According to the Associated Press, the Austrian company that was organizing a global tribute to Michael Jackson in London is being dissolved and will not be able to put on a star-studded show in honor of the King of Pop.

The Michael Jackson tribute concert in London that was scheduled for next June has been cancelled, as the show’s Austrian organizer announced on Friday that it is being liquidated.

Former chief promoter Georg Kindel and his now-defunct company World Awards Media and Jackson’s brother Jermaine had already disappointed fans this past summer by first announcing a Vienna tribute concert for September and then cancelling it because of a lack of participating stars and funds. World Awards Media’s majority owner, Vienna-based Superfund, issued a press release on behalf of Kindel’s company, saying that the decision to dissolve the company was made at the end of November. The statement did not provide any further details.

After the failed Vienna show, Jermaine Jackson said that London would be the ideal concert location because that was where Michael Jackson had planned to stage his comeback concerts.

Kindel told the Austria Press Agency that he did not know if Jermaine Jackson would go ahead with the concert — set for London in the first half of June 2010 — on his own.

Source: mjfanclub.net

The California Theatre of the Performing Arts will be celebrating the New Year with a Laser Spectacular Tribute to the King of Pop and tickets are selling quickly.

The multimedia extravaganza will include lasers, actual Jackson film footage, dancers and a live Michael Jackson tribute artist, according to California Theatre producer Joseph Henson.

The live tribute is a combination of things happening simultaneously – in sync with the lasers. It’s a very exciting event.”

Spanning Jackson’s 40-year career, the production will take the audience on a visual journey beginning with the singer’s most recent achievements and traveling backwards to his early years as a child prodigy, with 50,000 watts of rockin’ concert sound behind it.

Through the use of animated laser graphics, laser beams and aerials, the lights and lasers re-create images of Jackson with 3-D holographic effects and Henson says it will provide [music fans] an opportunity to hear Michael Jackson’s hits like they’ve never been heard before.

Not only is it going to be a great party, it’s very affordable, with a spectacular show and reception with party favors, the countdown and champagne toast.”

The party starts on December 31 at 9:45pm at California Theatre of the Performing Arts, 562 W. Fourth St., San Bernardino.

If you’re in California on New Year’s Eve, here’s the ticket info:
Tickets: $20-$55 for show only; $45-$80 includes pre-show reception with party favors, champagne toast. Tickets available at box office, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; online at www.ticketmaster.com

Information: (909) 885-5152; www.californiatheatre.net

Source: mjfanclub.net

On January 26, 2010 in North America and on February 22 in the UK and Europe, Michael Jackson’s ‘This Is It’ will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray. An official trailer for the release of the DVD was launched online yesterday and can be seen Here.

Source: mjfanclub.net

During this year’s Nobel Peace Prize Concert Will Smith, who hosted the event along with his wife Jada, was joined onstage by other participating artists in order to pay tribute to the King of Pop. The Smith’s were joined by their two children, Willow and Jaden, and also by singers and musicians Wyclef Jean, Toby Keith, Donna Summer, Natasha Bedingfield, Westlife, Luis Fonsi, Esperanza Spaulding, Alexander Rybak, Lang Lang and Amadou & Miriam. The artists sang ‘Man In The Mirror’ and you can watch the clip below.

The concert took place Friday December 11, 2009.

watch?v=eaQ4rHzRI6Q&feature=player_embedded

Source: mjfanclub.net

Clearly Michael Jackson’s This Is It has a life of it’s own. I  (Trey Borzillieri) saw this movie at 10:30am and boy did I get a surprise. I was expecting an empty theatre this early in the morning. It was packed. I also expected the audience to begin dancing in the aisles from the onset. Not the case.

My expectations were way off. A few minutes into this unbelievable, one of a kind film, tears welled up in my eyes and began streaming down my face. I put my half eaten bag of popcorn to the side and my napkins turned into tissues.

I know I’m not alone when I say Michael Jackson had been absent from my life… a life he had been very much a part of many years ago. I remember being put in a long time-out in 3rd grade for wearing a green and purple sequined version of his glove, homemade by my mother. A “long time out” is good way to describe what Michael Jackson has been in for many of us.

