21 Laps Entertainment is an American film and television

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 v ...

founded and run by director-producer

Shawn Levy Shawn Adam Levy (born July 23, 1968) is a Canadian film director, film producer, actor, and founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. He has worked across genres and is perhaps best known as the director of the '' Night at the Museum'' film franchise an ...

. The company is best known as the producers of '' Stranger Things'', and exclusively distributes content through a partnership with

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

. It is also known for producing films like '' Arrival'', ''

Free Guy ''Free Guy'' is a 2021 American science fiction action comedy film directed and produced by Shawn Levy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, and a story by Lieberman. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Ut ...

'', '' The Adam Project'', '' Cheaper by the Dozen'', '' The Spectacular Now'', '' Real Steel'', and the ''

Night at the Museum ''Night at the Museum'' is a 2006 fantasy comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. It is based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc. The film had an ense ...

'' franchise.

History

In 1999,

, who after his start on television incorporated and founded the company as Wunjo, Inc. It was in-name only from the beginning until 2005. Levy made his breakout role as a film director on ''

Big Fat Liar ''Big Fat Liar'' is a 2002 American comedy film, directed by Shawn Levy, adapted by Dan Schneider from a story by Schneider and Brian Robbins, and starring Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti, Amanda Bynes, Amanda Detmer, Donald Faison, Lee Majors, a ...

'', ''

Just Married ''Just Married'' is a 2003 American romantic comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, written by Sam Harper, and stars Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy. Produced by Robert Simonds, the film was successful at the box office despite generally negative ...

'', and '' Cheaper by the Dozen''. In 2003, Levy, after the success of his aforementioned feature films, launched his own production company with a first-look deal at

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Co ...

. The deal was to produce half-hour sitcoms and hour-long dramas. In 2005, Levy rebranded the studio to 21 Laps Entertainment and it signed a non-exclusive deal with

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

to produce their films. The film division would be run by Tom McNulty, formerly employee from

Happy Madison Productions Happy Madison Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 1999 by Adam Sandler, which is best known for its comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films ''Happy Gilmore'' and ''Billy Madison'', two b ...

, and its television division by J.J. Klein. The first two products were ''

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 ''Cheaper by the Dozen 2'' is a 2005 American family comedy film directed by Adam Shankman. It is a sequel to the 2003 film ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' and stars Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Tom Welling, Piper Perabo, and Hilary Duff, among other child ...

'' and ''

Pepper Dennis ''Pepper Dennis'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The WB from April 4 to July 4, 2006. It was announced on May 17, 2006 that ''Pepper Dennis'' would not be one of the WB shows transferred to The CW. ''Pepper Dennis'' w ...

''. In 2010, Levy and

Marty Adelstein Martin Bruce Adelstein is an American television producer. Before becoming a producer, he was a partner at the Endeavor Talent Agency, where he was one of the founding members. As of 2019, Adelstein is the CEO and founder of Tomorrow Studios, a jo ...

signed on to form a television company called 21 Laps/Adelstein Productions, and they signed a deal with

and hired Becky Clements to serve as president. In 2014, both Levy and Adelstein parted ways, with the latter launching Tomorrow Studios as a joint venture with

ITV Studios ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadca ...

. One of the company's most recent television projects, '' Stranger Things'', premiered on

in July 2016 and achieved critical acclaim, earning a 95% on

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 ...

with 55 out of 58 reviews being positive. The show's first season was also one of Netflix's most watched series, averaging 14.07 million adults 18–49 in its first 35 days. Along with producing the series, Levy directed two of the premiere season's episodes. The third season premiered on July 4, 2019 and the fourth season premiered in two parts on May 27, 2022 and July 1, 2022. Also, it has recently been renewed for an fifth and final season. More recently, the company signed a first look deal with Netflix.

Filmography

Films

Television

References

{{Authority control American film studios Television production companies of the United States