Most recently he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his breakthrough performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire, Sandler’s first brush with comedy came at age 17, with a spontaneous performance at a Boston comedy club.  From then on he was hooked, performing regularly in comedy clubs throughout the state, while earning a degree in Fine Arts from New York University.     

Sandler made his motion picture debut in Coneheads, opposite Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin. He has gone on to become an almost self-contained mini-studio involved in all aspects of film production. Happy Gilmore was one of the most successful movies of 1996.  With a budget of just $12 million, it grossed more than $40 million at the box office and $35 million on home video. The Wedding Singer was the first box office hit of 1998, with an opening weekend gross of more than $22 million. His next film, The Waterboy, had an opening weekend of almost $40 million. Other recent $100 million-plus grossing Sandler films include Big Daddy and Mr. Deeds. 

Sandler collaborated with writer Tim Herlihy on the screenplays for Happy Gilmore, Little Nicky, Billy Madison, Big Daddy, and the smash hits The Wedding Singer and The Waterboy. Billy Madison has become a cult classic for college students across the country, with “Billy” nights and “Sandler” festivals.

Sandler served as executive producer on Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, The Animal, Joe Dirt, The Master of Disguise, The Hot Chick and the upcoming Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. He will next be seen in an untitled romantic comedy in which he will reunite with his Wedding Singer co-star Drew Barrymore.

Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison Productions, has recently signed a deal with Columbia TriStar Domestic Television to develop shows for the studio.

During breaks from his busy filming schedule, Sandler spends time in the recording studio. Several of his comedy albums have gone multi-platinum. Collectively, they have sold more than six million copies to date. Several years ago, Sandler launched AdamSandler.com. This site is updated weekly with mini-movies featuring Sandler, the staff of Happy Madison, and his dog Meatball -- all in their daily routines.

JACK NICHOLSON's (Buddy Rydell) distinguished body of work includes some of the most successful and highly acclaimed films of all time.  With his Academy Award® nomination as Best Actor for his most recent triumph, About Schmidt, Nicholson has the singular honor of having received the most Oscar® nominations of any other male performer.  He has won the Academy Award® for Best Actor for As Good As It Gets and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and for Best Supporting Actor in Terms of Endearment.  He has also earned nominations for his performances in A Few Good Men, Prizzi’s Honor, Reds, Ironweed, Chinatown, The Last Detail, Five Easy Pieces and Easy Rider. For About Schmidt, he also received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor as well as the Los Angeles Film Critics’ Award for Best Actor of 2002. 

Among his other credits are the dramas The Pledge and The Crossing Guard for director Sean Penn, the sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks! and Batman for director Tim Burton, Wolf, Hoffa, The Witches of Eastwick and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, among many others. Nicholson has been honored with Lifetime Achievement awards from the American Film Institute and the Golden Globes. 

Upcoming for Nicholson is a romantic comedy for Columbia Pictures, written and directed by Nancy Meyers, co-starring Diane Keaton, Frances McDormand, Keanu Reeves and Amanda Peet.

MARISA TOMEI (Linda) received an Academy Award® as Best Supporting Actress for her role in the hit comedy My Cousin Vinny. Best known for her rich, comic performances, Tomei took a dramatic turn with In the Bedroom, which earned her a second Academy Award® nomination.

Tomei most recently starred in Fisher Stevens’ romantic comedy Just a Kiss as well as The Guru. She also appeared opposite Mel Gibson in Nancy Meyers’ hit comedy What Women Want.

Tomei’s diverse credits include Slums of Beverly Hills, Welcome to Sarajevo, The Perez Family, Untamed Heart, Equinox, Chaplin, The Paper, A Brother’s Kiss and Unhook the Stars opposite Gena Rowlands, for which she was honored by her peers with a Screen Actors Guild nomination.

