In early August of 1982, after seeing his horror film “An American Werewolf in London”, which was released the previous year, Michael Jackson contacted director John Landis. At the time, commercial directors did not direct music videos, but Landis was intrigued. He and Jackson conceived a short shot on 35mm film with the production values of a feature film, with a budget of $900,000, much larger than any previous music video.
According to Landis, when he called CBS Records President/CEO Walter Yetnikoff to propose the film, Yetnikoff swore so loudly he had to remove the phone from his ear. Jackson’s record company, Epic, had little interest in making another video for Thriller, believing that the album had peaked. Yetnikoff eventually agreed that the company would contribute only $100,000. To help finance the production, Landis’s producer George Folsey, Jr. suggesting a making-of documentary that, combined with the “Thriller” video, would produce an hour-long film that could be sold to television.
Initially, the television networks refused to finance the project, sharing the view that Thriller was “last year’s news”. MTV, which had found success with Jackson’s videos for “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” had a policy of not financing music videos itself, instead expecting record companies to pay for them. However, after Showtime, then a new channel, agreed to pay half the budget, MTV agreed to pay the rest, justifying the expenditure as financing for a motion picture and not a music video.
Jackson wanted to make a video in which he transformed into a four-legged beast, similarly to the transformation scene in “An American Werewolf in London.” This idea was replaced with a two-legged monster, as this made it easier for him to dance.
“Thriller” was the first time Jackson had interacted with a woman in a video, which Landis described as a “breakthrough.” Jennifer Beals turned down an offer to play the girlfriend. According to Landis, Ola Ray, a former Playboy Playmate of the Month (June 1980), was cast as she was “crazy for Michael” and had a “great smile.” Landis encouraged Jackson and Ray to improvise during their scenes, and urged Jackson to satisfy his female fans by acting “sexy” and showing “virility.” According to Ray, the chemistry between them was real and they shared “intimate moments” during the shoot.
On November 14, 1983, the 14-minute film was shown to a private audience at the Crest Theater in Los Angeles. In attendance were Diana Ross, Warren Beatty, Prince, Eddie Murphy and many more “A-list” stars. Jackson stayed in the projection booth so that others such as Ray could bask in the attention.
When the film ended, the theater erupted in applause, and Murphy shouted, “Show the g*ddamn thing again!,” which is what happened. (IMDb/Wikipedia)
Happy Birthday, Michael Jackson!
