You Don't Mess with the Zohan

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

An intelligence agent fakes his death and secretly moves to New York, where he starts working as an ordinary hairdresser in an ordinary beauty salon. And if it weren't for the constant troubles that this "eternal" loser gets into, no one would even guess that ZOHAN is NOT worth joking with!!! More DON'T JOKE WITH ZOHAN MOVIE INFORMATION In the comedy "Don't Joke with Zohan" written by Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel and Judd Apatow, Sandler plays Zohan, one of the best Israeli fighters, who fakes his own death in order to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a hairdresser. in New York. He refuses the life of a fighter against terrorism, but soon discovers that running away from the past is not so easy. Old and new enemies stand in his way, and they all understand one thing: Zohan is no joke. Columbia Pictures in association with Relativity Media and Happy Madison presents Dennis Dugan's You Don't Mess With the Zohan. The director is Dennis Dugan, the producers are Adam Sandler and Jack Giarraputo. Screenplay by Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel and Judd Apatow. Executive producers are Barry Bernardi and Robert Smigel. Cinematographer – Michael Barrett (Michael Barrett). Production designer - Perry Andelin Blake. The editing director is Tom Costain. Costume designer – Ellen Lutter. The composer is Rupert Gregson-Williams. Music selection by Michael Dilbeck and Brooks Arthur. PLOT Israeli fighter Zohan Dvir (Adam Sanler) is the most famous fighter against terrorism in his country. Zohan is highly professional and seems invincible. With equal ease, he strikes the hearts of women and destroys opponents, including his personal enemy - the Palestinian terrorist Phantom (John Turturro). However, Zohan has one secret... he loves his country, but, despite this, he is very tired of the endless war and dreams of respite and the opportunity to show his creative abilities by becoming a hairdresser. But while Zohan is fighting terrorism, his dream is not destined to come true. Falling asleep, he cries bitterly over Paul Mitchell's 1987 catalog, hidden in his bedroom. Zohan gets his chance to realize his dream when the Phantom appears on the horizon once again. Instead of destroying him, Zohan fakes his own death and escapes, leaving Phantom blissfully confident that he has finally "taken" Zohan. After sneaking onto the plane to New York, Zohan, who has nothing but a backpack with clothes and a crazy dream, finds himself in the cargo hold with two dogs - Scrappy and Coco. Upon arrival in New York, the first thing Zohan does is go to Paul Mitchell's salon, hiding under the new name of Scrappy Coco. Srkappa hopes that he will be hired right away, but he only meets with ridicule for his old-fashionedness. Despite everything, Zohan does not stop trying to make the world silky and shiny. Having protected the overly soft-spoken Mitchell (Nick Suardson) when he gets into an accident on the road, Zohan finds a home: he settles on the top floor of the Brooklyn apartment of Mitchell and his mother Gail (Laney Kazan). That same night, Zohan goes to an American disco for the first time in his life. He insists that his name is Scrappy Coco, but, despite this, he is immediately exposed by the Israeli immigrant Ura, who recognizes him as the hero of his hometown. Uri hardly believes that Zohan is alive and well, and promises not to reveal his secret. Getting rejected from one beauty salon after another, Zohan goes to visit Uri in his electronics store. There he is amazed at how, in a small neighborhood, Israelis and Palestinians coexist side by side in relative peace. Uri shows Zohan an ideal place where he can start his career: it's a seedy salon with a far from young clientele. But there is one "but": the salon is located on the Arab side of the street. At first, Zohan hesitates: he came here to escape the war, but will he be able to work for a Palestinian? The owner of the shop, Dalia (Emmanuel Shrika), has her own reasons for thinking: after all, "Scrappa Coco" has no hairdressing experience at all. But Zohan does not give up. And he is on the right track, even if he only sweeps the floor in the salon, without receiving a penny for it. Soon he will have a chance when one of Dahlia's hairdressers suddenly quits his job. And Zohan does not miss this opportunity. Despite the fact that Zohan's entire stylistic arsenal is models from Paul Mitchell's antediluvian catalog, the client remains satisfied, charmed by Zohan's intimate conversation and his manner. Zohan's dream is starting to come true. Soon the rumor about him spreads among the elderly residents of New York: "Go to Scrappa Coco - you won't regret