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John Landis suing Michael Jackson?!

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it will be interesting to read the mj's respond cause it was truly as simple as it seems his lawyer would have insisted to pay landis
 
I'm not surprised. At the time of trial, all these people were around Michael and taking over his affairs. There was so much going on, as if the trial wasn't harrowing enough. IMO, it's most likely that the business with John got lost in the shuffle. This was around the same period that people started claiming they weren't getting paid. I don't get it. Is John asking for money or is he just wanting to see the financial reports? Whatever this is, I hope it can be settled soon.
 
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Article posted sometime last year:


John Landis remembers Thriller​


​



How Thriller turned into a monster


Twenty five years ago, a Michael Jackson music video transformed the face of pop. Marc Lee meets its director, John Landis

Film director John Landis is as boisterous and garrulous a character as you're likely to meet. An unstoppable raconteur, he has an endless fund of anecdotes ("Let me tell you this joke I heard from Fellini"), and much of his expletive-strewn conversation is shouted, as if he's addressing someone in the next room.

Perhaps it's his irrepressible good humour that accounts for the equanimity with which he reveals the sorry aftermath of Thriller, the groundbreaking video he shot starring the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

"Listen," he says smiling, "Michael probably owes me $10 million because he's in hock to Sony so deeply. All the monies from the Thriller video, which I own 50 per cent, are collected by Sony. My deal is with Michael's company, and he owes Sony so much that they keep the money. So I will never get the money, and if I want to sue Michael, it's like, 'Get in line.' "

Landis bears no resentment towards Jackson. Indeed, he still has the highest regard for the troubled singer, and they remain friends. Their collaboration on Thriller marked the high point of both their careers.

Although Jackson was only 24 when he released his fourth solo album in 1982, he'd been a star for more than a decade. None of what had gone before, though, could have prepared him for what was about to happen. Thriller changed the course of pop music and catapulted him into global superstardom. It sold more than 50 million copies and spent 37 weeks at number one in the American charts, where it remained for more than two years. All but two of its nine tracks were hit singles.

And it wasn't just the singing. Soon after the LP's release, he perfected his "moonwalk" dance: the worldwide hysteria that ensued was barely containable. Then, as if driven by an obsession to reinvent, he made himself the star of the promo video that would transform the way pop music was marketed.

Jackson had already smashed MTV's extraordinary musical apartheid: Billie Jean (a track from the album) was the first song by a black artist to be played by the channel. But the 14-minute mini-film inspired by Thriller's title track rewrote the rules for the music video, opening up undreamed-of creative possibilities - and, in the process, helping MTV on its way to world domination.

It became the bestselling music video ever, and, a quarter of a century later, it has staked a place in the digital new world, nestling confidently in the iTunes video chart (number two at the time of writing) among tracks by whippersnappers who hadn't even been born when it was shot. It has also been viewed more than three million times since it was added to the YouTube website just nine months ago.

The shoot was rumoured to have cost $1 million. The true figure was half that but still vastly more than the usual budget of $50,000 to $75,000 for a pop video of the period.

Today, Thriller still thrills as much as it did all those years ago, and that is thanks in large measure to its director. For, although the song and Jackson's dance moves are the irresistible ingredients, it was Landis who whipped them into such a satisfying feast.

The young filmmaker was at the peak of his career in Hollywood. He was about to release Trading Places starring Eddie Murphy, having, in the previous four years made Animal House, The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London. And it was after seeing the last of these that Jackson called Landis and said: "I want to turn into a monster. Can I do that?"

The release of the video and the accompanying making-of film marked the point at which, according to Landis, Jackson became "a god".

"It created MTV really," he says. "And it created the whole making-of business. It had a huge impact on the business. And all of it was accidental. All that happened was that Michael called me up after watching American Werewolf.

"So I went to see him with Rick Baker, who had done the special effects make-up on that film, and we took along a big book of monsters for him to look at. He hadn't seen many horror films: he was scared of that stuff.

"After The Blues Brothers, I wanted to do a good musical number with real dancers and shoot it correctly. And I tried to exploit Michael's celebrity to reinvent the theatrical short. That's why it's 14 minutes: it's a two-reeler, the same length as a Laurel and Hardy short or a Bugs Bunny cartoon."

Landis's ambitious script did not go down well at Jackson's record label CBS, who refused to pay for it on the grounds - entirely erroneous - that the album had slipped down the charts and wasn't going to sell many more copies.

So Landis did a deal with the new cable network Showtime, who handed over $300,000 for the video and the making-of feature that Landis would oversee, too. The rest of the budget came from MTV.

The 45-minute Making of Thriller established the genre, anticipating the "extras" that now accompany almost every DVD release. However, at the time, says Landis, "we used to call it 'The Making of Filler'. It turned out very well, but the truth is that it's filled with scenes from American Werewolf because I owned them, and anything else we could find to fill up the time.

