Photo by:
Alumnus Roger Birnbaum, the CEO and co-chairman of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Inc. visited DU last week as part of April’s Distinguished Alumni Series.
Birnbaum hosted a screening of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” an MGM film, last Wednesday and visited several classes in the Media, Film and Journalism Studies department on Thursday.
He will return to DU on June 9 as a speaker for the undergraduate commencement ceremony.
Birnbaum gave students an exclusive, inside look at the film industry and answered questions from both students and faculty, ranging from his most prized works to the future of the movie-making industry.
Roger Birnbaum credits the beginning of his career with connections he made while he was enrolled as a student at DU in the late 60s.
While at DU, Birnbaum was elected president of the DU Board of Governors, an organization which was responsible for bringing speakers and musicians to perform on campus.
After moving to New York City, Birnbaum reconnected with the manager of a band he had hired during his time at DU and was offered a job at A&M and Arista Records.
Though he started in the music business, Birnbaum slowly moved into the film industry after declaring himself a producer.
Since entering the film industry, Birnbaum’s career has been as prolific as it has been successful.
Birnbaum began as president of production for United Artists and worked heavily on the Academy Award-winning film “Rain Man” before becoming the executive vice president for Twentieth Century Fox.
During his time as vice president at Fox he worked on films like “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Home Alone” and “Edward Scissorhands.”
Birnbaum co-founded both Spyglass Entertainment and Caravan Pictures, which are best known for producing “Rush Hour.”
Birnbaum joked about taking a risk with his first film at Spyglass, which eventually evolved into the thriller classic “The Sixth Sense.”
Birnbaum was named co-chairman and CEO of MGM in the wake of the studio’s bankruptcy announcement in December 2010.
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” was the first film MGM released with Birnbaum at the head of the studio. The film grossed over $100 million in the domestic box office and won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing.
Though Birnbaum enjoys the film and notes that it was a success, he casually admitted that he disagreed with director David Fincher on several minor details about the climax and ending of the story, but was ultimately overruled by Fincher.
Birnbaum mentioned that he personally wanted the character Lisbeth to kill the murderer at the end of the film, rather than having the car explode.
MGM is currently in negotiations for the second and third installations of the series.
Birnbaum discussed the future of MGM with the students, including the upcoming remakes of “Carrie” and “RoboCop.” He noted that the studio is in the process of recreating itself and that he intends to help revive it from financial life support.
Birnbaum noted that he would someday like to return to his role as producer and have a more active role in the creative processes of the movies he helps to distribute.
At the end of his Q&A session with students enrolled in Film History III, Birnbaum imparted the class with a single piece of advice.
“If I can do it, you can do it. I used to be sitting right where you are now. I had no connections. Don’t give up, have a point of view, work hard. If I can, you can too,” said Birnbaum.