it!" Zohan's affairs are going well. He is living his dream, and Dalia's business is flourishing, thanks to which she copes with the exorbitant rent set by the new owners. Zohan begins a promising romance with Dalia. But the clouds are already thickening... Salim (Rob Schneider), a taxi driver from Palestine, who has long harbored a grudge against the former fighter, recognizes Zohan and decides to kill him. After several unsuccessful attempts on Zohan, Salim informs Phantom that he is still alive, and soon the terrorist is headed to New York. For Zohan, this is a disaster: he is not afraid of the Phantom, but he came to America in order to put an end to the military past... What is unexpected for him is that he will have to join forces with the Phantom to fight against a common enemy that threatens to destroy the quarter. CREATION OF THE FILM The idea of ​​Zohan, a tough Israeli soldier who abandons the game of anti-terrorism to devote himself to the art of hairdressing, first visited Adam Sandler many years ago, and he immediately knew how to turn it into a screenplay. He decided to work with two good friends: fellow "Saturday Night Live" and Conan O'Brien lyricist Robert Schmigel, as well as his former roommate (now comedy giant) Judd Apatow. The film "Don't joke with Zohan" is fertile ground for a screenwriter. "The topic of Israel interested me back in the years of "Saturday Night Live", - says Schmigel, who has been writing sketches for the program for several years, - oddly enough, the first sketch I wrote for Sam was just about the Israelis." "Don't joke with the Zohan" is a sort of return to the roots for Sandler. He played similar wild characters-instances, performed with broad strokes, both in "Saturday Night Live" and at the beginning of his acting career. "The audience is used to seeing Adam playing the roles of heroes similar to himself," Shmygel adds, "Zohan is just as eccentric, funny and slightly vulnerable as Adam." According to the director Dennis Dugan, in the film "Don't joke with Zohan", the main character faces an enemy equal to himself in power, who turns out to be a terrorist. "It's a fierce battle," Dugan says. Despite the fact that the plot is based on one of the most acute problems of world politics, the director's main task was to create a comedy. Rob Schneider, a member of the Happy Madison family, who plays the taxi driver Salim, believes that comedy is the best way to bring up "untouchable" topics. "Comedy brings people together," he says, "Zohan is funny - so funny that, I hope, everyone will take their time and laugh together." The film also features a huge number of stars from the old and new seasons of "Friends" in episodic roles. Dave Matthews and Kevin James meet again with Sandler after their roles in "Chuck and Larry: Fire Wedding." Mariah Carey, the "highest-grossing" singer of all time, plays herself in the film (as well as the idol of Arab and Palestinian fans). The film features Carrie's song "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time", the third single from her album "E=MC2". Kevin Nealon, John McEnroe, Charlotte Rae, and the president of the Academy Sid Ganis are among the stars in cameo roles in the film. Director Dennis Dugan combines both funny and serious in one project. His previous works are hits with the participation of Sandler, such as "Lucky Gilmore", "Big Daddy", "Chuck and Larry: Fire Wedding", the Happy Madison project "The Bench" and many other films and television programs. "My job is to position the ball well before Sandler hits it," Dugan says, "I try to see the film the way he sees it, and then I work with all the departments to make that vision happen as effectively as possible. Now, after we made five films together, I know exactly what he wants. And knowing is easier than trying to guess." "I didn't have as much energy as Dennis Dugan has now, even when I was 12 years old," Shmigel says, "it's just incredible." Once he secretly told me that he behaves like this not by chance: he knows for sure that if he can work himself, so can everyone else. His task is to set an example. Also, while I was on the set, he constantly made me laugh. Of course, they pay less for it, but I think he would look good in the role of an entertainer in comedy clubs." "I've been an actor for a long time, so I think that the more comfortable the actors (and many of them are comedic actors), the more they feel at home and the funnier they become," says Dugan, "so no matter how tired I am and how long we've been working, I always pretend that I'm not tired, that I'm not angry, that I'm not irritated. Then the actors feel that the set is a great place to work, a place where they are free and nothing threatens them. I remember this, always, because the most important thing is