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[MJackson News]

A Minute With: Kenny Ortega on the 'It' in "This Is It"

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - By now, most anybody who has read of the upcoming Michael Jackson movie, "This Is It" which debuts globally October 28, knows it was directed by Jackson's friend and dance choreographer Kenny Ortega.

Ortega had been hired to stage the King of Pop's London concerts, also called "This Is It," which would have begun last July had the "Thriller" singer remained alive. Jackson died, of course, on June 25 from a lethal combination of drugs.

After Jackson's death, Ortega was hired to edit together 80 hours of video taken on stage and behind the scenes of the "This Is It" rehearsals for the 111-minute movie. Many of the recent interviews with Ortega have been about Jackson's sudden death and the events around it, so Reuters took a minute to talk about the movie and what fans will actually see.

Q: How about for a change of pace, we focus on the movie:

A: (laughs). Thank you.

Q: It has been called part documentary, part concert film, but what does that mean? What's the "It" in "This Is It"

A: It's such a unique idea. I call it a "musical mosaic." We took the remnants of what we had and constructed a musical story that I think will help fans appreciate what Michael was putting into "This Is It", what his dreams for it were, what his goals were for it."

Q: Does it have a plot or themes? What happens onscreen?

A: It doesn't have a plot line. There is not a narrative, however there is definitely a story. It is a story of a master of his craft, a great genius in his final theatrical work and creative process. You see him interacting. It's a privileged path to observe Michael as the creative architect and mastermind behind his work. And this is something that I don't think people knew he did, let alone ever seen him do.

Q: So, we get a picture of Michael as a creative force.

A: Yeah, as the conductor.

Q: Not only in music and dance, but also in his own words as he's talking about the show and his reasons for including different songs or staging different dances?

A: That's right, and in other people's words, too ... Nowhere near the 80 hours did we have Michael in rehearsal. However, we had enough to be able to cut together a pretty big portion of what Michael was planning for the tour. The film is somewhat wall-to-wall music. The band, the singers, Michael live. You see it, you really feel it, you sense it. It's raw, unguarded, it's a unique behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of putting a show together.

Q: When you were sitting in that dark, editing room looking at the video, were there times where you said to yourself, "I have to show that. That is pure Michael"? And what were they.

A: Absolutely. First of all, when I assumed this and took on the responsibility to direct this ... I realized it was my responsibility, the journey wasn't over, and then I called upon Michael immediately, and I was just like, "you're not letting me go in there alone." And everyday, I really did bring Michael with me as best I could. And never forgot he was there. He was in my mind and in my heart, Michael, along with some of the other creative friends that worked with us on the concert.

We started to look at the footage and we had two things in mind: most importantly Michael's integrity and secondly, what is going to serve the fan base. And the footage talked to us. It jumped out at us. There were times, I swear, when we heard Michael say "Use it all; do it all." And I'd look at (my collaborator) and say, "did you just say that?" And he'd say, Michael said, "Do it all." And I'd say, "that's what I thought. I thought I heard Michael say "do it all."

Q: The opposite question is, were there parts of Michael you didn't want to show?

A: It's unguarded, and it's raw, and it's real and it's truthful, and it's not always pretty and he's not always lit, you know. We weren't really overly protective. It has soul and heart and truth and warmth and magic. The real answer to that question would be "no."

Q: For all that has been said and written about Michael, what don't people know that comes through in the movie?

A: That he did it all. He did it all. He wrote the music. He understood the music. He knew every part that everybody was supposed to play. He could sing you the bass line or the guitar part. He could play the horn line or the string line. He knew the harmonies, he sang them all.

I think what we walk away with, for those that might have forgotten ... I think this will remind people, I hope it will remind people, of this incredible talent that existed, you know, and the tremendous legacy he left for us.

(Editing by Deena Beasley)



Source: Reuters

[magic]

another interview:

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.


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