Douglas Adams 48 Bloomsbury Terrace London Nl-6TS April 14, 1999 David Vogel Walt Disney Pictures Dear David, I've tried to reach you by phone a couple of times. Perhaps it would have helped if I'd explained why I was calling: I was in the States for a few days and thought it might be helpful if I came across to L.A. so that you and I could have a meeting. I didn't hear from you, so I'm on a plane back to England, where I'm typing this. We seem to have gotten to a place where the problems appear to loom larger than the opportunities. I don't know if I'm right in thinking this, but I only have silence to go on, which is always a poor source of information. It seems to me that we can either slip into the tradi­tional stereotypes -- you're the studio executive who has a million real-world problems to worry about, and I'm the writer who only cares about seeing his vision realised and hang the cost and consequences -- or we can recog­nise that we both share the same goal, which is to make the most successful movie we possibly can. The fact that we may have different perspectives on how this can best be achieved should be a fertile source of debate and inter­active problem solving. It's not clear to me that a one-way traffic of written "notes" interspersed with long, dread­ful silences is a good substitute for this. You have a great deal of experience nursing major otion pictures into existence. I have a great deal of experience of nursing The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy into existence in every medium other than motion pictures. I'm sure you must feel frustrated that I don't seem to understand the range of problems you have to contend with, just as I feel frustrated that I haven't had any real creative dialogue with Disney about this project yet. I have a suggestion to make: Why don't we actually meet and have a chat? I could be in L.A. for next Monday (4/19) or early the following week. I would invite Disney to bear the cost of this extra trip over. I've appended a list of numbers you can reach me on. If you manage not to reach me, I shall know you're trying not to, very, very hard indeed. Best wishes, Douglas Adams Email: dna@tdv.com Assistant (Sophie Astin) (and voicemail): 555 171 555 1700 (between 10 A.M. and 6:00 P.M. British Summertime) Office fax: 555 171 555 1701 Home (no voicemail): 555 171 555 3632 Home fax: 555 171 555 5601 UK cell phone (and voicemail): 555 410 555 098 US cellphone (and voicemail): (310) 555 555 6769 Other home (France): 555 4 90 7239 23 Jane Belson (wife) (office): 555 171 555 4715 Film agent (US) Bob Bookman: (310) 5554545 Book agent (UK) Ed Victor (office): 555 171 555 4100 (UK office hours) Book agent (UK) Ed Victor (office): 555 171 555 4112 Book agent (UK) Ed Victor (home): 555 171 555 3030 Producer: Roger Birnbaum: (818) 555 2637 Director: Jay Roach (Everyman Pictures): (323) 555i3585 Jay Roach (home): (310) 555 5903 Jay Roach (cellphone): (310) 555 0279, Shauna Robertson (Everyman Pictures): (323) 555 3585 Shauna Robertson, home: (310) 555 7352 Shauna Robertson, cellphone: (310) 555 8357 Robbie Stamp, Executive Producer (UK) (office): 555 171 555 1707 Robbie Stamp, Executive Producer (UK) (home): 555 181 555 1672, Robbie Stamp, Executive Producer (UK) (cell phone): 555 7885 55 8397 Janet Thrift (mother) (UK): 555 19555 62527 Jane Garnier (sister) (UK) (work): 555 1300 555 684 Jane Garnier (sister) (UK) (home): 555 1305 555 034 Jakki Kelloway (daughter's nanny) (UK): 555 171 555 5602 Angus Deayton & Lise Meyer (next-door neighbours who can take a message) (UK): Work: 555 (145) 555 0464, Home: 555 (171) 555 0855: Restaurants I might conceivably be at: The Ivy (UK): 555 171 555 4751 The Groucho Club (UK): 555 171 555 4685 Granita (UK): 555 171 555 3222, Sainsbury's (supermarket where I shop; they can always page me): 555 171 555 1789 Website forum www.douglasadams.com/forum