The director says that Henry Winkler, who played Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli to his Richie Cunningham on the ABC sitcom Happy Days, which aired ... was a couple months away when the movie was ...

He also tells PEOPLE that he credits Winkler for helping it truly take flight, "I was working on my dream of directing throughout the Happy Days run ... He's like a father to me.

According to Howard, Winkler saying yes to feature film Night Shift got the movie greenlit The two Happy Days actors remain ... Winkler for helping it truly take flight, He adds that he continued ...