Re: Taj Jackson Launches a GoFundMe Page to Create a Documentary on MJ's Innocence - link
I hope that Taj approaches Larry Nimmer, to see if he is interested in participating.
I hope that the funds won't be spent on purchasing the rights to Michael's image (from the Estate), for inclusion in the documentary.
The latter reason is why I think this will come to nothing unless the Estate is involved. They own the rights to Michael's name and image and could make copyright claims against anyone who uses material inappropriately.
Also, I think the public would wonder 'why' the Estate is not involved, if it is not. That would be a difficult question to answer.
Maybe Taj is just getting this off the ground a little too soon? Does the Estate have to wait until the Robson & Safechuck appeals are complete until they can do anything? (I know R and S have not waited, but then they don't seem to be bothered about the law anyway, unless it serves their own ends).
Edited to add:
Also, R&S have been lucky to get an initial distribution and funding deal upfront, with HBO and Channel 4 backing the production. Taj should be sounding out alternate 'big production co's' to see if they would back 'the true story' and maybe make a mini-series eg via Netflix.
R&S were also lucky to attract the attention of a 'BAFTA-winning' director to take overall control of the project. Michael would need a 'big name' producer / director too, eg someone of the stature of Spike Lee inn order to get critic reviews / critic promotion, which is essential to pushing these things forward to the public. And it would also be necessary to have someone outspoken, who would also be prepared to do 'Q and A's'.
The film also needs involvement of someone with a good knowledge of the relevant US law, at all stages of MJ's accusations/ court cases/ civil allegations.
R&S have been phenomenally lucky to be able to secure this level of backing and publicity. I hope that their film gives them enough 'rope'....ie that they will end up condemning themselves out of their own mouths, because their claims are so extreme and outlandish, and frankly not believable, even to someone (an average typical viewer) who doesn't have much interest in the actual details of the court cases.
R&S are making exactly the kind of claims that the media are begging for right now. #MeToo has been big news for a while.
Dan Reed, the producer/director they have hired for this project has previously released "the Paedophile Hunders" so it's clear what his agenda is! Assuming he believed MJ "got away with it", the opportunity to take him down must have been Dan Reed's wet dream!
His other documentary may well have been well researched, unbiased, and a valuable contribution to the world, but it's clear from the synopsis of this new one that it is definetely not unbiased. He made up his mind MJ was guilty and has gone for it big time.
Now I think about I'm not sure how this all started.
Did Wade & Co seek out a production company for their next big attack on the MJ Estate, in the hope that a settlement would follow?
Or did Dan Reed see the news reports and seek out Wade and Co for his next big project, dreaming of bringing MJ down?
The thing was commissioned by C4/HBO, so did somebody pitch the idea to them? Or did they actively put this whole thing together?
The publicity was almost guaranteed.
We'll probably never know, but somehow R&S did get lucky with the timing of all this - the stars aligned for them with the perfect timing to hit MJ hard, just in time for their appeal. I'm sure they were hoping the MJ Estate would decided to pay them royally for their silence.
I like your idea about "rope"!
It looks like Sundance will show this regardless of the fans demands. Up 'til now fans have complained on the basis of what they think R&S will claim in an almost theoretical sense, though we already know what's in the legal documents.
Once the film has been shown I hope that the MJ fan community will be able to decisively target very specific parts of the film with very specific rebuttals.
For example:
- At 15:04 Wade says "blah blah blah" but this directly contradicts what Wade said in this YouTube video at 01:35, and directly contradicts what Wade said in this legal document, page 4, paragraph 6.
- At 21:36 Wade claims "blah blah" but his mother already told him this recollection was false in the email evidence dated xx/xx/xx.
See what I mean?
I would hope that with these VERY specific contradictions and lies (pointed out with attached evidence etc) that the execs at Channel 4 and HBO could not ignore the fans complaints and cancel their screenings.
Unfortunately that will most likely rely on VERY good notes taken from the screening(s) at Sundance, so we may not be able to pull it off. Has anybody heard of reliable fans buying tickets to see the documentary itself or to take part in the Q&A?? I see very little value in just standing outside with placards, singing "They Don't Care About Us" over again.