what happens when I shout "Motor!" THE CAST When Adam Sandler took on the role of Zohan, he completely devoted himself to it. "Sandler worked very, very, very hard. He trained with the Sea Lions for four months," Shmigel says. And I have never seen him happier." Sandler also worked on his Israeli accent. He was assisted by script editor Ronit Ravich-Boss, originally from Israel. She gave him pronunciation and suggested what words to use in different contexts. "Sometimes Adam would ask her how this or that word translates into Hebrew," says Dugan, "and if it seemed funny to us, Adam would use it in the film." Another adviser to Sandler was Etan Ben-David (Eytan Ben-David), a former Israeli soldier who now works in a hair salon in Los Angeles. He taught Sandler how hairdressers behave, how to hold scissors, and also barber jargon. Sandler had to get himself in great shape to play a counter-terrorism agent. Another key consultant for Sandler was stunt director Scott Rogers (Scott Rogers), a veteran of Spider-Man 2 and 3 and Aerobatics. According to Dugan, Scott was responsible for demonstrating Zohan's superpowers. Schmigel claims that he knows what exactly attracted Sandler to the role of Zohan: "I think he wanted to participate in this film while he was still young and could act shirtless." Turturro, who previously starred with Sandler in The Forced Millionaire and Anger Management, plays the Phantom. "Phantom is Zohan's antagonist," explains Turturro, "he calls me a terrorist, but Phantom considers himself a fighter for the freedom of Arabs from Zohan and all Israelis." After a big fight in which Zohan fakes his death, Phantom celebrates his victory... But, as Turturro explains, Phantom's story doesn't end there. "Zohan does not suspect that Phantom also dreams of ending the war. If Zohan is the Jewish James Bond, then the Phantom is the Arab Eminem. He has gold teeth, always wears sunglasses, and he owns a chain of restaurants. It is very ironic that a guy named Phantom lives not only because of his fame as a freedom fighter, but also because of the person who allegedly killed Zohan." Emmanuelle Shrike plays Dahlia, a Palestinian immigrant to New York. Shriky, of French and Moroccan origin, says that she turned to the image of her mother while working on the role. "My mother was very passionate, a typical Moroccan woman. I tried to be imbued with her energy to play a strong Palestinian woman. Despite the fact that Morocco is located in North Africa, the customs and manners of this country are very close to the traditions of the Arab world." Like other actors, Shrika had to work with a linguist. "Actors from Palestine told me that I have a good accent, and I was glad to hear it. I worked hard to achieve such a result." Shrika was lucky enough to work with Dalia's incredible wardrobe. "At first we wanted to create an ethnic image - flowing gold-embroidered dresses, scarves... But then we realized that Dalia has a lot of energy, she is sharp, hot-tempered and very strong. You have to be brave enough to immigrate to America and have your own business four or five years later. Together with Ellen Lutter, we breathed the energy of New York into her image with the help of costumes." Rob Schneider joined the team, played a role full of surprises. "I play Salim, a Palestinian taxi driver who came to New York in search of a dream," he explains. Salim is shocked by the meeting with Zohan in New York and decides to take revenge on him. "He's not just a taxi driver," adds Schneider, "he's also a sales agent for the Spiegel catalog." Salim performs about three jobs at the same time. He sells over the phone while driving." Honing Salim's accent, Schneider also turned to tutors for help. "I spoke with Dr. Salameh, a Palestinian pediatrician. Dr. Salameh helped me a lot by saying all my text into a voice recorder, and then he read the same thing, but in Arabic." Learning the role and accent turned out to be the easiest task. It was more difficult to show resourcefulness and determination. "Adam likes to improvise," says Schneider, "all my words with transcriptions were written on a piece of paper, and then Adam started improvising... Fortunately, there were several Palestinian actors on the set, I approached them and constantly asked: "How would you say it? And how is that?" CLOSE UP OF ISRAELITS AND PALESTINIANS: JOKE BY JOKE The rapprochement of an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian terrorist? Why not? - says director Dennis Dugan. "People living in the Middle East are the same people who live in one block of New York. The only difference is that they can fight in Gaza, but in Brooklyn they don't necessarily hate each other. Everyone gets along somehow, - he explains, - they, rather, treat each other as people, and