10 September 2004 - Roger Birnbaum: Co-Chairman and CEO of Spyglass Films

I have been making films for over twenty years, but nothing is more satisfying then when a director yells "It's a wrap" especially with a picture that's been a passion of mine for most of the last decade.

The Hitchhikers journey started in late 1995, when I was running Caravan Pictures based at the Walt Disney Company. One of our executives, Derek Evans, brought the book to my attention and to that of the head of production, Jon Glickman. We were hooked and started pursuing the film rights while researching the history of the franchise.

When you develop a movie it takes a certain amount of persistence, and after several meetings with Douglas Adams and Robbie Stamp, we had Disney purchase the rights on behalf of ourselves and for the director, Jay Roach, who was enjoying enormous success with his hit "Austin Powers" and who had an equally strong passion for the Hitchhikers movie.

By then my new partner, Gary Barber, and I had formed Spyglass Entertainment and "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" was considered one of our priority pictures. We worked with Douglas for a while in trying to get the script to a place where everyone was satisfied. I remember admiring Douglas' loyalty toward the fans and his total dedication to writing a movie that would live up to their expectations. It was tragic and heartbreaking when Douglas suddenly died. The movie came to an immediate standstill.

It was well over a year after his passing that Douglas' widow, Jane Adams, encouraged us to move forward with the film as Douglas undoubtedly would have wanted. Karey Kirkpatrick, who had written the hugely successful "Chicken Run", was hired to complete the work Douglas had started on a film adaption of the book. And it was at the suggestion of the avant-garde director, Spike Jonze, that we met Hammer and Tongs.

Now, a quarter of a century since Douglas first wrote the book, our team is in active post-production with editing, visual effects and music.

For a generation of fans all over the world for whom hitchhiking has a special meaning, we are very proud to be associated with this film. See you at the theater next summer!

Roger Birnbaum
Co-Chairman and CEO

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