In the documentary This Is It, he is back! Wow! From the films first song, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, the talent, emotion and love of Michael Jackson strikes you, no matter what age you are. If you’re a Gen-X’er then you will be quickly catapulted into a brief self-analysis of your life. A sort-of evaluation of what has happened to you since you last saw this man like this! Then comes the rush of emotions aided by the music of course… past, present and the finality that you are watching him for the last time. Napkins turn to tissues all over again. As I wiped the tears off my face, shocked and embarrassed, I popped my head up to look at the rest of the audience. It seemed people were having a similar experience to mine. One can’t help watch this incredible film in shock and awe – just to be clear, a good, thankful, wonderful version of “shock and awe.” It’s almost as if we were destined to have this last piece of Michael Jackson no matter what.

This Is It is now the highest grossing documentary in history. Behind the camera capturing these revealing, special and final moments with Michael Jackson was Videographer Sandrine Orabona. She is a small documentarian in comparison to the epic scale of what the film now represents on all levels. As the world shares these moments with Michael in this extraordinary documentary one can only imagine what it must have been like to be six feet away from The Magician at work! Please tell us Sandrine.

TB: I just saw This Is It.

SO: So what did you think?

TB: I was blown away. I think I was all business walking into it. Then everything hit me and I was a disaster.

SO: A disaster as in crying?

TB: I started crying and crying and crying.

SO: Do you know how many people said have said that to me?

TB: Like the first song…

SO: Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’

TB: Yes, yes and I mean I wasn’t expecting any of it. I think it was a combination of his life, what he represented in my life, his talent and the finality of it all.

SO: I’m so happy to have been a documentarian on it and even to just have been in the presence. I think that what the Director, Kenny Ortega, was able to do is to distill the emotion that we all felt while we were there during rehearsal. Everybody hired on the crew were very good at what they do all the way up. We all felt so gifted and fortunate to be on the project and to be around this man because of everything he represents, because of how amazing he is as a musician, as an artist and just to be in a room with him while he was rehearsing, performing or going through the paces. Just being around his process everyday, I would come home and just be like I can’t believe I’m a part of this, I can’ t believe what I lived today. And everybody felt that. My friend Chucky, wearing the green jacket, he is an Emmy award-winning choreographer. He won an Emmy for choreographing the High School Musical films with Kenny Ortega. He dropped a potential project to audition as a dancer with no guarantee that he was going to be a dancer. He got the job and everyday he would look at me and be like, “I can’t believe I am living this.” Now this is a man that not only is he a dancer, but he is an Emmy winning choreographer, ok, so it was not lost on any of us, you know how amazing this experience was. I think it is really captured in the film.

TB: Yeah it is. You’re describing what hit me so hard…everyone feeling so fortunate to be there and what a gift this is and so appreciative of that. At the same time it was a flashback to someone who has in many ways has been absent from his musical life, absent from being the person we all know in terms of performing and…

SO: You mean as far as his comeback?

TB: Well this was the beginning of his comeback, so he’s been absent from the stage for a long time and the movie allows you to get to know him again, it’s makes you appreciate his talent all over again and then in the back of your mind you know he’s gone… and this becomes a one, two, three punch that the audience can’t help but be effected by when they watch the movie.

SO: It’s a really powerful piece of work because, for everything that you just stated. And I think what’s really important is that Kenny chose to focus on the experience that we were living in the moment, this piece doesn’t focus on the fact that he’s passed already because it is understood. I think that the power of it is drawn from the experience that we all had and by focusing on our experience, people are able to embrace essentially what we lived [during the rehearsals]. I had a friend say to me, “I felt like I had a front row seat to this experience”. And I replied, “That’s cause I did.” I was there. If you feel in your seat like Michael Jackson is performing Billie Jean six feet away from you that is because he actually did perform Billie Jean six feet away from me. If you feel that power coming through the screen, you can imagine what I felt on stage when that was happening. And you can see that too… there is a handful of us, I turn the camera around and it’s like fifteen crew and dancers on the floor watching and they can’t believe what they are seeing. That was the experience.

