Happy Madison Productions is an American

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

founded in 1999 by

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...

, which is best known for its comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films ''

Happy Gilmore ''Happy Gilmore'' is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and produced by Robert Simonds. It stars Adam Sandler as the title character, an unsuccessful ice hockey player who discovers a newfound talent for golf. The screenp ...

'' and ''

Billy Madison ''Billy Madison'' is a 1995 American comedy film directed by Tamra Davis. It stars Adam Sandler in the title role, Bradley Whitford, Bridgette Wilson, Norm Macdonald, Darren McGavin, Mark Beltzman, and Larry Hankin. The film was written by Sandler ...

'', two box office successes starring Sandler himself, both produced by

Robert Simonds Robert Bruce Simonds Jr. (born 1964) is an American film producer, entrepreneur, and the founder & chairman of STX Entertainment, which creates, produces, distributes, finances, and markets film (as STXfilms), television (as STXtelevision), digi ...

, written by Sandler and

Tim Herlihy Timothy Patrick Herlihy (born October 9, 1966) is an American screen actor, film producer, screenwriter, and Broadway musical bookwriter. Films written or produced by Herlihy have grossed over $3 billion at the worldwide box office. He frequentl ...

, and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. The elderly man depicted in the

production logo A production logo, vanity card, vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by movie studios and television production company, production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company and the distributor of a tel ...

is Sandler's late father, Stanley (who died in 2003), who voices the accompanying audio, "Terrific". In addition to various Sandler-produced films, the company has also released films produced by others, such as Steven Brill (''

Little Nicky ''Little Nicky'' is a 2000 American fantasy comedy film directed by Steven Brill, written by Brill, Adam Sandler, and Tim Herlihy, and starring Sandler in the title role, Patricia Arquette, Harvey Keitel, Rhys Ifans, Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr., an ...

'', ''

Mr. Deeds ''Mr. Deeds'' is a 2002 American comedy film directed by Steven Brill, written by Tim Herlihy, and starring Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder with Peter Gallagher, Jared Harris, Allen Covert, Erick Avari, and John Turturro in supporting roles. It w ...

''),

Dennis Dugan Dennis Barton Dugan (born September 5, 1946) is an American director, actor, writer, artist and comedian. He is known for his partnership with comedic actor Adam Sandler, for whom he directed the films ''Happy Gilmore'', '' Big Daddy'', ''The Be ...

(''

The Benchwarmers ''The Benchwarmers'' is a 2006 American sports-comedy film produced by Revolution Studios and Happy Madison Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures, directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Allen Covert and Nick Swardson, and starring Rob Schneid ...

'', ''

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry ''I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry'' (also simply known as ''Chuck & Larry'') is a 2007 American buddy comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan. It stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James as the title characters Chuck and Larry, respectively, two New Yo ...

'', ''

You Don't Mess with the Zohan ''You Don't Mess with the Zohan'' is a 2008 American satirical action comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel, and Judd Apatow, and produced by Sandler, Smigel, and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Sandler in th ...

'', '' Grown Ups'', ''

Grown Ups 2 ''Grown Ups 2'' is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Adam Sandler, Fred Wolf, and Tim Herlihy, and produced by Sandler and Jack Giarraputo. It is a sequel to the 2010 film '' Grown Ups''. The film stars Sandler, Ke ...

''),

Frank Coraci Frank Coraci (born February 3, 1966) is an American film director and screenwriter best known for his work with actor Adam Sandler. Biography Coraci was born in Shirley, New York. In 1984 he graduated from William Floyd High School, where he ...

('' Click'', ''

Zookeeper A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...

'', '' Blended''), Fred Wolf (''

Strange Wilderness ''Strange Wilderness'' is a 2008 American comedy-adventure film produced by Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison Productions for Paramount Pictures, directed by Fred Wolf (who co-wrote the film with Peter Gaulke), and starring Steve ...

'', ''

The House Bunny ''The House Bunny'' is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Fred Wolf, written by Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz, and starring Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, and Emma Stone. It tells the story of a former Playboy bunny who signs up to be t ...

