Just Happy Inc. is a multi-disciplinary film & video production company engaged in crafting TV commercials, web films, corporate media and original content. We collaborate with advertisers, marketers and entertainment partners to fashion compelling stories, develop worthy properties and deliver delightful media solutions.

Happy Team Members

Robert Caruso – Executive Producer / Director

Founder and Executive Producer Robert Caruso is an award-winning director distinguished by a background in animation and visual effects, a comedic touch and collaborations with celebrities. He has directed campaigns for Verizon, Nestle, Sprint, Disney, Coors, Motorola, Kraft and many others. His work has been honored by the Clios, The London International Advertising Awards, Anicom Animation, The MTV Awards, Billboard Magazine and with a Grammy nomination.

In addition to his broadcast directing projects, Robert has also acted as producer and creative director on scores of online assignments including episodic programming, web sites and banner campaigns. Notable clients include: Acura, Nokia, CoverGirl, eMusic, GoDaddy and Sony.

As Director he has enjoyed working with celebrities as varied as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Will Smith, James Earl Jones and Jamie Foxx as well as sports figures such as skateboard legend Tony Hawk, basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal and hockey great Wayne Gretzky.

Early in his career, Robert partnered in the launch of San Francisco based, Commotion Picture where he directed nearly forty music videos and began his commercial career. He also represented a roster of talented directors and shared the title of Executive Producer. Notable music industry clients included: Warner Brothers’ artist Green Day, A&M’s Soundgarden, Virgin Records’ John Lee Hooker, Columbia Records’ Public Enemy, Warner’s Mavis Staples and The Staple Singers and Island’s PJ Harvey. Commercial work included spots for: Sega, Time Warner, Taco Bell and Levis Strauss.

Following Commotion, Robert joined George Lucas’ special effects company, Industrial Light & Magic.

Through ILM’s commercial division he directed dozens of award-winning spots and continued with music videos including three titles for actor/musician Will Smith. Two of these clips “Men In Black” and “Will2K”, garnered multiple honors including an MTV Award and a Grammy Nomination.

He also helmed several character animation projects, working with ILM’s Academy Award winning animators and effects artists.

After leaving ILMCP, he collaborated with HKM Films in Los Angeles and later animation powerhouse, Rhythm & Hues where he continued with innovative commercial work for Verizon, Nestles, Savon, Kraft, Clorox and others.

Robert’s creative direction and industry expertise is now servicing Just Happy’s cross-platform clients and partners in both broadcast and online media.

Please find Robert Caruso’s full Resume Here

Happy Team Member:

Angela Leaper – Director Of Development

After spending many years in and around production and post production in the Bay Area, Angela has landed herself quite agreeably in the creative development landscape. She comes to Just Happy with a sundry history, some of which is documented in the editorial credits of numerous visual effects blockbusters including “Stars Wars Special Edition” (Episodes V, VI), “Men in Black”, “Mission Impossible”, all under the Industrial Light & Magic parasol.

Angela’s bio evokes a true mash up métier model, with several forays in the legal world, a 5 year sprint at fx giant ILM, and over 10 years in production covering everything from fx pre-vis, on-set p.a., art director, a.d. to script supervisor. Along the way she also squeezed in a career (albeit rather brief) as a professional athlete. A keen curiosity continues to push her buttons and realizing great concepts just makes her happy.

(Volleyball in case it peeked your curiosity)