Chris Henchy

Chris Henchy
Born	Christopher Thomas Henchy 3/23/1964
Birthplace	New York City, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Film producer, screenwriter, film director
Known for	Co-founder of Funny or Die; screenwriter of The Other Guys and The Campaign
Alma mater	University of New Mexico
Spouse(s)	Brooke Shields (m. 2001)
Children	2

Christopher Thomas Henchy (born March 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, film producer, and television writer. A longtime creative collaborator of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, Henchy co-founded the comedy video website Funny or Die in 2007 and co-wrote the Ferrell-led feature films Land of the Lost (2009), The Other Guys (2010), and The Campaign (2012). Before transitioning to feature films, Henchy spent more than a decade as a television writer and producer, with credits on the HBO comedy series Entourage and the sitcoms Spin City and I'm with Her. He is married to the actress and model Brooke Shields, with whom he has two daughters.

Early life

Henchy was born on March 23, 1964, in New York City. He spent portions of his upbringing in the New York metropolitan area before attending college in the American Southwest. Henchy has spoken in interviews about a long-standing interest in comedy writing dating back to his student years, an interest that ultimately led him to relocate to Los Angeles in pursuit of work in television. Family ties to the Augusta, Georgia, area have been noted in regional press coverage of his career.

Education

Henchy attended the University of New Mexico, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. He has been recognized by Friendswood Independent School District as a distinguished alumnus in connection with his earlier schooling, a recognition noted in local district news.

Career

Television writing

Henchy began his career as a writer and producer on American network television in the 1990s. His television credits include work on the ABC sitcom Spin City, and he served as creator and executive producer of the short-lived ABC comedy series I'm with Her, which premiered in 2003 and was inspired in part by his own relationship with his wife, Brooke Shields. The premise of I'm with Her followed a schoolteacher dating a famous actress, a setup that Henchy and the show's producers drew loosely from real life.

From 2004 onward, Henchy was a writer and consulting producer on the HBO series Entourage, the Hollywood-set comedy created by Doug Ellin. His role on the show involved both scripted writing and producing duties across multiple seasons. Earlier in his career, Henchy also wrote for Going to California and contributed to other comedy projects during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Funny or Die

In 2007, Henchy co-founded the comedy video website Funny or Die with Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and Mark Kvamme, with backing from the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and the production company Gary Sanchez Productions. The site launched with a short video featuring Ferrell titled "The Landlord," which became one of the most-viewed online videos of that year and helped establish Funny or Die as a destination for celebrity-driven short-form comedy. Henchy has served in executive and creative capacities at the company since its founding, working on its development of original programming and partnerships across digital and traditional media platforms.

Funny or Die expanded over time from a video website into a broader production company, producing television series, web series, and theatrical features. A 2012 Vanity Fair profile placed Henchy alongside Ferrell and McKay on the magazine's New Establishment list, citing the trio's combined influence across film, television, and online comedy.

Feature film screenwriting

Henchy's first major feature screenwriting credit was the 2009 film Land of the Lost, a comedic adaptation of the 1970s Sid and Marty Krofft television series of the same name. Directed by Brad Silberling and starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, and Anna Friel, the film was co-written by Henchy and Dennis McNicholas. It was released by Universal Pictures in June 2009.

In 2010, Henchy co-wrote The Other Guys with director Adam McKay. The buddy-cop action comedy starred Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as mismatched New York City Police Department detectives. The film was a commercial success for Columbia Pictures and was noted in entertainment press for its end-credits sequence addressing financial fraud as well as for its cast of supporting players.

Henchy reunited with McKay and Ferrell on The Campaign, a 2012 political comedy co-written by Henchy and Shawn Harwell. The film starred Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as rival candidates in a North Carolina congressional race, and was released by Warner Bros. Across this period, Henchy and his collaborators developed projects under the Gary Sanchez Productions banner, the company founded by Ferrell and McKay.

Other film and television projects

Henchy has been involved in additional development and production work through Funny or Die and Gary Sanchez Productions, including theatrical features developed in partnership with cable networks such as TruTV. Trade press coverage of Funny or Die's expansion has cited Henchy's role in overseeing such projects.

Personal life

Henchy married actress and model Brooke Shields in 2001. The couple held two ceremonies in California that year — the first on Catalina Island and a second in Palm Springs. They marked their 25th wedding anniversary in 2026.

The couple have two daughters, Rowan Francis Henchy (born 2003) and Grier Hammond Henchy (born 2006). Rowan Henchy joined the cast of the Bravo reality series Next Gen NYC for its second season in 2026; Shields told Entertainment Weekly that she had reservations about her daughter's decision to participate in the show, noting that the family is "not a reality family." Grier Henchy has worked as a model.

The family has maintained a primary residence in New York City. Architectural Digest profiled the family's Manhattan townhouse in 2012.

Recognition

Henchy was named to Vanity Fairs 2012 New Establishment list alongside Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, in recognition of the trio's combined work in film, television, and online comedy through Funny or Die and Gary Sanchez Productions. Funny or Die, which Henchy co-founded, has received industry recognition since its 2007 launch for its role in popularizing celebrity-driven short-form comedy on the web.

Henchy has also been recognized in regional contexts tied to his family and educational background. He was honored as a distinguished alumnus by the Friendswood Independent School District in Texas, and has been profiled in regional outlets including Augusta Magazine and The Augusta Chronicle.