"When we found we were still six minutes short, we decided to put in pieces of the video itself. In fact, it's very effective, but at the time I thought, 'This is shameless.' "

When the video hit the small screen, the album went straight back to number one and tripled its sales, while MTV increased its viewership a thousand-fold.

"Michael was terrific to work with," says Landis. "He was in his mid-twenties, but he was like a gifted 10-year-old. He was emotionally damaged but so sweet and so talented."

The purpose of Thriller, in Landis's mind, was "to give Michael some balls". The female presence in Jackson's two previous videos was virtually zero, "so I said I want to get a pretty girl, and I want you to relate to each other sexually. And he went, 'OK.'

"He was agreeable to everything, even when I wrote that line where he says to the girl, 'I'm not like other guys.' I warned him, 'Mike, this is a laugh line.' He said, 'Why?' And I said, 'Because, Michael, you are... unusual, and people will laugh and interpret it any way they want to.'"

The next potential problem arose with Ola Ray, the actress Landis wanted to play Jackson's girlfriend. "We found out she had been a Playboy playmate. Oh, Jesus Christ! I went to Michael and told him and said, 'Can I hire her?' He said, 'Sure', though I don't think he even knew what I was talking about."

A bigger difficulty emerged after the video's star-studded theatrical première ("Marlon Brando was there, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross, Cher - I'd never seen anything like it"), when members of the Jehovah's Witnesses church, of which Jackson was a member, started to kick up a fuss.

Landis recalls: "Michael was told, 'This is evil. It endorses Satanism. You can't release it.' So I had to negotiate this bullISH statement and put it on the beginning of the video." The disclaimer ("Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult - Michael Jackson") probably had the opposite effect to the one intended.

"It was such a bizarre opening, but it actually had a positive influence because it created so much talk, so much controversy. And, by the way, Michael didn't write it; I did."

Landis last spoke to Jackson a few months ago. What, I wondered, is his mood like these days? "When I talk to him, he's very friendly and funny. I'm upset at what he's done to himself physically; it's quite creepy. But he's still a gigantic talent, and I really believe he'll make a comeback. There's talk of him doing one of those big shows in Las Vegas, like Elton John or Celine Dion. Why not - he still has millions of fans."

And, of course, it's conceivable that a big-bucks Vegas residency might mean Landis finally gets his hands on those missing $10 million.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

http://www.mjackson.fr/index.php?showtopic=10519

oh well, lol :tooth:
 
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The shoot was rumoured to have cost $1 million. The true figure was half that but still vastly more than the usual budget of $50,000 to $75,000 for a pop video of the period.
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well, actually Michael said in Moonwalk that the video cost over $250,000 to shoot. 1 mil would've been a rediculous amount in those days.
 
mariemarie said:
"Listen," he says smiling, "Michael probably owes me $10 million because he's in hock to Sony so deeply. All the monies from the Thriller video, which I own 50 per cent, are collected by Sony. My deal is with Michael's company, and he owes Sony so much that they keep the money. So I will never get the money, and if I want to sue Michael, it's like, 'Get in line.' "
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I read this before and it STILL doesn't make sense to me.

If John Landis owns 50%, why would Sony be collecting the ENTIRE 100%. Seems like they would be collecting MJ's 50% and the other 50% would be going directly to John Landis.

So if we are to listen to what Landis has to say here, then it's not MJ who owns him the money, it's Sony who owes him the money, since he is claiming that Sony collects the ENTIRE 100%.
 
Big Apple2 said:
I read this before and it STILL doesn't make sense to me.

If John Landis owns 50%, why would Sony be collecting the ENTIRE 100%. Seems like they would be collecting MJ's 50% and the other 50% would be going directly to John Landis.

So if we are to listen to what Landis has to say here, then it's not MJ who owns him the money, it's Sony who owes him the money, since he is claiming that Sony collects the ENTIRE 100%.
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Yeah. I noticed that too. So to me, either the article completely misquoted John. Or his lawsuit is severely misplaced in terms of who the defendant should be.
 
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mjfan4ever2009 said:
Yeah. I noticed that too. So to me, either the article completely misquoted John. Or his lawsuit is severely misplaced in terms of who the defendant should be.
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Yes, I definitely agree. You know when it comes to Michael Jackson, there is always a piece of the story that is missing.

Also, when Landis made that claim about Sony collecting the ENTIRE 100%, he made it sound like that situation had been going on for years and years and years. Now we find out that it has been going on for the last 4 years only.
 
It's simple...

