TES: Well it’s easy because I have a different last name. Honestly, I try to not tell people. I just try to be different. But listen, I would be lucky to have a career like him. Extremely lucky. But I try to write different style jokes than him, I try to do a little bit different style of humor. He’s been a huge influence on me. I honestly wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t for him.

THC: Is there another person besides Sandler in your life that you look up to?

TES: There’s been so many. Adam and my other uncle Scott who also works in the business as a lawyer and a producer. They’ve both been extremely instrumental in teaching me everything and guiding me through everything.

THC: What have been your favorite projects so far?

TES: “Chelsea Lately”was the best. That was so much being able to shoot a show every day over a couple years. It was a really cool experience because you come up with an idea that morning and then you shoot it late morning, edit it in the afternoon, and then it’s on TV that night. It’s a pretty crazy experience and it was really fun. I got to work with so many talented people—pretty much every celebrity came on the show. It was unbelievable.

That was amazing, and then shooting these last two movies has been amazing, to direct something that I wrote with one of my good friends. Getting to do that was unbelievable too. it was so much fun. It’s kind of crazy to see something that you’ve conceived, shoot it and have it come out. It’s a pretty nutty feeling.

THC: You have these two movies coming out soon. Are there any other projects that are in the works or that you are working on now?

TES: Well, the two movies are the big ones and now that I just finished post—which is the editing and cutting—I’ll get back to writing. I’m working on a pilot and I got to get started on that. It’s kind of a case-by-case basis industry, you kind of go one at a time. You work on one job really hard and then you take a little break until you get to the next one.