The Big Year

The Big Year is a 2011 American comedy film starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin, directed by David Frankel and written by Howard Franklin. The film was based on the 2004 non-fiction book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik. The book follows three men on a quest for a Big Year – a competition among birders to see who can spot and identify the greatest number of bird species in North America in a calendar year. The three actual birders were Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, who were chasing Komito's prior record. The film uses the same premise with fictional characters.