TB: Can you describe the amped up feeling you had at that moment?

SO: It’s exactly what you are talking about in terms of when you go see the film. It’s like genetically we all have Michael Jackson inside of us. In some way or another because of the way we grew up. We listened to his music and we realized what a genius this man is. And then also we [the crew working on this] are all professionals and we appreciate that even more as a dancer, as a musician, as a documentary filmmaker we understand that side of it even more. And then all of a sudden all of that comes up in you and you’re like I’m watching a man that I’ve seen on TV, that I’ve appreciated from a distance, doing what he does best six feet away from me. And I’ve got his team of crew members behind me feeling the exact same and the only reason I can’t do it is because I’m holding the camera. So many times I caught myself dancing while I was shooting. The bassline for Thriller just moves right through you.

TB: A very cool moment was when he vocally did the little guitar thing in the rehearsal for Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ to show the way it was to be done. He made the guitar sound so well and for a long enough time that it actually sounded like a real guitar.

SO: Watching a process for an artist like that… I am in awe. For the legends like Michael Jackson or Martin Scorcese, to just be around their process and absorb that like a sponge it’s like an apprenticeship. Just watching these people work is like a gift.

TB: Any comments on the process you saw while filming?

SO: Everybody that was on the show, like Kenny Ortega, Michael Bearden, Travis Payne and Michael Bush. These are all people that have been around Michael for a long time and they are also great artists in their own rights. There is kind of like a creative short hand they use rather than a lot of technical jargon. Like when Michael says; “make it sound like you are dragging yourself out of bed” It immediately evokes an emotional reaction and you can then translate that into the music that you are making and I thought it was a brilliant way of conveying that emotion.

TB: Did he have down days?

SO: No. Because of the level of energy that everyone shared, I didn’t even have my down days. What you see is what you got everyday at rehearsal. Everyone from Michael on down was really focused and on their way to creating this amazing show.

TB: Something that jumped out at me… his hands. They just came out of the screen, like the hands of a magician; they were all over the place.

SO: I was so focused on my little screen [in the camera] that I never really noticed that but a number of people have mentioned that to me.

TB: One of my favorite parts of the movie was when he started working on Human Nature, the creativity and the spontaneity of that.

SO: But that’s what I’m talking about. That is the kind of creative short hand that was flying all over the stage. It was a very creative space for everyone involved. All of the musicians were spot-on.

TB: Everyone was front and center and ready to do their best.

SO: Well you don’t get that kind of job without that though, I mean, front, center and incredibly happy to be there. Everybody. Grateful.

TB: I was really expecting people to be dancing in the movie theatre and I could actually here crickets. It seemed like the audience was in shock, overwhelmed and grateful to being seeing it more than anything else.

SO: Different people have different experiences; I think it depends on the audience. I have seen it a few times and they’ve all been different. With the crew it was very much like reliving it. I have seen it when the audience has been dancing and also seen it with a crowd that experienced it very much like you did. I see new things every time I watch it.

TB: The film is important, thank goodness you guys were there to capture it otherwise we may never have had anything like it with Michael Jackson.

SO: It was one of the things that made it so special for me at the time. The fact, that I personally had never seen anything like this before. I had never seen this side of Michael Jackson. To this day I continue to treat it as an incredible gift. I think a lot of people feel that way now that they’ve seen the documentary.

TB: A random thing –E he was wearing a shirt with Popeye gambling on it at one point.

SO: That’s Michael Bush right there. That’s the incredible art of Michael Bush.

TB: Was that rehearsal costume? Or everyday clothes for him?

SO: Michael Bush dressed Michael Jackson. Always.

TB: How did everyone deal with news of his passing?

SO: It was a very difficult day. I was actually there shooting at the time and I almost dropped the camera. I had to shoot on my knees through the better part of that moment. I was overwhelmed with the emotion and I was like, “Ok, I am going to pass out”. But I couldn’t because I had to film. The way I can describe it is… the entire world was mourning that day, imagine how it was in the rehearsal space. I have a hard time remembering it actually. I feel like I had an out-of-body experience.

