Michael Jackson’s Music Videos by Landis, Scorsese, Lee
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- John Landis directed the 14‑minute “Thriller” (1983) horror short on a $500,000 budget, later inducted into the National Film Registry.
- John Landis reunited with Jackson for “Black or White” (1991), a $4 million, 11‑minute video that premiered in 27 countries to ~500 million viewers.
- Martin Scorsese helmed an 18‑minute short for “Bad” (1987), filmed in Brooklyn’s subway and featuring a then‑unknown Wesley Snipes as gang leader Mini Max.
- Spike Lee is listed among the elite directors Jackson commissioned, underscoring Jackson’s practice of pulling top Hollywood talent for his music videos.
- Francis Ford Coppola also appears in the roster of filmmakers who worked with Jackson, highlighting the cross‑industry appeal of his visual projects.
Why it matters: MTV and record labels gained a $1B‑plus viewership boost from Jackson’s cinematic videos, while directors like Landis and Scorsese secured blockbuster‑level exposure, prompting studios to allocate ten‑times larger budgets to music videos and reshaping pop‑culture promotion.
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