John Landis and Michael Jackson entered into an agreement about Thriller since John Landis co-wrote and produced the short film along with Optimum. If Sony is collecting money (because of performance rights, etc) they (Sony) will pay Michael Jackson/Optimum directly. It is incumbent upon Michael Jackson and his companies to pay John Landis - NOT Sony. The contract is between MJ/John Landis and if Michael has not paid John Landis, then this is pretty much an open and shut case.

I expect a settlement announced within the next few weeks. No matter what has happened, if Michael has not paid John Landis, then Michael Jackson and the "MJ Company" and all of those trusts are negligent and should pay immediately.
 
Big Apple2 said:
Yes, I definitely agree. You know when it comes to Michael Jackson, there is always a piece of the story that is missing.

Also, when Landis made that claim about Sony collecting the ENTIRE 100%, he made it sound like that situation had been going on for years and years and years. Now we find out that it has been going on for the last 4 years only.
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Yes. And why didn't John let Sony know (if he didn't), about this payment that Michael owed since he was talking about Sony in that article? It would have made things alot easier. Some of the money Michael supposedly owed to Sony would have gone to John and this lawsuit could have been avoided since John, according to the article, claimed that Sony was taking all the money when he should have been getting half.
 
mjfan4ever2009 said:
Yes. And why didn't John let Sony know (if he didn't), about this payment that Michael owed since he was talking about Sony in that article? It would have made things alot easier. Some of the money Michael supposedly owed to Sony would have gone to John and this lawsuit could have been avoided since John, according to the article, claimed that Sony was taking all the money when he should have been getting half.
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Because the contract is not between Sony and John Landis. The contract is between Michael Jackson and John Landis. It's open/shut case. Michael's company is supposed to track and report income from Thriller and pay Landis 50%. It's a straight forward contract and if it's been breached, Michael will have no choice but to pay. Sony has nothing to do with this.
 
MsTenda said:
Because the contract is not between Sony and John Landis. The contract is between Michael Jackson and John Landis. It's open/shut case. Michael's company is supposed to track and report income from Thriller and pay Landis 50%. It's a straight forward contract and if it's been breached, Michael will have no choice but to pay. Sony has nothing to do with this.
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Thanks Ms. Tenda
 
MsTenda said:
It's simple...

John Landis and Michael Jackson entered into an agreement about Thriller since John Landis co-wrote and produced the short film along with Optimum. If Sony is collecting money (because of performance rights, etc) they (Sony) will pay Michael Jackson/Optimum directly. It is incumbent upon Michael Jackson and his companies to pay John Landis - NOT Sony. The contract is between MJ/John Landis and if Michael has not paid John Landis, then this is pretty much an open and shut case.

I expect a settlement announced within the next few weeks. No matter what has happened, if Michael has not paid John Landis, then Michael Jackson and the "MJ Company" and all of those trusts are negligent and should pay immediately.
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Ohhhh... I see... thanks Trish.
 
MsTenda said:
It's simple...

John Landis and Michael Jackson entered into an agreement about Thriller since John Landis co-wrote and produced the short film along with Optimum. If Sony is collecting money (because of performance rights, etc) they (Sony) will pay Michael Jackson/Optimum directly. It is incumbent upon Michael Jackson and his companies to pay John Landis - NOT Sony. The contract is between MJ/John Landis and if Michael has not paid John Landis, then this is pretty much an open and shut case.

I expect a settlement announced within the next few weeks. No matter what has happened, if Michael has not paid John Landis, then Michael Jackson and the "MJ Company" and all of those trusts are negligent and should pay immediately.
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i'm still lost. if Sony is collecting it all, then they are collecting both parties shares, and unless they are doling 100% of it to Michael/Optimum, then they are holding Landis' share too? then how is Michael and his companies supposed to pay John Landis if Sony's got it?
 
MsTenda said:
It's simple...

John Landis and Michael Jackson entered into an agreement about Thriller since John Landis co-wrote and produced the short film along with Optimum. If Sony is collecting money (because of performance rights, etc) they (Sony) will pay Michael Jackson/Optimum directly. It is incumbent upon Michael Jackson and his companies to pay John Landis - NOT Sony. The contract is between MJ/John Landis and if Michael has not paid John Landis, then this is pretty much an open and shut case.
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When it comes to Michael Jackson nothing is simple. LOL!

Not only do I question John saying that Sony is collecting the entire 100%, I also question the fact that Sony is collecting 100% of anything related to the Thriller video at all. Why would they be collecting any money from MJ, I thought they were the ones who were PAYING MJ.
 
