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Q&A: Michael Jackson collaborator Kenny Ortega
Film director Kenny Ortega poses for a photo in Toronto on October 24, 2009. Jennifer Roberts for The Globe and Mail
Jackson's long-time friend reveals the King of Pop's creative fuel and what to expect from his concert documentary This Is It
Brad Wheeler
From Monday's Globe and Mail Published on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 5:15PM EDT Last updated on Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 10:04AM EDT
‘He wanted to share what he loved with his children – and now we have this film for his children. He wanted to get out there and reconnect with his fans and sing the songs that they wanted to hear – and now they're going to hear the songs they wanted to hear.”
Kenny Ortega, the longtime creative partner of Michael Jackson and director of This Is It, a document of the preparations of the King of Pop's intended career-bowing series of 50 spectacular concerts at London's O2 Arena, talks about the motivations behind those concerts and the most anticipated big-screen event of year – a film dubbed by some as “Dead Man Moonwalking.”
Everybody's talking about This Is It, but nobody's seen it. What is it?
It celebrates the last four months of Michael, while he was invested in his last theatrical work, and going through the creative process of conceptualizing, rehearsing, interacting with all the design teams and the creative teams.
How stressful was it for Michael, preparing for the London concerts?
It wasn't stressful for him. It was something that he enjoyed. It was nourishing, it was invigorating. It was something he was very excited about, that had great purpose behind it.
How did that project come about?
For two years, Michael and I had been discussing, day-dreaming and lunching on potential ideas. And then one day I got a telephone call from him and he said “This is it, this is the one.” This was going to be his final curtain call. Together we invited artists from all around the world to join us – he inspired all of us to think outside of the box and to take the journey with him.
And how well does this film get across the idea of that journey?
You get a really good sense of it. There's much more music and staging than I ever imagined. In the beginning, I thought I was going to have more of a documentary. In the end, what I have is a sort of hybrid between documentary and concert film.
How truthful is it?
You're getting an unguarded, raw, truthful version of Michael. You're getting remnants – this is a mosaic, really stuck together, trying to do our best to give everybody a really grand-scale idea of what his dream was.
He was in the room with me the whole time helping me make decisions. [Laughs]. How I really feel about his, I mean, is that Michael wasn't there [for the making of the film]. I've done my best to channel, and to include him, and, as his friend for so many years, my best to protect his integrity.
The integrity of the concert series has been called into question. Was Michael up to it?
No one put this on Michael. Why do people have to take the integrity of Michael away now that he can't fend for himself? This was his idea, his choice. This nourished him, excited him – he was looking forward to this. Why do we want to take that away from him?
The thought is that he was pushed into it, to help clear his debt.
Isn't that a consideration for all of us in life? Why should that be any different with Michael than anybody else? Give him credit. If anything was responsible for hurting this man it wasn't his creative work. It's sickening to me that that's where the focus wants to be. He wanted to be there more than any of us.
Will this film show that?
Of course it will. Whether or not it will quiet [the salacious speculation] or not, you know, there are people out there who have an agenda – and they always will. That's just life. You can't create for everyone. That's what Michael would say. If you tried to, you wouldn't get anything accomplished.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...son-collaborator-kenny-ortega/article1337436/
Jackson's long-time friend reveals the King of Pop's creative fuel and what to expect from his concert documentary This Is It
Brad Wheeler
From Monday's Globe and Mail Published on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 5:15PM EDT Last updated on Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 10:04AM EDT
‘He wanted to share what he loved with his children – and now we have this film for his children. He wanted to get out there and reconnect with his fans and sing the songs that they wanted to hear – and now they're going to hear the songs they wanted to hear.”
Kenny Ortega, the longtime creative partner of Michael Jackson and director of This Is It, a document of the preparations of the King of Pop's intended career-bowing series of 50 spectacular concerts at London's O2 Arena, talks about the motivations behind those concerts and the most anticipated big-screen event of year – a film dubbed by some as “Dead Man Moonwalking.”
Everybody's talking about This Is It, but nobody's seen it. What is it?
It celebrates the last four months of Michael, while he was invested in his last theatrical work, and going through the creative process of conceptualizing, rehearsing, interacting with all the design teams and the creative teams.
How stressful was it for Michael, preparing for the London concerts?
It wasn't stressful for him. It was something that he enjoyed. It was nourishing, it was invigorating. It was something he was very excited about, that had great purpose behind it.
How did that project come about?
For two years, Michael and I had been discussing, day-dreaming and lunching on potential ideas. And then one day I got a telephone call from him and he said “This is it, this is the one.” This was going to be his final curtain call. Together we invited artists from all around the world to join us – he inspired all of us to think outside of the box and to take the journey with him.
And how well does this film get across the idea of that journey?
You get a really good sense of it. There's much more music and staging than I ever imagined. In the beginning, I thought I was going to have more of a documentary. In the end, what I have is a sort of hybrid between documentary and concert film.
How truthful is it?
You're getting an unguarded, raw, truthful version of Michael. You're getting remnants – this is a mosaic, really stuck together, trying to do our best to give everybody a really grand-scale idea of what his dream was.
He was in the room with me the whole time helping me make decisions. [Laughs]. How I really feel about his, I mean, is that Michael wasn't there [for the making of the film]. I've done my best to channel, and to include him, and, as his friend for so many years, my best to protect his integrity.
The integrity of the concert series has been called into question. Was Michael up to it?
No one put this on Michael. Why do people have to take the integrity of Michael away now that he can't fend for himself? This was his idea, his choice. This nourished him, excited him – he was looking forward to this. Why do we want to take that away from him?
The thought is that he was pushed into it, to help clear his debt.
Isn't that a consideration for all of us in life? Why should that be any different with Michael than anybody else? Give him credit. If anything was responsible for hurting this man it wasn't his creative work. It's sickening to me that that's where the focus wants to be. He wanted to be there more than any of us.
Will this film show that?
Of course it will. Whether or not it will quiet [the salacious speculation] or not, you know, there are people out there who have an agenda – and they always will. That's just life. You can't create for everyone. That's what Michael would say. If you tried to, you wouldn't get anything accomplished.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...son-collaborator-kenny-ortega/article1337436/
