What if we could talk to animals?The 1967 classic film Dr. Doolittle originally posed this fascinating question, but nobody ever thought it would amount to more than a couple fun songs and a family-friendly plotline. Prof. Irene Pepperberg (PSYC) sought to prove doubters wrong with an unlikely animal: the African Grey parrot. The parrot in question was named Alex, and he and Pepperberg worked together to make shattering breakthrough after breakthrough in the field of cognitive intelligence and understanding with animals. But Alex and Pepperberg's story was much more than strictly science; there was a unique bond that existed between them. For 30 years, the two interacted daily, enforcing their relationship and mutual understanding. As odd as it may seem, Pepperberg truly understood Alex, and he understood Pepperberg.

Unfortunately, on Sept. 6, 2007, Alex prematurely passed away, leaving behind a legacy of research, but more importantly, a friendship that Pepperberg will forever cherish. Pepperberg's research with Alex and the other birds at the lab, Griffin and Arthur (who goes by the nickname Wart), has been filmed in many documentaries, Animal Planet specials and articles all over the world. Just the same, the news of Alex's death resulted in an outpouring of obituaries and support.

Just one year later, in November 2008, we were all able to look back on Pepperberg's incredible experiences with Alex through her New York Times best-selling book, Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence-and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process. The book was a great success at bringing people around the world into the research of avian intelligence and personal experience of 30 remarkable years.

Now, a new page has turned in the unforgettable story. Earthrise Pictures and FaR Out Productions announced just a few months ago, "[they] have acquired the theatrical rights to Dr. Irene Pepperberg's book, Alex & Me." While the production is still in its very early stages, the announcement is quite exciting nonetheless.

"The story is just fascinating," the film's producer, Josh Dinner, said in an exclusive interview with the Justice in September 2010, when he and script writers Trever James and Luke Rold visited Pepperberg in her lab on campus. "We finished the book, and there are all these amazing scenes and we just said, 'OK, Movie. This is totally a movie.'"

In just the 2 years since Thanksgiving 2008, when Dinner's mom first told the filmmaking team, "You should do a movie about the bird," a cryptic comment that took Dinner and James the better part of the meal to decode, they acquired the rights to the cinematic adaptation. Soon they started work on the script, did research at Brandeis and in Boston, talked with Pepperberg and applied for multiple grants to keep their work going.

"It's so funny that this communication breakdown ended up leading towards the story that has so much to do with communication," Dinner recounted. Communication does happen to be one of the filmmaking team's strongest points. The team has set up a website that contains lots of information about the project, the filmmaking team, Pepperberg's book, a progressively growing movie lab with multimedia from videos about Alex, pictures of the team with Pepperberg, a comment and poll section and so much more. James put it best when he said, "We really want to make sure that people can follow along with our journey as we move from early stages to the final film."

Further, the team is presenting an extremely unique option to anyone who wants to get more involved in the process. They have a donation page set up to help aid their process as independent filmmakers. Furthermore, they promise to put the names in the credits for everyone who donates $20 or more to the project. James continued, "We are saying, if you help us out, you can be a part of this journey with us. . We will constantly have updates and promise to give back to [everyone] for helping us do this."

For the purists worried about the filmmaking process distorting the true nature of the research, the relationship and the book, all three filmmakers assert that they too are passionate about Pepperberg and her achievements. "Our biggest concern is just showing that her work is respected and that is so much data that goes involved in it," Dinner said. "She is just an amazing, incredible scientist, and her life story has been really inspiring. Where she's been, the places she's been, the new ground she wants to break through and the new ground she did break through. She had Alex for 30 years, and the book itself is remarkable and it will really inspire a lot of the students here as it did us when we read it," he added.

Though they have a big task ahead of them, they seem to be up to the challenge. "Whenever we tell 30 years in 2 hours' time, no matter what, we will stay true to the science out of respect for her and make that 110 percent accurate in terms of her science, life and personality," the screenwriters James and Rold promised.

The script for the project is just currently being written, and the film itself is still a few years away from completion, but, as a chance to revisit the fascinating story of Pepperberg and Alex, it will certainly be worth the wait. "It's fascinating; a talking bird who can do all those things." It's not quite the way Dr. Doolittle did it, and with a few less songs and dances, but it's certainly just as fun and inspirational. And it's all true.

Read more about Dr. Pepperberg's research at www.alexfoundation.org.

More information about the film (and the chance to donate) can be found at www.alexandmethemovie.com.