SKYWALKER AND MOONWALKER

Trailer for making Thriller 40 dropped; started shooting a doc on a basketball icon

It’s been a busy week as I started on a new project and another’s release was finally announced. I was down in Raleigh, North Carolina on the campus of North Carolina State university to interview David ‘Skywalker’ Thompson, who led his school to the NCAA men’s basketball championship in 1974, was an all-star in the American Basketball Association in 1976, and then had a stellar career in the National Basketball Association with the Denver Nuggets that was marred by drug use. He had a 44 inch vertical leap that made him the idol of the young Michael Jordan. David has rebuilt his life and, later this year, is having a statue unveiled on the NCS campus.

Today Showtime announced the air date for a documentary I directed, Thriller 40, about the making and impact of the biggest selling album of all-time. Previously unreleased footage of the Thriller sessions and the Victory tour are highlights of a project where we focused extensively on his landmark videos, iconic clothing and dance. A slew of performers who grew up on Thriller (Maxwell, Usher, Mary J. Blige, Misty Copeland), along with musicians, choreographers, and journalists impacted by the album’s creation chime in. We should most of the interviews were conducted either in the Westlake Studio, where the album was recorded, or at Michael Jackson’s home studio in Encino, where he cut the demos for “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Something.” Below is the trailer. The doc airs on Paramount + Showtime December 2nd.