On stage, Tomei has recently been seen in the title role of Oscar Wilde’s “Salome” opposite Al Pacino and Dianne Wiest. Her previous theater credits include Nobel Prize-winning playwright Dario Fo’s “We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!,” Clifford Odet’s “Waiting for Lefty” and “Rocket to the Moon,” both directed by Joanne Woodward, as well as the premiere of Tony Kushner’s “SLAVS” at the New York Theater Workshop.  Other stage work includes “Comedy of Errors,” for the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park, “What the Butler Saw” at the Manhattan Theater Club, work at the Second Stage Theater, Playwrights Horizons and the Williamstown Theater Festival, among others. 

Tomei is a member of the Naked Angels Theater Company in New York City.

LUIS GUZMAN (Lou) co-starred last year in Paul Thomas Anderson’s critically acclaimed Punch-Drunk Love, also opposite Adam Sandler. Other recent credits include James Foley’s Confidence opposite Ed Burns, the upcoming The Runaway Jury with Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman, The Count of Monte Cristo, directed by Kevin Reynolds, and Welcome to Collinwood with George Clooney.

A former social worker, Guzman has become a well-known actor, appearing in nearly two dozen films, including three for Sidney Lumet, Guilty as Sin, Family Business and Q&A, two for Brian De Palma, Snake Eyes and Carlito’s Way; and three for Steven Soderbergh, Traffic, The Limey and Out of Sight.  His other films include Mr. Wonderful, Black Rain, The Hard Way, Cadillac Man, True Believer and Crocodile Dundee II.

ALLEN COVERT (Andrew, and Executive Producer) has co-starred in every Adam Sandler movie except Billy Madison. He was an associate producer on Big Daddy, Little Nicky and Mr. Deeds. He recently produced Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights and has collaborated on four comedy albums, as co-writer and producer, with Sandler and Brooks Arthur. 

LYNNE THIGPEN’s (Judge Daniels) body of work encompasses the Broadway stage, television and feature films. She has earned two Tony nominations and one win, an Obie Award, the L.A. Drama Critics Award and four Emmy Award nominations.

Thigpen portrayed ‘The Chief’ on the PBS series "Where in the World is Carmen

Sandiego?" and "Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?" Other television credits include regular appearances on the series "Thirtysomething" and "L.A. Law," and the television movies "An American Daughter," "Boys Next Door" and "Night Ride Home."

Thigpen's feature film credits include The Insider, Shaft, Novocaine, Random Hearts, Lean on Me, Bob Roberts and Tootsie. On stage, Thigpen has starred in "Fences" (L.A. Drama Critics Award), "An American Daughter" (Tony Award), "Tintypes" (Tony nomination), "Jar the Floor" (Obie Award), "A Month of Sundays" and "Having Our Say."

Currently, she stars in the CBS drama series "The District," featuring a distinguished cast headed by Craig T. Nelson.

Born and raised in Joliet, Ill., Thigpen currently resides in New York City.

WOODY HARRELSON  (Galaxia) received an Academy Award® nomination as Best Actor for his portrayal of outlandish publisher Larry Flynt in The People Vs. Larry Flynt. He also won an Emmy Award for playing the lovable bartender Woody Boyd on the hit series “Cheers.” During his eight seasons on “Cheers,” Harrelson moved deftly between comedy and drama in his choice of film roles. 

He made his motion picture debut in Wildcats, which also featured Wesley Snipes, with whom he co-starred in his breakthrough film role in Ron Shelton’s White Men Can’t Jump. Harrelson and Snipes also appeared together in Money Train, and Harrelson worked again with Shelton on Play it to the Bone co-starring Antonio Banderas. Harrelson received critical acclaim for his portrayal of the homicidal Mickey Knox in director Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers. He was part of the ensemble in Terence Malick’s The Thin Red Line. Other starring roles include Edtv for director Ron Howard, Indecent Proposal with Demi Moore and Robert Redford, The Hi Lo Country for director Stephen Frears, Doc Hollywood, L.A. Story, Sunchaser, The Cowboy Way, Scorched, Kingpin, Welcome to Sarajevo, Palmetto and Wag the Dog.

In 2001, he returned to television for a guest-starring role on the hit sitcom “Will and Grace.”

