ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
You Don't Mess with the Zohan reunites many key production personnel.  The film marks production designer Perry Andelin Blake's tenth Happy Madison production and costume designer Ellen Lutter's ninth film with the team.  Editor Tom Costain previously served as assistant editor of many Sandler productions.  Cinematographer Michael Barrett joins the team for the first time.
Blake says that all departments, as well as input from Dugan and Sandler, are key to determining the look of the film.  "Dennis Dugan and Adam Sandler are heavily involved.  As we do some photo shops - playing with design for specific locations - we also work with Ellen to share pictures of the locations and the colors we're going to use.  She's always done a ton of research - on Zohan, she showed us the uniforms for the Israeli army and the clothes an average Palestinian might wear.  We take from her the colors that she feels are right, and we coalesce everything into one design concept." 
Although most of the film was shot in New York and Los Angeles, Dugan and a small crew shot a few scenes on a Tel Aviv beach.  "The beginning of the movie takes place in Tel Aviv in the summer, so I went there and worked with an all-Israeli crew and got some shots of the very crowded beach in Tel Aviv.  For some other shots from the same scene, we filmed on a beach in Mexico.  In Israel, there is a very distinctive orange umbrella that is put out by an ice cream company - those umbrellas are all over the beach.  We got those umbrellas and shipped about a hundred or so down to Mexico."
One part of production that was unusual for a Happy Madison production were the many, many stunts required to bring the world's greatest Israeli counter-terrorist to the screen.  "Just like a Bourne or Spider-Man, where we play the stunts straight, we played them pretty straight in Zohan," says Rogers.  "We tried to give Sandler a foundation he could leap from: his Zohan is stronger, faster, and more capable than any human being, but he's not a superhero."
Rogers admits that that part - pushing Zohan just beyond the boundaries of human possibility - was the best part.  "We played him 10 percent beyond what a human could actually do," he says.  "It gave us the freedom to make him bigger than life and to get real creative. The swimming scene where he swims down the Phantom, who's on a jet ski, was just an extraordinary opportunity to do some pretty fun stuff.  We play it straight, but then you know in the context of what's going on, it's a very funny stunt and a very funny scene.
"When we first were talking about the scene, I pitched that he would swim like a dolphin," he continues.  "They loved it, but were skeptical that we could pull it off.  We had to find the right boat and the right equipment, and then, we went to the swim facility at USC and found the right swimmer, Meir Hasbani, a guy on the Israeli national team, believe it or not.  We cruised along the water at 18 miles per hour, flying him on wires, and then we started porpoising him through the water.  It actually came together fairly easily."  So easily, in fact, that Sandler wasn't about to let the opportunity slip by without trying the rig himself - and soon the star was swimming like a dolphin through the blue sea of La Paz.
"Of course Zohan can do anything - he isn't limited to running fast or martial arts or swimming; he does everything," Rogers notes.  "Whatever the circumstance demanded, we looked for the best possible person for that specific talent.  We brought in free runners to jump from building to building.  We had gymnasts to do some of the floor routines on the chair.  We had dancers for the disco scenes and we had the swimmers for the water scenes.  Those were just some of the stunt people.  I've never heard of anybody having this many doubles for one character; it's almost ridiculous, but at the same time, it's very funny.  It's what gives this character his talent and his abilities."
Still, it's important for the audience to see Sandler, as Zohan performing as many of his own stunts as was feasible.  In one case, New Yorkers got to see Adam Sandler riding on top of a taxi down Park Avenue.  "We rode him down in New York City at actually probably 20-25 miles an hour, surfing a car.  It was important to show that it was actually Adam doing the stunt - audiences are very sophisticated, so seeing the actor doing the stunt himself helps to suspend the disbelief; if you give them too many reasons to doubt it, then you pull them out of that world that you're creating.  Adam was very game and very good at keeping the audience within this odd little world that Zohan lives in."

