by Michael del Castillo / Upstart Business Journal Technology & Innovation Editor
The UpTake:During Spike Lee’s talk about collaborating with Michael Jackson the lesson he learned is that sometimes working with talented people means knowing when to relinquish control.
Spike Lee hung up on Michael Jackson three times before he finally realized who was really on the other line. At the time of the conversation Lee lived in “pre-gentrified” Fort Greene, Brooklyn, about a half hour train ride across the borough from the TedX Brooklyn event in Williamsburg at which Lee spoke earlier today.
Jackson wanted Lee to make a “short film, not a music video” for a song from the upcoming album HIStory, released by Epic Records in 1995. Shortly after Jackson convinced Lee to meet with him on the director’s home turf in Ft. Greene, the two met face-to-face in his living room.
Jackson gave Lee a choice of the unreleased songs to choose from and after listening to the lot he chose Jackson’s Stranger in Moscow.
“No, no, no, you’re not doing that one!” Lee recalled Jackson telling him, getting plenty of laughs from the TedX audience. It turns out Jackson was really hoping Lee would choose They Don’t Care About Us, a song that peaked at number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Source: upstart.bizjournals / MJ-Upbeat.com
MJ-Upbeat.com
Recent Comments