JOHN TURTURRO  (Chuck) has amassed a long list of notable credits, including the Coen Brothers’ O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Big Lebowski and Miller’s Crossing. In 1991 he was awarded best actor at the Cannes Film Festival and received a David Di Donatello Award for his starring role in the Coen Brothers’ Barton Fink. For director Spike Lee, Turturro has starred in such films as He Got Game, Clockers, Jungle Fever, Mo’ Better Blues and Do The Right Thing. He has also appeared in Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money and Raging Bull.

Turturro’s other film credits include The Luzhin Defence, The Man Who Cried, Cradle Will Rock, Rounders, The Truce, Fearless, Five Corners, The Sicilian, To Live and Die in L.A., and Desperately Seeking Susan.  He wrote, directed and produced Illuminata, and received the Camera D’Or at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival for Mac, which he also wrote and directed. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe and SAG Award for his memorable role in Robert Redford’s Quiz Show.

 Turturro was recently seen in Mr. Deeds and 13 Conversations About One Thing.  

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS 

PETER SEGAL (Director) had a busy year in 2002. In addition to directing Anger Management, Segal also co-wrote and created the NBC comedy series “Hidden Hills.” A USC graduate, Segal made his feature film directorial debut in 1994 with the hit comedy Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult starring Leslie Nielsen. His list of credits include the 2000 blockbuster Nutty Professor II: The Klumps starring Eddie Murphy, the critically acclaimed My Fellow Americans starring Jack Lemmon, James Garner, Dan Aykroyd and Lauren Bacall, and the hit comedy Tommy Boy starring Chris Farley and David Spade.

Segal is currently preparing to direct another feature for Columbia Pictures, an as yet untitled romantic comedy reuniting Sandler with his The Wedding Singer co-star Drew Barrymore. 

With an extensive career directing for television, Segal has won eight Emmy Awards, a Cable ACE award for Best Director and two National Association of Broadcasters’ Service to Children awards. In 1995 Segal formed Callahan Filmworks, a production company that is currently developing Venus Down, a romantic comedy that Segal is writing with Fred Wolf (Tommy Boy), and Miss America, a romantic comedy.

DAVID DORFMAN (Writer) After attending NYU film school and AFI, where he wrote an award-winning short, Dorfman was quickly snapped up by some of the most prestigious restaurants in L.A. He later worked as a script reader for Tom Hanks and the William Morris Agency.

In 1998, Dorfman was broke, lost his car, owed money to the IRS, and was riding a bus to work when suddenly a bidding war broke out for a spec script he wrote called The Guest, which sold for close to a million dollars. He then became one of Hollywood’s hottest writers, selling projects to New Line Cinema, Twentieth Century Fox and Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Picture Company, as well as Revolution Studios and Sony.

This year, in addition to writing Anger Management, Dorfman was selected as one of Variety’s “Ten Hottest Voices in Comedy.” He has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry including Ivan Reitman, Rob Schneider, the Farrelly brothers and David Zucker, as well as Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson. He has recently completed The Guest, Pretty Ugly and Drake Diamond: Exorcist for Hire.

Dorfman is also a former CIA assassin who killed 19 men while ostensibly working as a writer for “The Price is Right.”

JACK GIARRAPUTO (Producer) began his film career as associate producer on Heavyweights, directed by Steven Brill. He then teamed up with his college buddy Adam Sandler to associate produce Billy Madison and the hit comedy Happy Gilmore.

He later went on to produce The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, Big Daddy and Little Nicky.  With Happy Madison producing partner Adam Sandler, he executive produced Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, starring Rob Schneider and Columbia Pictures’ Joe Dirt starring David Spade, Mr. Deeds and Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights. 

Giarraputo grew up on Long Island. He attended New York University before graduating from The Fordham University School of Law. 