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

ADAM SANDLER (Zohan/Screenwriter/Producer) has enjoyed phenomenal success in the entertainment industry as an actor, writer, producer and musician.
Sandler was last seen in a starring role opposite Kevin James and Jessica Biel in Universal's hit comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, which opened #1 at the box office.  Prior to that, he starred opposite Don Cheadle in Columbia Pictures' Reign over Me for director Mike Binder, as well as the box-office hits Click, starring with Kate Beckinsale, and The Longest Yard, starring with Chris Rock and Burt Reynolds.  He also starred in James L. Brooks' Spanglish, opposite Tea Leoni; the romantic comedy 50 First Dates, with Drew Barrymore; Anger Management, with Jack Nicholson; and Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination.  Sandler will next be seen in Disney's Bedtime Stories.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire, Sandler's first brush with comedy came at age 17, with a 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, in which he also starred with Drew Barrymore, 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, Mr. Deeds, Anger Management and 50 First Dates.
Sandler collaborated with writer Tim Herlihy on the screenplays for Happy Gilmore, Little Nicky, Billy Madison, Big Daddy 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 producer through his Happy Madison Productions on Click, The Benchwarmers, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, Strange Wilderness and the upcoming films The House Bunny and Paul Blart: Mall Cop.  He executive produced Grandma's Boy, The Animal, Joe Dirt, The Master of Disguise, The Hot Chick and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. Sandler's production company, Happy Madison Productions, has a deal with Columbia Tri-Star Domestic Television to develop shows for the studio including the current hit show "Rules of Engagement" starring David Spade and Oliver Hudson and the upcoming Comedy Central series' "The Gong Show with Dave Atell" and "Gay Robot."
During breaks from his busy filming schedule, Sandler spends time in the recording studio.  Several of his comedy albums on Warner Bros. Records 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 and the staff of Happy Madison in their daily routines.

DENNIS DUGAN (Director) is a talented filmmaker whose diverse career in entertainment spans over two decades.  Dugan is considered one of the industry's top feature film comedy directors, earning his reputation with such hits as Big Daddy and Happy Gilmore, both of which starred Adam Sandler; Saving Silverman, starring Jack Black, and Amanda Peet; and Beverly Hills Ninja, starring Chris Farley.  He most recently directed I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Jessica Biel.  His other films include The Benchwarmers, starring Rob Schneider, David Spade, Jon Heder and Jon Lovitz, and National Security, starring Martin Lawrence. 
On the small screen, Dugan has directed dozens of television projects including, "NYPD Blue," "Moonlighting," and "Ally McBeal," as well as the telepics "Columbo: Butterfly Shades of Gray" and "The Shaggy Dog."
Dugan is an actor-turned-filmmaker who began his career in the New York theater scene and first made his mark in Hollywood in front of the camera.  He starred in his own NBC television series, "Richie Brockelman, Private Eye," and also guest-starred on such award-winning television programs as "M*A*S*H," "Columbo," "The Rockford Files," and "Hill Street Blues."
In addition to small, yet memorable, acting roles in his own films, the most recent being the taxi driver in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Dugan's feature-film credits include roles in Parenthood, She's Having a Baby, Can't Buy Me Love and The Howling.

ROBERT SMIGEL (Screenwriter/Executive Producer/Yosi) has contributed as a writer, performer and producer to two of late night's most popular shows, "Saturday Night Live" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."  At "SNL," Smigel is best known for his "Saturday TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts, including "The Ambiguously Gay Duo," "Fun with Real Audio," and "X-Presidents."  Working with animators David Wachtenheim, Robert Marianetti, and J.J. Sedelmaier, Smigel's cartoons have been honored at numerous festivals, including first prize at the annual World Animation Festival, and were compiled on the DVD The Best of Saturday TV Funhouse.  Smigel has won two Emmys for his writing at "SNL," and in 1998 he received the Dallas Video Festival's Ernie Kovacs Award for innovative contributions to television.
Smigel was the original head writer and producer of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," creating signature routines like "In the Year 2000" and the "Clutch Cargo" interviews (with writer Dino Stamatopoulos), in which Smigel has provided the lips and voices of Presidents Bush and Clinton, Bob Dole, Don King, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many other celebrity victims. The popularity of his most famous creation, Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog (whom he puppeteers), has spawned the Grammy-nominated CD/DVD entitled "Come Poop With Me," and a Best of Triumph DVD collection including reports from the Westminster Dog Show, the MTV Awards, and the "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" premiere.
The son of Dr. Irwin Smigel, the dentist who developed tooth bonding, Smigel grew up in Manhattan and struggled as a pre-dental student at Cornell and NYU.  After moving to Chicago to study with Players Workshop of the Second City, Smigel performed in the long-running revue "All You Can Eat and the Temple of Dooom" and was hired in 1985 by Al Franken and Tom Davis as a writer for "Saturday Night Live." At "SNL," Smigel's most popular sketches included "Trekkies (Get a Life!)," "Schmitts Gay Beer," "Mastermind Reagan," "The Sinatra Group," and "Da Bears," in which Smigel himself played one of the kielbasa-loving Chicago sports fans. Smigel often wrote for Carvey's impressions (Johnny Carson, Regis Philbin, John McLaughlin, Tom Brokaw) and collaborated frequently with O'Brien (the infamous "Nude Beach" sketch and the Tom Hanks-Jon Lovitz "Girlwatchers").  In 1991, Smigel and O'Brien wrote and produced the unsold pilot "Lookwell" starring Adam West.  Smigel collaborated with Sandler on numerous sketches as well, and wrote the first sketch Sandler appeared in on "SNL," the Israeli-themed "Sabra Shopping Network."
In 1996, Smigel was an executive producer, writer and cast member on the controversial "The Dana Carvey Show."  Among its innovative sketches was the original "Ambiguously Gay Duo," voiced by "Carvey" cast members Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell.
While continuing on "SNL," Smigel spun off "Saturday TV Funhouse" in 2000 as a weekly series on Comedy Central.  Created with Stamatopoulos, "TV Funhouse" was a mock children's show featuring animation, short films and the "Anipals," an ensemble of animal puppets that interacted with live animals in a variety of cable-friendly ways.  "X-Presidents" was expanded into a graphic novel, co-written by Adam McKay and published by Villard in 2000.  In 2003, Smigel produced the first "Night of Too Many Stars" benefit.  The biannual events, now hosted by Jon Stewart on Comedy Central, raise money for schools and educational programs for children and adults with autism.
Smigel has appeared in numerous movies, including Wayne's World 2 and several Adam Sandler films, including the voice of the bulldog Mr. Beefy in Little Nicky.  Most recently, Smigel played Larry's mailman in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, and Sandler's dentist brother-in-law in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love.
In addition to Zohan, Smigel and Sandler continue to collaborate on television, as Smigel recently developed (with Greg Cohen) the cartoon pilot "The Animals" for Happy Madison Productions. Smigel also takes special pride in conceiving Sandler's dirtiest recorded song, "At a Medium Pace," and co-writing Adam's second dirtiest song, "She Comes Home to Me."