^^ Michael Jackson should be given a new title: "The King of Confusion" because it's never as simple. :rollin:

I thought Mike had 100% control of the videos since all the videos were listed under "MJJ Productions". Is that company even valid now?! :lol:

"What's going on!?" :lol:
 
friend said:
i'm still lost. if Sony is collecting it all, then they are collecting both parties shares, and unless they are doling 100% of it to Michael/Optimum, then they are holding Landis' share too? then how is Michael and his companies supposed to pay John Landis if Sony's got it?
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Because Sony collects the performance rights, etc. Then they turn around and pay Michael Jackson. Michael and his team created the song Thriller before he shot a video... Michael signed the contract with John stating that John will receive 50% of Thriller's performance rights and whatever else. That has nothing to do with Sony as they are paying Michael Jackson for it. This deal is between MJ/John and if proven Michael and his companies are the negligent parties.

It's a very simple, straight forward contract.
 
MsTenda said:
It's simple...

John Landis and Michael Jackson entered into an agreement about Thriller since John Landis co-wrote and produced the short film along with Optimum. If Sony is collecting money (because of performance rights, etc) they (Sony) will pay Michael Jackson/Optimum directly. It is incumbent upon Michael Jackson and his companies to pay John Landis - NOT Sony. The contract is between MJ/John Landis and if Michael has not paid John Landis, then this is pretty much an open and shut case.

I expect a settlement announced within the next few weeks. No matter what has happened, if Michael has not paid John Landis, then Michael Jackson and the "MJ Company" and all of those trusts are negligent and should pay immediately.
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Ahhhh I get it now! Thanks, Trish! Sony collects money (because of performance rights etc like you said), and would normally pay Michael (or Optimum) directly. But since Michael owes Sony so much,they keep the money. And because of that, Michael can't pay Landis. :doh:

That's why Landis said : ""Listen," he says smiling, "Michael probably owes me $10 million because he's in hock to Sony so deeply. All the monies from the Thriller video, which I own 50 per cent, are collected by Sony. My deal is with Michael's company, and he owes Sony so much that they keep the money."
 
^^^ Hmm, since you put it like that, John's comments now make sense... goodness like daphnieas said, MJ always gets into some bad deals, lol... :unsure:
 
dude mike please get debts with sony sorted asap, in case you have similar contracts, damn, cause you less hassle.
 
MsTenda said:
Because Sony collects the performance rights, etc. Then they turn around and pay Michael Jackson. Michael and his team created the song Thriller before he shot a video... Michael signed the contract with John stating that John will receive 50% of Thriller's performance rights and whatever else. That has nothing to do with Sony as they are paying Michael Jackson for it. This deal is between MJ/John and if proven Michael and his companies are the negligent parties.

It's a very simple, straight forward contract.
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Ok, i think i understand it. thanks. was Sony always the one who collected performance rights for Thriller? sorry, not very familiar with the business side.
 
Big Apple2 said:
When it comes to Michael Jackson nothing is simple. LOL!

Not only do I question John saying that Sony is collecting the entire 100%, I also question the fact that Sony is collecting 100% of anything related to the Thriller video at all. Why would they be collecting any money from MJ, I thought they were the ones who were PAYING MJ.
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OK...

1. Michael Jackson is under contract with Sony Music (Then called CBS Records)

2. When you're under contract, you are given an advance by your label to create a product.

3. As the artist, you have to pay that advance back. After the advance is paid back, you will start receiving royalties (Sync/Mechanical/Performace, etc) that's collected by the record label. The albums master recordings will belong to the label so they can reprint and redistribute AT WILL to make money.

Of course the label collects money for distribution, creation of video, paying for concerts, etc. It's THEIR PRODUCT along with Michael Jackson. And they have to pay Michael his royalty.

Now, whatever contract Michael has signed with John Landis has NOTHING to DO with Sony Music. There is no contract between Sony and John Landis. So, to make it simple lets look at it like this.

I give Michael a red velvet cake every single month. Michael tells you "Hey, I'll give you half of this cake every month too because you are my best friend." You say "Sure but I need this in writing" and you two sign a contract stating that Michael will give you half of his red velvet cake.

Then, Michael forgets and stops giving you half of his cake. Who's fault is that?

It's really simple... :lol:
 
I think this is just the business side of the Music 'Business' and it will be settled long before any trial starts. (JMHO) Michael's 'business management' has seemed to vaporize in the last 3 to 4 years and maybe Landis didn't know WHO to contact. I think that is why it lists 10 John Does on the claim!! They might simply not know who to call or who is in charge. If someone as big as John Landis hasn't been paid, there may be some other smaller fish out there as well but I think this will all be old news soon, as there is so much anticipation and excitement for MJ's projects and hinted at announcements, coming soon. :cheeky:

Someone mentioned Bruce Swedien may sue?? Has he ever talked about that?

It seems to me that MJ house is now being put in order and that these are just small bumps in da road.............

...........what road? The new album and tour !!!! :punk::clapping::punk:



:yes:
 
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