So Taj needs estate authorization to use photos or clips of MJ? Why didn’t Leaving Neverland need that? Or any of the other countless documentaries made discussing MJ’s innocence/guilt? Sure, if there’s unreleased footage at play, that could be a hurdle he’d need to surmount. He’d definitely also need authorization to use any MJ songs. But to construct a documentary without any interactions with the estate is incredibly easy, given that it’s been done countless times already.
Furthermore, when the biopic starts its press cycle, there will be countless think pieces and mini-documentaries talking about the allegations. Wouldn’t it be desirable for the estate if Taj had a counterpoint ready to go? It makes absolutely no sense for them to say, “Everyone’s gonna be bringing up the allegations, and we know you’ve been working on a piece proving his innocence, but keep it in the vault.”
Leaving Neverland began production in 2017 and premiered in 2019. Yes, that was with HBO’s backing, but nevertheless it took roughly 18 months of work to be completed. Even the Square One documentary, which was cut together by a fan with even less financial backing than Taj has, managed to come out SIX MONTHS after Leaving Neverland. And again, if Taj has hit a snag with production, why on Earth isn’t he telling us?
I have no interest in messaging Taj because I feel as though he should be talking to us. The fans funded this project; we shouldn’t have to grovel for answers.
Listen, I respect that you hold him to a high standard and want this project to be great. But you need to be objective and recognize that the complaints and concerns fans have aren’t unfounded or unjustified.
OK, I got it wrong. Dan Reed worked on Leaving Neverland for 3 years according to both sources below
(not 5), The interview dates with Wade And James were not the start of the project, the project started in 2016.
A few years ago, when Dan Reed first learned that two men had filed child sexual abuse lawsuits against Michael Jackson, he was stunned.
www.latimes.com
"SHAPIRO: That's Filmmaker Dan Reed. He worked on this film for three years. And when we spoke, I asked him if he ever doubted the stories that Safechuck and Robson were telling him."
LAtimes:
"It was 2016, and Reed — a U.K. native — had been looking for his next nonfiction project. He was looking to do something big and investigative, an iconic American story that had the power to engage audiences on a global scale. So during lunch with an executive at England’s Channel 4, he suggested Michael Jackson: Was he or wasn’t he guilty of sexual abuse?"
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But it was still more correct than you saying Taj ha almost been working on his project for 10 years when its currently 6.4 since he first floated the idea while on his PR-tour abroad after LN. You were 3.5 years wrong and I was 2 years wrong. Considering Taj was in the middle of the global pandemic that should be accounted for as well as a major stalling point as he was unable to travel around for like 1-2 years.
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Yes, of course Taj needs authorization to use Michael Jacksons music in his project and not just snippets like you just admitted. Tajs project is a lot more ambitious than most 1 hour hit pieces which only has snippets citing "fair use". Since he is claiming he wants to produce something complete different he would need vastly different sources than the Estate would ever provide to random TV-companies trying to slag MJ off, none of them would ever get approval from the Estate to use anything from them, much less sift through their archives etc as the project are barely PRO-MJ and not anything alike to what Taj has been describing.
Considering the "fan projects" you are talking about is 1/10th of the length Taj is aiming for he is dojng well.
if Taj has hit a snag with production, why on Earth isn’t he telling us?
Answer: Taj has never said he currently has hit a snag in production outside the Estate demanding he can not release until after the biopic which I think has been mentioned a couple of times. So why are you asking questions that are not posed in reality? If you are having suspicions of Taj not working on the docu then you should ask him directly instead of slagging him off based on your own "guesswork" about whats happening with the project! At least if you would ask your questions in good faith we would see if Taj would respond to them or not.
Taj has given plenty of updates on the project, on the gofundme page and on the MJcast and on his youtube livestreams and in various other interviews. If you have not been paying attention, then the blame is on you! As soon as we knew the project would not be relased until after the biopic I took a step back as we knew it was at least 2 years before anything could be released. Now its probably earliest 1 year.
People have been going after Taj without even following his updates, half the complaints about Taj at least would never have been made if the people paid attention to Taj instead of just complaining! In that sense, a critical storm was created and its kind of similar to MJ actually. If you repeat disinformation or lies frequent enough people start to buy into it, which is what many have done!
"Do I check what Taj has said about the protect before attacking him? Hell no, there is an online mob raging against him and that must make the complaints true and valid".
Nevertheless, somebody has to keep the balance or everyone will just jump on the hate Taj bandwagon as its the most convenient thing to do, people just love ganging up on someone thats an easy target!