BARRY BERNARDI (Producer) previously produced Revolution Studios’ The Master of Disguise and The Animal, both of which were released by Columbia Pictures. He also produced the hit film Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo and served as executive producer on the comedy Double Take. Additionally, Bernardi executive produced the features Inspector Gadget, My Favorite Martian, Deep Rising, Tom and Huck, Cabin Boy, The Adventures of Huck Finn and Devil's Advocate. His other producer credits include Poltergeist III, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, and Starman.

Beginning his career as a story editor and producer's assistant after attending the California Institute of the Arts as a music major, Bernardi teamed with director John Carpenter in 1979 to associate produce The Fog, Escape from New York and Christine. He remained with Carpenter to co-produce Halloween II and Halloween III.  From 1987-1989, Bernardi served as senior vice president of production at New World Pictures, where he oversaw the development, production and release of such films as Heathers, Meet the Applegates and Warlock.

Bernardi went on to co-found Steve White Productions.  With White, he produced more than 25 telefilms.  Among their credits are "Amityville," "The Evil Escapes," "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?," "She Said No," "The Carolyn Warmus Story," "She Stood Alone" and "A Mom for Christmas."

ADAM SANDLER (Executive Producer, Dave Buznik) See cast section for biography.

ALLEN COVERT (Executive Producer, Andrew)  See cast section for biography.

TIM HERLIHY (Executive Producer) has written or co-written the films, Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, Big Daddy, Little Nicky and Mr. Deeds. He was formerly head writer of the television variety series “Saturday Night Live.”

TODD GARNER (Executive Producer) joined Revolution Studios as a partner in

May 2000.  He is responsible for overseeing all aspects of development and production for all motion pictures at the company. He most recently produced The One, The Master of Disguise and The Animal, and was executive producer on the blockbuster XXX.  

Prior to joining Revolution Studios, Garner was at The Walt Disney Company for 10 years, most recently as Co-President of Production for the Buena Vista Motion Picture Group. Among the movies that he oversaw were Pearl Harbor, O Brother, Where Art Thou, Remember the Titans and The Waterboy. During his association with Disney, Garner held a variety of production positions and was Executive Vice President (1998-99) of Buena Vista Motion Picture Group before being tapped as Co-President of the Group.  He started with Touchstone Pictures as a Creative Executive in 1990 and was subsequently promoted to Director of Production, Vice President of Production (95-96) and Senior Vice President of Production (1996-98).

Prior to joining Disney, Garner worked for a year at Paramount Pictures in Finance.  He began his professional career as a freelance videotape editor with credits on several commercials and music videos.

JOHN JACOBS (Executive Producer) has been working in the film industry as an executive producer and writer since 1986.  From 1986 to 1989, Jacobs was an executive at Orion Pictures, where he developed the Academy Award®-nominated and critically acclaimed Mississippi Burning, as well as the hit comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. From 1989 to 1992, Jacobs ran Wall Street financier Michael Steinhart’s entertainment company, which co-financed the mega-hit series The Addams Family. During that time he also produced Married to It for Orion and the family movie Bingo for TriStar.  He was later a producer at Channel Productions at Sony under former Universal Chairman Ned Tanen, where he worked extensively with two time Academy Award® winner Bo Goldman. 

With former Columbia Pictures Chairman Dawn Steel’s company, Jacobs produced the smash hit Cool Runnings. The following year he became President of Atlas Entertainment, where he developed Twelve Monkeys with Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt and City of Angels with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan. In 1997, Jacobs produced and directed the independent feature The First to Go. In 1998, he formed the production and management company First Entertainment.

In 2001, Jacobs produced The Guest starring Ashton Kutcher, Tara Reid, Molly Shannon and Terence Stamp, which is currently in post-production.  He is Executive Producer and writer of the thriller Heart of Stone, a British-German co-production financed by the Kirch Group and starring Adam Garcia and Jacqueline Bisset, which is also in post-production.

This summer he will produce The Ringer with the Farrelly brothers, starring Johnny Knoxville.  He also has projects in active development at DreamWorks, Fox, MGM, Disney, Miramax, Universal, Spyglass Entertainment and Beacon Pictures.