''),

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

(''

The Animal ''The Animal'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Luke Greenfield, written by Rob Schneider and Tom Brady, and starring Schneider in the lead role, Colleen Haskell, John C. McGinley, Guy Torry, and Edward Asner. The film depicts a police ...

'', ''

The Hot Chick ''The Hot Chick'' is a 2002 American comedy film written and directed by Tom Brady, with additional writing by Rob Schneider. Schneider stars as Clive Maxtone, a middle-aged criminal who switches bodies with mean-spirited cheerleader Jessica Spe ...

'', '' Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star''),

Peter Segal Peter Segal (born 1962) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Segal has directed the comedic films ''Tommy Boy'' (1995), ''My Fellow Americans'' (1996), '' The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps'' (2000), ''Anger Managemen ...

(''

Anger Management Anger management is a psycho-therapeutic program for anger prevention and control. It has been described as deploying anger successfully.Schwarts, Gil. July 2006. Anger Management', July 2006 The Office Politic. Men's Health magazine. Emmaus, PA: ...

'', ''

50 First Dates ''50 First Dates'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Peter Segal and starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin and Dan Aykroyd in supporting roles. It follows the story of Henry, a womanizing m ...

'', '' The Longest Yard''), and

Nicholaus Goossen Nicholaus Edward Goossen (born August 18, 1978) is a director, and a photographer. Life and career Goossen's first feature film was '' Grandma's Boy'' for Happy Madison Productions and 20th Century Fox. He collaborated with Adam Sandler (executiv ...

(''A Day with the Meatball'', '' Grandma's Boy'', ''

The Shortcut ''The Shortcut'' (retitled ''Avoid the Shortcut'') is a 2009 American horror film directed by Nicholaus Goossen, written by Dan Hannon and Scott Sandler, and starring Andrew Seeley, Shannon Woodward, Dave Franco, and Katrina Bowden. The film's ...

''). The 1998 films ''

The Waterboy ''The Waterboy'' is a 1998 American sports comedy film directed by Frank Coraci. It was written by Adam Sandler as well as Tim Herlihy and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. Sandler also stars as the title character while Kathy Bates ...

'' and ''

The Wedding Singer ''The Wedding Singer'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy, and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, and Christine Taylor, and tells the ...

'' helped jump start Sandler's movie career and production company. He produced ''The Waterboy'' and co-wrote the script with

. The film was extremely profitable, earning over $160 million in the United States alone and made Sandler a successful actor with ''The Waterboy'' becoming his second $100 million film in a year, along with ''The Wedding Singer''. The company's production offices were formerly located in the

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

Building on the

Sony Pictures Studios The Sony Pictures Studios is an American television and film studio complex located in Culver City, California at 10202 West Washington Boulevard and bounded by Culver Boulevard (south), Washington Boulevard (north), Overland Avenue (west) and ...

lot in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

but the company left after completion of Sandler's final contracted film for the studio, ''

Pixels In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...

''. Happy Madison, Inc. the parent company of Happy Madison Productions is run by Adam Sandler's brother Scott and is located in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Hamp ...

. Its subsidiary Madison 23 Productions, was aimed towards the drama genre. It only produced two films ''

Reign Over Me ''Reign Over Me'' is a 2007 American buddy drama film written and directed by Mike Binder, and produced by his brother Jack Binder. The film stars Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle with Jada Pinkett Smith, Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland, Saffron Bu ...

'' and ''

Funny People ''Funny People'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow, co-produced by Apatow Productions and Madison 23 Productions, and starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann with Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason S ...

'', which both starred Sandler himself. Another subsidiary was Scary Madison Productions, which was aimed towards the horror genre and only produced the film ''

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Critical reception

Happy Madison's films have, for the most part, received overwhelmingly negative reviews, while some drama films (''

'' and ''

'') received mixed-to-positive from critics, with Sandler's performance garnered critical praise. The production company has put out four films considered to be some of the worst ever made, including two that have received a 0% score from

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

References

External links

Happy Madison
page on Sandler's website {{Authority control American companies established in 1999 1999 establishments in California Film production companies of the United States Television production companies of the United States Companies based in Culver City, California Mass media companies established in 1999