Biographie
Roger Birnbaum is an American film producer originally from Teaneck, New Jersey. His father, a World War II veteran, entered the embroidery business with his own father after the war and used the profits in 1967 to construct the Stonehenge, a residential building in New Jersey. Birnbaum graduated from Teaneck High School in 1968 and went on to attend the University of Denver.
After college, Birnbaum began his career in the music industry, working at Arista Records under Clive Davis, then at A&M Records, where he transitioned into film. In 1978, he joined the Robert Stigwood Organization as special assistant to the board of directors. From 1980 to 1985, he partnered with Henry Winkler at Fair Dinkum Productions, overseeing films such as Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) and The Sure Thing (1985). In 1985, he joined Guber-Peters Company, contributing to the development of films like Caddyshack II (1988), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Batman (1989), Johnny Handsome (1989), and Rain Man (1988).
Birnbaum became president of worldwide production at United Artists in 1987, then moved to 20th Century Fox as executive vice president in 1988 under Joe Roth. There, he supervised production of several blockbuster hits including Home Alone (1990), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Die Hard 2 (1990), Sleeping with the Enemy (1991), White Men Can't Jump (1992), and Predator 2 (1990).
In 1992, Birnbaum left 20th Century Fox to join The Walt Disney Studios alongside Joe Roth, establishing Caravan Pictures to help meet Disney’s annual production and distribution goals of 50 to 60 films. Their first success was The Three Musketeers (1993), but subsequent films like Angie (1994) underperformed. After Roth’s departure in 1994, Birnbaum took over leadership. Through Roger Birnbaum Productions, he produced films for other studios, including Maximum Risk (1996) for Columbia Pictures and Rush Hour (1998) for New Line Cinema, as well as numerous television movies.
In 1998, Birnbaum partnered with Gary Barber to merge Caravan Pictures and Roger Birnbaum Productions into Spyglass Entertainment, based at Disney. The company produced major hits such as The Sixth Sense (1999) and Shanghai Noon (2000), with other films like Keeping the Faith (2000) exceeding box office expectations.
Following strained relations with Disney, Spyglass briefly moved to DreamWorks in 2002 before joining Sony Pictures in 2003. The company continued producing films for Disney while also financing projects for 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Sony. Spyglass delivered successful films including Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), 27 Dresses (2008), and Four Christmases (2008), and financed blockbusters like Star Trek (2009) and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009).
In 2010, Birnbaum and Barber transitioned to MGM, integrating Spyglass’s existing development slate. Birnbaum left MGM in 2012 to focus exclusively on hands-on producing until 2015. Since then, he has founded three production companies: Pin High Productions, Cave 76 Productions, and Arts District Entertainment with Eli Roth. His recent producing credits include The Magnificent Seven (2016), Death Wish (2018), The Hustle (2019) for MGM, and Thanksgiving (2023) for Spyglass Media Group.