DONALD M. McALPINE, ASC, ACS (Director of Photography) was recently honored with an Academy Award® nomination for Moulin Rouge, which also brought him a BAFTA nomination and awards from the Australian Film Institute and the Film Critics Circle of Australia. Prior to that, he was the director of photography on The Time Machine, Columbia Pictures’ Stepmom, and two other films for director Chris Columbus, Mrs. Doubtfire and Nine Months.  Upcoming for McAlpine is the live action Peter Pan, due at year’s end.

McAlpine began his career in Australia in 1962 working on television documentaries as a cameraman. In 1966, he joined Film Australia as a cinematographer and was soon appointed chief cameraman, supervising the work of eight cinematographers.

McAlpine’s first feature as director of photography was The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, Bruce Beresford’s directorial debut. McAlpine and Beresford have since collaborated on eight features, including Breaker Morant, The Getting of Wisdom, Puberty Blues and King David.

McAlpine has photographed four films for Paul Mazursky: The Tempest, Moscow on the Hudson, Down and Out In Beverly Hills and Moon Over Parador. His other credits include The Edge, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, Alan J. Pakula’s Orphans and See You In the Morning, The Man Without A Face, Parenthood, Stanley and Iris, My Brilliant Career, Phillip Noyce’s Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games, and John McTiernan’s Predator and Medicine Man.

ALAN AU (Production Designer) created the look for Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and The Animal, and was the art director of Joe Dirt. He also worked with The Master of Disguise director Perry Andelin Blake on The Waterboy, The Wedding Singer and Little Nicky. 

JEFF GOURSON (Film Editor) most recently edited Mr. Deeds, also starring Adam Sandler and The Animal, starring Rob Schneider. Gourson also served as editor for Happy Gilmore, Little Nicky and the smash hit Big Daddy. He began his career working as an assistant film editor on such films as Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz, Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter and the Steven Spielberg films The Sugarland Express and Jaws. It was while working on Jaws that Gourson met Academy Award®-winning film editor Verna Fields. On Fields’ recommendation, director James Bridges hired Gourson to edit the drama September 30, 1955.  Gourson went on to edit Flight of the Navigator, FM, Somewhere in Time, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Tron, Perfect, Can't Buy Me Love, Big Top Pee Wee, Beverly Hills Ninja and Shadow of Doubt.

TEDDY CASTELLUCCI (Composer) has scored such motion pictures as Mr. Deeds, Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights, Big Daddy, The Animal, The Guest, Good Advice, Deuce Bigalow, Repli-Kate, Little Nicky and The Wedding Singer.  As a studio musician, his long list of recording and performing credits include such diverse artists as Michael Jackson, Jackson Browne, Boz Scaggs, Smokey Robinson, Olivia Newton-John, Michael Bolton, Natalie Cole, Brian Wilson, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, Wynton Marsalis, Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton. Upcoming is Daddy Day Care starring Eddie Murphy and Anjelica Huston.   

MICHAEL DILBECK (Music Supervision) has enjoyed a career in the music and film industries that has spanned more than twenty years beginning as a concert promoter for superstar acts such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Led Zeppelin, Three Dog Night, Joe Cocker and Chicago. 

Dilbeck currently has his own company, Dilbeck Entertainment, and his credits include Bad Boys, Money Train, Bulletproof, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, Big Daddy, Little Nicky, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, The Master of Disguise, Joe Dirt, The Animal and Mr. Deeds.

ELLEN LUTTER (Costume Designer) is a Fine Arts graduate of New Paltz University who began her career as a wardrobe supervisor with horror movie king Lloyd Kaufman's Troma Pictures on such films as Squeeze Play and Nocturna.  After several years of working as a wardrobe supervisor, Lutter attended New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, concentrating more on the technical aspects of design.  She soon began work as a costume designer on such films as Mr. Deeds, Little Nicky, Big Daddy, Flirting with Disaster, New Jersey Drive, Living In Oblivion, The Night We Never Met, Mississippi Masala and Friday the 13th - Part II, among others.

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