not as warring factions." It is surprising that the plot of the film was literally reflected in the situation on the set. "We didn't aim for this specifically - we just had several scenes in which both Palestinians and Israelis had to be present on the set," Shmigel says, "we all had dinner together." They discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a lot and heatedly, but everything was extremely friendly, the atmosphere was healthy and open. Some of the guys came up to me and said that for the first time in their lives they had to communicate so much with a Palestinian or an Israeli." One of the keys to the successful production of "Don't joke with Zohan" was the involvement of the best and funniest actors from Israel and Palestine. "We assembled a huge team here - and not just the usual suspects from Happy Madison," Dugan says - we drove from Israel to Palestine to Anaheim, all over Los Angeles, to find people from the Middle East for the film. We had to review every candidate from the Film Actors Guild and more. I'm serious, we had to do this to find actors for 175 roles." Ido Mosseri was invited to play the role of Ura, who becomes Zohan's guide to the peace of America. From the age of eight he worked as an actor in Israel. "I always dreamed of Hollywood, but I never particularly hoped that this dream would come true. To act together with Adam Sandler - I couldn't imagine myself like that!" - he says. Sayed Badreya stars as a Palestinian taxi driver who works with Rob Schneider's character, Salim, and Daoud Heidami's character, Naza. Badria is of Egyptian-American origin, he came to America in 1979 to study at New York University at the Department of Cinematography. "I am a child of war and peace," he recalls, "when I was growing up, I had to escape from war in movie theaters all the time." And thanks to the movies, I fell in love with America even before I knew what it was. When Saddam made peace with Israel, I had the opportunity to come to the United States to study cinematography." Badria says that in the world of cinema, Arab actors are often treated very unfairly. "When I first came here in 1979 and started looking for a job, the only thing that was offered was the roles of terrorists. But then I was too young and good-looking to be a terrorist, - he laughs, - then I grew a beard, gained weight. And since then, for 20 years, in all films I utter one single phrase: "In the name of Allah, I kill you all." Daoud Haidami plays a Palestinian taxi driver in New York. He was born into a Palestinian family, and when he was four years old, his family moved to Houston, Texas. Haidami says this about her work on the film with Happy Madison: "The atmosphere on the set was amazing. As an actor, I felt completely at ease, and at the same time I had the opportunity to experiment and take risks. And this atmosphere of calmness and safety extended beyond the set. During the breaks, we all talked and slowly got to know each other. We discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a lot: everyone passionately defended his point of view, but everyone let each other speak. Israeli actors listened with interest about how I grew up in Bethlehem, and I listened to them. I think Adam put a lot of effort into creating such an atmosphere." "All we wanted to do was to give people the opportunity to laugh while watching this movie," says Schneider, "And if we succeed, maybe we'll achieve something bigger. At least, because we try to treat both sides with respect. And we try to be funny." THE FILMING PROCESS Most of the scenes were shot in New York, but Dugan went to Tel Aviv with a small crew to shoot a few scenes on the beach. "At the beginning of the film, the action takes place in Tel Aviv in the summer, so I went there with a team consisting of only Israelis and filmed a little on a crowded Tel Aviv beach. Then we had to shoot the same scene on the beach in Mexico. The peculiarity of the Israeli beach is that there are many orange umbrellas of the company that produces ice cream. We shipped about a hundred such umbrellas to Mexico." A part of the filming was atypical for Happy Madison, in which it was necessary to perform a huge amount of stunts to create the image of the world's coolest Israeli fighter against terrorism. Rogers admits that the part of the film where Zohan shows his superhuman abilities is the best. "In the film, his physical abilities are 10% greater than those of an ordinary person," he says, "and this gave us a real space for creativity." "Of course, Zohan can do everything - he doesn't just run fast, fight well or swim," Rogers notes. I don't know of another role for which such a large number of understudies would have been selected. To some extent, this is somewhat ridiculous." And yet, it