TB: Were you a fan of his growing up?

SO: Who wasn’t? But I have to say that I am even more of a fan of his after having done this and observing him as a professional.

TB: Who are you?

SO: A documentarian, more specifically a music documentarian. A documentarian, shooter and editor.

TB: Can’t wait to see what you do next. Thank you.

Source: mjfanclub.net

Michael Jackson’s concert movie “This Is It” has taken more than $200 million at box offices worldwide in the first two weeks of release, the studio behind the movie said on Thursday.

Sony Pictures Entertainment said the movie had grossed $61 million in North America and more than $140 million internationally. Japan ($27.2 million) and the UK ($14.3 million) were particularly strong markets.

The movie is now the 22nd biggest grossing movie worldwide of 2009, according to industry tracker boxofficemojo.com

“This Is It”, distributed by Sony Corp-owned Columbia Pictures, was compiled from footage of Jackson rehearsing for a series of planned comeback concerts before his sudden death in June.

Sony paid concert promoters AEG and Jackson’s estate about $60 million for the right to make and distribute the movie.

The $200 million plus gross is almost three times more than 2008’s “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour” — a movie some box office watchers had used as a benchmark for “This Is It.”

The Jackson film opened on October 28 for a planned two week run but has since been extended until early December.

Source: mjfanclub.net

In what was a very emotional tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson’s band from his ‘This Is It’ tour reunited on George Lopez’ new show, ‘Lopez Tonight.’ Lead vocalist Judith Hill, and musical director for the tour and Lopez’ show, Michael Bearden led the band in a moving rendition of MJ’s beloved classic, Man In The Mirror.

Michael Bearden was briefly interviewed before the musical number and discussed the song that MJ was working on for the tour before his untimely passing, ‘Dirty Diana.’ Bearden revealed that there was to be a poll dance of sorts done by an aerialist for the stage performance. Bearden asked MJ,

‘Where will you be?’

MJ replied,

‘Where do you think I will be? I will be in bed.’

Bearden then asked him,

‘What about Orianthi [Panagaris]?’

(lead guitarist). MJ replied,

‘She will be in the bed with me.’

MJ then assured Bearden,

‘I can handle it.’

The show cut to a commercial and then showed the tribute.

As the tribute ended, Lopez revealed that a special screening of ‘This Is It’ had been arranged next door for everyone in the audience to watch tonight after the taping.

Source: mjfanclub.net

On June 25, just hours after Michael Jackson died, Tim Patterson drove 40 miles from his home to downtown Los Angeles with $60 million worth of film footage in his trunk.

As he sped down Interstate 5, Patterson carried virtually all of the 140 hours of rehearsal footage from Jackson’s planned “This Is It” concert series that would eventually be whittled down to the 112-minute movie now playing in theaters around the world.

Patterson, 53, a commercial director whose biggest regular gig is making ads for a golf equipment company, was one of two camera operators hired by concert promoter AEG Live to record “This Is It” rehearsals. Every night after work, he transferred hours of video shot by himself and collaborator Sandrine Orabona to two hard drives in his home office. The afternoon that Jackson died, Paul Gongaware, a producer of the concert and movie, called Patterson with an urgent request: The footage, which had suddenly become uniquely valuable, had to be delivered to AEG’s downtown offices immediately.

Thus began an unlikely odyssey in which a commercial director who had never worked on a feature film before became the only person, besides Jackson’s close artistic collaborators, involved in “This Is It” from beginning to end.

Together with longtime collaborator Brandon Key, Patterson worked on every cut of “This Is It,” from the original footage given to the media days after Jackson’s death to DVD extras recently completed.

“This will be the most important and incredible thing I do in my career,” he said.

Patterson’s involvement began in May when he e-mailed Gongaware to ask whether there might be some role for him in preparations for the “This Is It” concert. Gongaware was looking to start compiling behind-the-scenes footage. He hired Patterson and Orabona and put together a budget of $80,000. Over the next six months, using two $6,000 Sony cameras Patterson bought for the project, they worked six days a week, often until midnight, shooting performances and candid moments and interviewing dancers and others working on the concert.

