Roger Birnbaum (born November 14, 1950) is an American film, television, and executive producer.[2][3]
Roger Birnbaum | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 14, 1950[1] Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Film and television producer, film and television executive |
| Spouse(s) | Pamela West (divorced) Leslie Lopez (m. 2013–2019) |
| Partner | Teri Garr (1979–1983) |
| Children | 1 |
Early life
editBirnbaum was born to a Jewish family[4] in Teaneck, New Jersey,[5] the son of Arlene (née Steinlauf) and Norman Birnbaum.[4] His father was a World War II veteran who went into the embroidery business with his father after the war, and used his profits in 1967 to build the Stonehenge, a residential building in New Jersey.[4] Birnbaum graduated from Teaneck High School in 1968[5] and attended the University of Denver.[6]
Career
editBirnbaum started out in the music industry at Arista Records working under Clive Davis. A&M Records brought him out to Hollywood becoming its West Coast A&R executive, where he switch over to film. While working at film, he was appointed president of Fair Dinkum Productions, which was headed by Henry Winkler, who supervised Young Sherlock Holmes and The Sure Thing.[7] He worked at United Artists, Guber-Peters Co. (president in 1989) then 20th Century Fox.[8] He was president of production at 20th Century Fox by 1992.[9]
Caravan Pictures was founded by Birnbaum and Joe Roth as a production company at Disney in 1992 to fill the Disney Studios' then-yearly 50 to 60 production and distribution slots.[9] Birnbaum previously left Caravan at the prompting of then Disney studio chief Joe Roth as Disney was cutting its yearly production output and shutting down Caravan. In August 1998, Birnbaum with Gary Barber, former vice chairman and COO of Morgan Creek Productions founded Spyglass Entertainment.[10]
On December 20, 2010, after the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had emerged from bankruptcy, Birnbaum and Barber became co-Chairs and co-CEOs of the studio.[11][12] On October 3, 2012, Birnbaum announced his intention to exit his role as an MGM executive and return to "hands-on" producing. He will remain with the studio to produce films on "an exclusive basis".[13]
He has since founded four production companies, Pin High Productions,[8] Cave 76 Productions,[14] with Eli Roth, Arts District Entertainment[15] and with Mark Kimsey, Electromagnetic Productions.[16] By September 8, 2016, his exclusivity with MGM had ended.[8]
Personal life
editHis first wife was Pamela West;[17] they had one daughter Claire Birnbaum Block (born 1987).[18] He married then-restaurant guest relations manager Leslie Lopez in 2013.[19][20] Birnbaum and Lopez divorced in 2019. He was previously in a seven-year relationship with actress Teri Garr.[21]
Filmography
editFilm
editProducer
- The Sure Thing (1985)
- The Three Musketeers (1993)
- Angels in the Outfield (1994)
- A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994)
- Houseguest (1995)
- The Jerky Boys: The Movie (1995)
- Heavyweights (1995)
- Tall Tale (1995)
- While You Were Sleeping (1995)
- The Big Green (1995)
- Powder (1995)
- Celtic Pride (1996)
- First Kid (1996)
- The Rich Man's Wife (1996)
- Metro (1997)
- Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
- Gone Fishin' (1997)
- G.I. Jane (1997)
- Washington Square (1997)
- RocketMan (1997)
- Six Days, Seven Nights (1998)
- Simon Birch (1998)
- Rush Hour (1998)
- Holy Man (1998)
- Inspector Gadget (1999)
- Shanghai Noon (2000)
- Rush Hour 2 (2001)
- The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
- Dragonfly (2002)
- Abandon (2002)
- Reign of Fire (2002)
- The Recruit (2003)
- Shanghai Knights (2003)
- The Perfect Score (2004)
- Connie and Carla (2004)
- Mr. 3000 (2004)
- The Pacifier (2005)
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
- The Lookout (2007)
- The Invisible (2007)
- Evan Almighty (2007)
- Rush Hour 3 (2007)
- Underdog (2007)
- Balls of Fury (2007)
- 27 Dresses (2008)
- Flash of Genius (2008)
- Four Christmases (2008)
- Leap Year (2010)
- The Tourist (2010)
- The Vow (2012)
- The Magnificent Seven (2016)
- Death Wish (2018)
- The Hustle (2019)
- South of Heaven (2021)
- Thanksgiving (2023)[22]
- Absolution (2024)
Executive producer
- Who's That Girl (1987)
- Angie (1994)
- Before and After (1996)
- Maximum Risk (1996)
- The Beautician and the Beast (1997)
- Overnight Delivery (1997) (Direct-to-video)
- Keeping the Faith (2000)
- Unbreakable (2000)
- Out Cold (2001)
- Inspector Gadget 2 (2003) (Direct-to-video)
- Bruce Almighty (2003)
- One Love (2003)
- Seabiscuit (2003)
- The Legend of Zorro (2005)
- Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
- Eight Below (2006)
- Stay Alive (2006)
- Stick It (2006)
- Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)
- The Ruins (2008)
- The Happening (2008)
- Wanted (2008)
- The Love Guru (2008)
- Ghost Town (2008)
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
- Invictus (2009)
- Dinner for Schmucks (2010)
- No Strings Attached (2011)
- Footloose (2011)
- G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)
- RoboCop (2014)
- Glass (2019)
- Know Your Enemy (2019)
Special thanks
- Rain Man (1988)
- Dead Presidents (1995)
- Above Suspicion (2019)
- Acting role
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Making Sandwiches | Hollywood Type | Short film |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | |
| 1985 | Happily Ever After | TV movie |
| 1987 | Bay Coven | |
| 1997 | Angels in the Endzone | |
| Flash | ||
| 2000 | Angels in the Infield | |
| 2003 | Miracles | |
| Criminology 101 | TV movie | |
| 2004 | The Ranch | |
| Weekends |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Ryan's Four | |
| When Your Lover Leaves | TV movie | |
| 1985 | Scandal Sheet |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Music for UNICEF Concert | Executive in charge of production | TV special |
| The Bee Gees Special |
References
edit- ^ "Roger Birnbaum Biography (1950?-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
- ^ "The Tourist". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ "Rush Hour 2". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Norman Birnbaum – Obituary". The New York Times. October 2, 2007.