was very important that Sandler perform as many stunts as possible on his own. For example, once the residents of New York had to see him driving along Park Avenue in a cab at a speed of 20-25 miles per hour. "We must give the viewer as few reasons as possible to doubt that what is happening on the screen is genuine. Otherwise, he will not be able to immerse himself in the peace that we are trying to create," says Rogers. THE FILM STARRED ADAM SANDLER (Zohan / screenwriter / producer) - an extremely successful actor, screenwriter, producer and musician. Sandler's last role was in Universal's box office hit "Chuck and Larry: Fire Wedding," where he starred alongside Kevin James and Jessica Biel. Before that, he starred with Don Cheadle in "The Deserted City" directed by Mike Binder, in the box office blockbuster "Click: With the Remote Control" with Kate Beckinsale, in "Everything or Nothing" with Chris Rock and Burt Reynolds. He also starred in James L. Brooks' Spanish English opposite Thea Leona, in the romantic comedy 50 First Kisses with Drew Barrymore, in Anger Management with Jack Nicholson, and in Paul Thomas Anderson's Love That Knocks You Down, for which he won a Golden Globe. Sandler's next role is in "Nighttime Tales" by Disney. Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Manchester. He first came into contact with comedy at the age of 17, performing at the Boston Comedy Club. Since then, he began to perform regularly with comedy numbers throughout the state, while simultaneously studying at the Faculty of Arts at New York University. Sandler's first film role was in the film "Eggheads", where he starred with Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin. Gradually, Sandler turned into a kind of film studio in the person of one person, taking part in all stages of the production of the picture. "Lucky Gilmore" became one of the most successful films of 1996. With a budget of just $12 million, it grossed $40 million in theaters and $35 million at the box office. "Wedding Singer", in which he also starred with Drew Barrymore, became the highest-grossing blockbuster of 1998, collecting $22 million in the first weekend. His next film, "Mother's Son", collected $ 40 million in the first weekend. Also among the last films with the participation of Sandler, which collected more than $100 million - "Big Daddy", "Millionaire by Force", "Anger Management" and "50 First Kisses". Sandler is the co-author of the scripts for the films "Lucky Gilmore", "Nikki the Devil Jr", "Billy Madison", "Big Daddy" and "Mummy's Son". "Billy Madison" became a cult film among American students. After his release on the screens, "Bill's Nights" and Sandler festivals began to be held. Sandler acted as a producer of such films as "The Call: With the Remote for Life", "The Bench" and "The Man on Call 2". He also produces "What Guys Want" and Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which are preparing to be released. He was the executive producer of the tapes "Three Boys", "Animal", "Adventures of Dirty Joe", "Master of Reincarnation", "Chick" and "Man on Call 2". In between working in the film industry, Sandler spends time in a recording studio. Several ego comedy albums released by Warner Bros. Records became multi-platinum. Their total sales amount to date is more than six million copies. A few years ago, Sandler launched the site AdamSandler.com, which features weekly short films about his day-to-day work with other Happy Madison employees. JOHN TURTURRO (Phantom) studied at the Yale School of Dramatic Arts. His theatrical debut was the main role in the play based on John Patrick Shanla's play "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea", for which he received the Obie Award and the Theater World Award. From that moment he played in the play "Waiting for Godot", the main role in Bertold Brecht's play "The Career of Arthur Uy". Now he is engaged in a performance based on Samuel Beckett's play "Game's End" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Turturro has appeared in more than 60 films, including Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money, Tony Bill's Five Corners, Spike Lee's Do It Your Way and Jungle Fever, Robert Redford's Quiz Show, Peter Weir's Fearless Peter, Tom DiCillo's Moon Box, Francesco Rossi's Armistice, and "Miller's Crossing", "Barton Fink", "The Big Lebowski" and "Oh, Where Art Thou, Brother?" the Cohen brothers. For the main role in the film "Barton Fink", he received the prize for the best male role at the Cannes festival and the David di Donatello Award (David di Donatello Award). His last roles are in the films "False Temptation" by Robert DeNiro, "Transformers" by Michael Bay and "That's What Happened" by Barry Levinson. Now he is filming in the movie "Operation "Pelham 1, 2, 3" together with Denzel Washington and John Travolta. John Turturro is the director of three films. For his debut film "Mac" he received the "Golden Camera" at the Cannes Film Festival. Also among his directorial works are "Illuminata" and the recently released "Love and Cigarettes" with James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon and Kate Winslet. At the age of seven, EMMANUELLE CHRIQUI (Dahlia) already knew that her acting future awaited her. After graduating from the Unionville Theater School, she played in a non-professional theater for a while, and then left Canada for Los Angeles to continue her acting career. Arriving in Los Angeles, she quickly achieved success, got roles in the films "Detroit - the city of rock" (New Line Cinema), "Snowy Day" and "100 Girls and One in an Elevator" (Paramount/Nickelodeon). She got her first main role in the film "On the Connection" (Miramax). She was followed by another, equally successful leading role in the thriller "No Turn". Also in her filmography are "The Misfortunes of Rick", where she plays in a pair with Bill Pullman, "Big Gluttony" with Ryan Reynolds, "The Raven 4: The Cruel Communion" with Edward Furlong, and "The Mix" with Usher and Chase Palmintera. This year, the independent film "Patriotville" will be released with the participation of Shrika, playing in a pair with Justin Long, as well as "Under torture", where she plays together with Cole Hauser. Actor, screenwriter and comedian NICK SWARDSON (Mitchell) has just released his debut album "Party" on Comedy Central records. Adam Sandler was the producer, and in the first two months more than 50,000 albums were sold. Swardson continues to work with Happy Madison. Recently, he starred in "Chuck and Larry: Fire Wedding", and also acted as a co-producer of this film. In addition, he participated in the creation of the films "The Bench" (actor/screenwriter/co-producer), "Three Boys" (actor/screenwriter/producer), "Call: Remote Control for Life", "Blades of Glory: Stars on Ice", "Wanted in Malibu" (actor/screenwriter) and "911: Call Boys". LAINIE KAZAN (Gail) is the owner of many awards in the field of cinema, television and theater. She began her career as an understudy for Barbra Streisand in the Broadway show "Funny Girl". Soon she became the "voice" of her native New York, began performing in nightclubs and appeared in popular television programs as a special guest. Appearing at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, Kazan attracted the attention of Francis Ford Coppola, who offered her a role in the film "From the Heart". Other films with her participation are "Passion in the Dust", "Delta Squad", "On the Beach", "Club for Widows", "29th Street", "Company", "Italian Lovers", "Big Deal", "Team", "What's Ready" and the comedy "My Big Greek Wedding". As an actor and producer, Kazan participated in a number of Broadway projects. She sang with the Boston Pops and Cleveland Pops and sold out halls in Europe, Asia, Las Vegas and New York. She recorded the jazz albums "Lainie Kazan – In the Groove" and "Body and Soul". Kazan is a member of the board of the Guild of Film Actors, the Foundation of Young Musicians, and the Association for the Fight against Muscular Dystrophy. ROB SCHNEIDER (Salim) - in the past - a comedian, then - an actor, now - a comedy actor, director, screenwriter and producer. Schneider recently made his directorial debut: he released the prison comedy "Big Stan" with David Carradine, M. Emmett Walsh, Scott Wilson, Henry Gibson and Jennifer Morrison. Schneider is also one of the authors of the script and plays a role in the film "The Chosen One", which is preparing to be released. He is producing this picture together with his brother John Schneider. In the spring of 2006, Schneider co-starred with David Spade and John Hider in the comedy Bench, produced by Adam Sandler and Jack Giarraputo of Happy Madison Productions. Schneider met Sandler when they were both aspiring comedians working on Saturday Night Live. Schneider took part in 10 of the company's films, including co-authoring the scripts and acting in the films "Man on Call 2", "Chick", "Animal" and "Man on Call"; together with Sandler, they played in the films "Mommy's Son", "Big Daddy", "Nikki the Devil Jr", "Millionaire Voluntary" and "50 First Kisses". DENNIS DUGAN (Director) WORKED ON THE FILM - this is a talented director with twenty years of experience in the entertainment industry. Dugan is recognized as one of the leading comedy directors with such baggage as "Big Daddy" and "Lucky Gilmore" with Adam Sandler in the main roles; "Bitch" with Jack Black and Amanda Peet and "Beverly Hills Ninja". His recent directorial work is "Chuck and Larry: Fireman's Wedding". Also among his films are "Reserve Bench" and "National Security". In addition, Dugan is the director of a dozen television projects, including "New York Police", "Moonlight Detective Agency", as well as "Colombo: Butterfly in Gray Tones" and "Shaggy Dog". Dugan performed a number of small but bright roles in his own films. The last of them is the role of a taxi driver in "Chuck and Larry: Fireman's Wedding". The director also played in the films "Parents", "There will be a child", "Love cannot be bought" and "Howl". ADAM SANDLER (Writer/Producer/Zohan) See Filmed. ROBERT SMIGEL (Writer/Executive Producer/Yosi) was a writer, performer, and producer on two of the most popular shows on Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O'Brien on SNL. Smigel is known for his Saturday TV Funhouse cartoons, including The Ambiguously Gay Duo, Fun with Real Audio, and X-Presidents. Schmigel's cartoons, created together with cartoonists David Wachtenheim, Robert Marianetti and J. J. Sedelmayer, were awarded many awards at festivals, including the first prize of the annual International Animation Festival. In 1996, Shmygel became the executive producer, author of the text, and actor of the ambiguous project "Dana Karva's Show". In 2000, while continuing to work with SNL, Schmigel developed Saturday TV Funhouse into a weekly series on the Comedy Central channel. X-Presidents was expanded into a novel co-written with Adam McKay. The novel was published in 2000 by the Villard publishing house. In 2003, he became the producer of the first charity project Night of Too Many Stars. Now this project with host Jon Stewart is released twice an hour on the Comedy Central channel. Funds from the project are intended for schools and educational programs for children and adults suffering from autism. JUDD APATOW (Writer) made his directorial debut in the summer of 2005 with the box office hit The Forty Virgin with Steve Carell and the Universal project A Little Pregnant with Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, and Paul Rudd. In the latter, Apatow was the author of the script, director and producer. Apatow became a producer of the recently released "In Flight", as well as "Survival School" directed by Stephen Brill and the comedy "Rise and Fall: The Dewey Cox Story" directed by Jake Kasdan. This summer, Apatow's new project "Pineapple Express" with Seth Rogen and James Franco, directed by David Gordon Green, and "Step Brothers" with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, directed by McKay, will be released. In 2009, "The First Hour" with Jack Black and Michael Cera, directed by Harold Ramis, will be released. JACK GIARRAPUTO (Producer) is one of the most successful producers in Hollywood. His films with a general complexity collected about $2 billion worldwide. Among them are "Chuck and Larry: Fireman's Wedding", "Call: With the Remote for Life", "Everything or Nothing", "50 First Kisses", "Anger Management", "Millionaire by Force", "Big Daddy" and "Mommy's Son". BARRY BERNARDI (Executive Producer) recently served as an executive producer on the films Chuck and Larry: Fire Wedding, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Everything or Nothing. He also produced the films Anger Management, Man on Call, Master of Reincarnation, and Animal. As an executive producer, he worked on Haunted Mansion, Double Trouble, My Favorite Martian, Rise from the Deep, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Jung, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Devil's Advocate. Also among his projects are "Poltergeist III" and "Darling, we have shrunk ourselves." MICHAEL BARRETT (Cinematographer) recently wrapped work on Rawson Marshall Thurber's Secret City, starring Sienna Miller, Mina Suvara, Peter Sarsgaard and Nick Nolte. Other works of his are "Kiss on the Fly" directed by Shane Black, and nominated for the "Golden Globe" "Bobby" directed by Emilio Estevez. PERRY ANDELIN BLAKE (Director). His first work was the movie "Billy Madison" with Adam Sandler. Later, he worked on many of Sandler's films, including The Forced Millionaire, Big Daddy, and The Wedding Singer, where he met director Frank Coraci, with whom he created Around the World in 80 Days. Together with Happy Madison, he worked on the blockbusters "Chuck and Larry: Fire Wedding", "Click: With the Remote for Life". Also, among his films are "Everything or nothing", "Reserve bench" and "Three boys". TOM COSTAIN (Editing Director) recently completed work on the HBO pilot EastBound & Down and the documentary Last Saturday of May. He also participated in the editing of Steve Carell's film "Volume Tensions". In addition, his filmography includes the films "Snowman", "Three Boys", as well as "Everything or Nothing", "Chick", "50 First Kisses", "Anger Management", "Millionaire p