Since the footage was intended only for promotional Internet videos and Jackson’s private archives, many important moments were shot by only one person. When performers’ body microphones were turned off, fuzzy sound was captured with a boom mike attached to the camera.

“If we had known it was going to be a movie,” said Patterson, “we would have shot with nine or 12 cameras and gotten coverage on everything.”

The week after Jackson died, Patterson and Key were at AEG headquarters, with equipment strewn on the floor, trying to figure out just what they had. Within a week of the singer’s death, they cut together the initial 97-second clip from “This Is It” that became an Internet sensation. By mid-July, top executives from studios including 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures came to look at what they had come up with. Soon after, Sony agreed to pay $60 million to turn the footage into a movie.

Patterson and Key worked with Don Brochu, who edited director Kenny Ortega’s “High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” to assemble a first cut. Patterson and Key then worked seven- day weeks for about a month, tweaking the first cut into the finished movie.

“We could have shown more behind- the-scenes stuff, but Kenny felt strongly that Michael would have wanted to include more songs for the fans,”

said Key.

After the movie was done, Patterson and Key went on to edit additional content for the DVD, due for release in January or February.

“I never imagined that I’d ever work on a project where I would break down and cry in the edit bay,”

said Patterson.

Source: mjfanclub.net

As it entered its second weekend in theaters, Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” has crossed the $100 million mark at international box offices.

The film has grossed $144 million worldwide. That is more than double the total for 2008’s blockbuster concert film”Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds,” a movie that most box office watchers were using as a benchmark for “This Is It.”

$44 million of “TII’s” take came from the United States and Canada. Outside of North America, the biggest theatrical markets through Thursday night were: Japan with $18.2 million, Britain with $11.1 million and Germany with $8.9 million.

The film, which opened on October 28 and was originally planned for a two week run, is now slated to run until early December in the United States and Canada.

Source: mjfanclub.net

The company 3D Eye Solutions, Inc. has been retained to provide a 3D conversion for “This Is It.” Along with practice footage from the ill-fated London concerts, “This Is It” also gave fans a tantalizing glimpse of creative film and visual effects that were produced by media creator and founder of Stimulated, Inc, Robb Wagner.

Stimulated, Inc was chosen by Kenny Ortega, AEG and Michael to provide elements to be included on the tour. Wagner was appointed to be Producer of The Dome Project, along with Michael and Kenny Ortega as Executive Producers.

Wagner worked with veteran Visual Effects Supervisor Bruce Jones to direct. The concert called for 25 songs with 16 songs having a film or video element added. “Thriller,” “Earth Song” and “Smooth Criminal” were each going to feature highly developed short films to be presented along with the live action, the films to be produced in stereographic 3D, a groundbreaking effort.

The video was to be presented on a 90 foot by 30 foot LED screen stationed directly behind the concert stage. The screen was to be the first of its kind, giving the audiences a 3D experience.

Wagner explained the concept for how the films were supposed to work.

“MJ’s plan for the shows was that the audience would be cued to put on 3D glasses. Then, at a certain point in each film, live action would leave the screen and would continue as a theatrical concert performance. MJ called that the ‘4th dimension.”

3D Eye Solutions was commissioned by Stimulated, Inc.,

“For the dream sequence in Earth Song. Michael wanted to show the world as imagined by a little girl. He envisioned beautiful images dancing in her head from exotic locations throughout the globe. When we began production we immediately knew that it was not going to be practical for our budget or our schedule so we enlisted the services of 3D Eye Solutions to convert the stock footage from 2D to 3D. They were able to turn over the work very quickly and adapt to the creative changes that came down the pipe. Without them, we would have never made our delivery for the concert or the film,”

stated 3D Producer, Todd Cogan.

“This film is a tribute to an artist who created excitement every moment he was on stage. We are thrilled and honored to have worked with such a creative group and to have our work displayed to the millions of Michael Jackson fans worldwide,”

stated Mike Gibilisco, CEO of 3D Eye Solutions.

Source: mjfanclub.net