EXCLUSIVE: Funny or Die and Riverside Entertainment are partnering on Hookers, a high-concept fishing comedy originating from a spec by Brian Loschiavo, Edward McDonald and Jeff Venable. Set to direct is Daniel Robbins, whose breakout feature Bad Shabbos won the Audience Award at last year’s Tribeca Festival and is currently in theaters.
Set on the shores of an idyllic lake community, Hookers follows a washed-up TV fishing legend, his oddball son, and their ragtag crew as they wage an all-out lake war to save the family business from a loudmouthed mogul hellbent on turning their beloved lake into a gaudy tourist trap.
Riverside commissioned and developed the spec before bringing on Funny or Die for a co-production. The project is currently being packaged for casting and sales, with production slated for spring 2026.
“I’ve read many, many scripts over the past few years and, when I read Hookers, I immediately saw the chance to make an outrageous, crowd-pleasing comedy we haven’t seen in years,” Robbins told Deadline. “It has the big laughs, high-stakes set pieces and heart to be a seminal, generational comedy. A Dodgeball for the next generation.”
Said Funny Or Die’s newly appointed CEO Ricardo Martinez, who joined the restructured company a little less than a year ago, “Hookers is exactly the kind of movie we want to champion—specific enough to feel fresh and interesting, relatable enough to reach a wide audience, and just straight up laugh-out-loud funny. We couldn’t ask for a better partner than Riverside, and Daniel’s rare ability to take something outrageous and make it feel real makes him the perfect filmmaker for a film as funny and as bold as this.”
In Robbins’ Tribeca winner Bad Shabbos, starring Kyra Sedgwick, an engaged interfaith couple are about to have their parents meet for the first time over a Shabbat dinner when an accidental death gets in the way. Credits for the filmmaker prior to that included the IFC Midnight thriller Pledge, which earned him Best Director at Screamfest, as well as the satirical mockumentary Citizen Weiner, which launched out of Slamdance. The emerging multi-hyphenate is repped by Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment and Levy Law.\
A famed independent comedy studio that creates premium content in TV, movies, digital, and more, Funny or Die was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in the spring of 2007. Quickly making a name for itself back then with the viral hit sketch “The Landlord,” uploaded to the Funny or Die website, in which Ferrell is harangued by a foul-mouthed two-year-old landlord, the company has since gone on to film and television credits including the Critics Choice and Emmy Award-winning Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, late night comedy game show After Midnight on CBS, the critically acclaimed mockumentary series American Vandal on Netflix, as well as multi-platform IP like Zach Galifianakis’ Between Two Ferns and Hank Azaria’s Brockmire. Boasting a global audience of more than 40 million across platforms, the company’s early efforts were fueled by venture capital from Sequoia Capital and a strategic partnership with HBO. Henry R. Muñoz III acquired it from stakeholders AMC Networks, WarnerMedia and Sequoia Capital in 2021, and has since then been working to revitalize the brand, following a period in which it confronted the turbulence of leadership changes and layoffs.
Past and current projects from Riverside Entertainment include Bluebird (Cleopatra Ent.), Black Outside (Shout! Studios), Midland: The Sonic Ranch (Paramount), Making Modern with Brooke and Brice (Magnolia Networks), Disney Insider (Disney+), Manodrome (Lionsgate) starring Jesse Eisenberg and Adrien Brody, and Clean Hands, starring Zach Braff and Esther McGregor. They’re represented by UTA and Art/Work Entertainment.
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