EXCLUSIVE: JoAnna Garcia Swisher is expanding her lifestyle platform The Happy Place with the launch of her production banner THP Entertainment, which she will co-run alongside longtime business partner and co-founder, Kate Gordon.
Garcia Swisher is an actress, producer, television host and entrepreneur known for her roles in Netflix’s Sweet Magnolias, ABC’s Once Upon a Time and Reba McEntire’s eponymous comedy series for the CW. Gordon is an entrepreneur with extensive experience in talent management, sports/media production, digital content creation and e-commerce product development.
Garcia Swisher and Gordon launched The Happy Place as a lifestyle digital and social media platform that celebrates the spaces, places and moments that bring joy and a sense of community to all visitors. The site has reached close to a million subscribers and their social media accounts have reached over 4.8M in the last month alone, according to THP. The production banner is an expansion of the site’s book club THP Reads that will focus on bringing select stories to life through TV and film.
First up on the scripted slate is THP Reads March 2022 pick, Ladies of the House, produced with Black Label Media. The romantic drama will re-team Garcia Swisher with Sheryl J. Anderson, the creator/showrunner of Sweet Magnolias. Based on the novel by Lauren Edmonson, the series follows the wife and adult daughters of a Senator as they navigate the treacherous balance of personal and public lives after the Senator dies in compromising circumstances.
“The Happy Place is a destination where you come to be inspired and to feel connected through our mutual life experiences. We are constantly in awe of this inclusive community that embraces our desire to celebrate life’s moments, both big and small.” Garcia Swisher and Gordon said in a joint statement to Deadline. “THP Reads has become something that we enjoy together, month after month. It felt like a natural extension to bring this collective excitement surrounding books we read to life on screen in a way we can all be proud of and excited about.”
Swisher currently stars in Netflix’s Sweet Magnolias as ‘Maddie Townsend.’ The show is in production on its fourth season, and she will also return as the host of The Ultimatum: Queer Love. In film, she most recently starred in Vince Vaughn’s Christmas with the Campbells.
Both Garcia Swisher and The Happy Place are repped by Untitled Entertainment, UTA, YMU Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.