When Adam Sandler first launched the website bearing his name, there was scant content on it that was not a trailer for one of his movies. I felt obligated to surf it because the site existed, but I didn’t bother to review it because everything on it had already been seen somewhere else.
Months later, I surfed AdamSandler.com again, on the off chance that his “Hanukkah” song might be online. It was, and I am so glad that I deigned to spy another look. Like Sandler’s career, his website has begun to mature pleasingly.
Where once the eponymous site had been as self-indulgent as Sandler’s “Happy Madison” period, it has now matured into his “Punch Drunk Love”/”Reign Over Me” period. Where once it was “all Adam, all the time”, now the website contains only about 50% Adam-centric content. Where once it was only recycled material, the site now contains a majority of fresh stuff. Surf into the Features and Animated Series sections of AdamSandler.com and behold material produced, directed and starring people other than Mr. Sandler.
No doubt Sandler’s production company put its stamp on the little shows. Even if he is shamelessly showcasing his in-house talent, the fact remains that he is shamelessly showcasing his in-house talent. I dare you to find six other celebrity websites that do the same.
And therein lies the gentle rub.
Adam Sandler gets the Internet in a way many celebrity-producer/directors still don’t. He knows that fans of his surf to his site because of his name. He’s betting that they’ll stay because of the quality of the featured material. Granted, much of the humor displayed is of the outhouse variety, but hey, the early works of many great producer/directors started in the toilet.
The point is that Adam Sandler is unafraid of using the instantaneous distribution aspect of the World Wide Web to generate buzz for his spotlighted new talent. Will he further develop that talent a la the Matt Damon/Ben Affleck/Chris Moore “Project Greenlight”? Or will he develop AdamSandler.com into its own Internet streaming media channel? For now, we’ll just have to continue to surf AdamSandler.com to see.