- ^ a b Spelling, Ian (June 1, 2011). "Let the Lion Roar: Teaneck native Roger Birnbaum shines brightly in Hollywood". (201) magazine; Bergen.com. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
Much of the producer's touch, the instinct that drives Birnbaum to financially back a script or to help nurture a pitch into a script and then into a feature, and his overall taste as a filmmaker, can be traced back to his formative years in Teaneck. He was raised there and attended Teaneck High School.
- ^ "Advisory Board Biographies". ucsb.edu. Carsey-Wolf Center for Film, Television and New Media, University of California, Santa Barbara. Archived from the original on March 5, 2008. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
- ^ "Roger Birnbaum". www.tcm.com. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
- ^ a b c Galloway, Stephen (September 8, 2016). "'Magnificent Seven' Producer on Why Westerns Aren't Dead and How Cancer Changed Him". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
- ^ a b Frook, John Evan (January 30, 1994). "Roth, Birnbaum flex muscles at Caravan". Variety. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
- ^ Eller, Clauida (August 21, 1998). "Spyglass Offers Disney Lower-Risk Deals". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
- ^ Agard, Chancellor (December 20, 2010). "MGM out of bankruptcy". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
- ^ McNary, Dave (December 20, 2010). "MGM restructuring becomes official". Variety. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
- ^ Nikki Finke (October 3, 2012). "MGM's Roger Birnbaum Steps Down To Return To Producing; Gary Barber Now Revived Studio's Sole Chairman & CEO". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (June 8, 2017). "Annapurna To Release MGM's 'Death Wish' Over Thanksgiving; Sets October Date For 'Professor Marston & The Wonder Women'". Deadline. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
- ^ McNary, Dave (March 26, 2019). "Film News Roundup: Miramax Developing 'I Won't Be Home for Christmas'". Variety. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
- ^ Low, Elaine. "Former MGM chief Roger Birnbaum and AOL scion Mark Kimsey launch a new Hollywood studio, offering NFTs that give holders a role in production". Business Insider. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
- ^ "Lorand West Obituary". Los Angeles Times. July 13, 2008.
- ^ "Going Steady". issuu.com; C Magazine. January 1, 2013. p. 114. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
Claire Birnbaum and Eric Block ... husband and wife... Roger Birnbaum (then co-CEO of MGM) gave away his little girl...
- ^ "Warner Bros.' Courtney Simmons Weds, 'CSI:NY' Actor A.J. Buckley Engaged: Hitched, Hatched, Hired". The Hollywood Reporter. January 10, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
Producer Roger Birnbaum became engaged to ... Leslie Lopez ... on Dec. 15
- ^ "41st AFI Life Achievement Award Honoring Mel Brooks – Red Carpet". gettyimages.ie. June 6, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
Leslie Lopez Birnbaum ... and Roger Birnbaum
- ^ Garr, Teri (October 30, 1988). "Is Teri Garr Serious When She Says She Isn't Serious? On Tour, The Actress Drops Her Comedic Guard". Chicago Tribune. Interviewed by Johanna Steinmetz. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014.
Well, I lived with two men, one for seven years, the other for five. I was with Birnbaum (Roger Birnbaum, an independent producer) for seven. That was like a marriage.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (March 16, 2023). "Gina Gershon, Rick Hoffman And Tim Dillon Round Out Cast Of Eli Roth's Thanksgiving At TriStar And Spyglass". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 11, 2023.