JUDD APATOW (Screenwriter) made his feature directorial debut with the 2005 summer box-office smash The 40-Year-Old Virgin, starring Steve Carell, and followed up with the Universal release Knocked Up, starring Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, and Paul Rudd, and written, directed and produced by Apatow.
Apatow recently produced April's Forgetting Sarah Marshall, starring Jason Segel and Kristen Bell and directed by Nicholas Stoller; March's Drillbit Taylor, starring Owen Wilson and directed by Steven Brill; last December's comedy Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, starring John C. Reilly and directed by Jake Kasdan; last summer's Superbad, starring Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Bill Hader and Seth Rogen; and the summer 2006 hit Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, starring Will Ferrell.  He also executive-produced 2006's independent film The TV Set, a scathingly funny look at the television industry starring David Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver.
Apatow executive-produced Kicking & Screaming, starring Will Ferrell, and produced Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, also starring Ferrell with Christina Applegate and Paul Rudd.
He co-wrote the screenplay for the remake of Fun With Dick and Jane, starring Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni.  He made his feature film debut as a co-writer and executive producer on the comedy Heavyweights.   He also served as a producer on the dark comedy The Cable Guy, directed by Ben Stiller and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick.
On the small screen, Apatow served as an executive producer of the critically praised, award-winning series "Freaks and Geeks," which debuted in the 1999-2000 season and for which he also wrote and directed several episodes.  He also created and executive-produced the series "Undeclared," which was named one of Time magazine's Ten Best Shows of 2001. 
Previously, Apatow worked as a writer, director and producer on the award-winning and widely acclaimed series "The Larry Sanders Show," starring Garry Shandling.  For his work on the show, he earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and received five consecutive Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series.  In addition, "The Larry Sanders Show" brought Apatow two CableACE Awards for Best Comedy Series and a Writers Guild of America Award nomination.   
Born in Syosset, New York, Apatow aspired to become a professional comedian at an early age.  While still in high school, he created a radio show and began interviewing comedy personalities he admired, including Steve Allen, Howard Stern and John Candy.  Inspired, he began performing his own stand-up routines by the end of his senior year.
Following an appearance on HBO's Young Comedians special, Apatow eventually stopped performing in favor of writing, and went on to co-create and executive-produce "The Ben Stiller Show," for which he earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Variety or Music Program.
Upcoming Apatow Productions include this summer's Pineapple Express, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco and directed by David Gordon Green; this summer's Step Brothers, starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly and directed by Adam McKay; and 2009's Year One, starring Jack Black and Michael Cera and directed by Harold Ramis.

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