It has a huge open space I guess for drilling at one point. Then we noticed that there was this bombed-out old armory, and we just came in and had a look around, and it was perfect. It was pretty depressed, so there weren't many industrial warehouses there that had a ceiling high enough. I think it was the South Side of Chicago. We started looking into what was available in the city, and there was something that was close to where the Bulls were playing at the time. And in that time, we had to find a location, secure it and then, of course, build this basketball floor and court, and then cast for a bunch of vignettes. I think we literally arrived on Thursday, and we were scheduled to start shooting the following Thursday. I mean, we didn't have any locations that we locked down. Rose: It was one of those kind of you land and you just grind your way through it. It was because of Jordan's schedule he was playing at the time. I was working at Propaganda Films at the time, and then I just segued right into working with David and we moved the idea to Chicago. It was smaller the budgets that Michael was doing at the time, but it was still sizable - over $1 million. Rose: Once the concept was worked out, then they hired me to meet with the initial director, and then budget and schedule and start the process of where we were going to shoot, which was going to be in L.A. At that time, I had done music videos for Lionel Richie, Dave Matthews, a lot of Quincy Jones, David Crosby. Kellogg: That was my first Michael Jackson music video. I did a song called "2300 Jackson Street," and it was the entire Jackson family, which was interesting, and then I did one in Germany with him and Slash, after "Jam." "Jam" was our first project together, but I had done others for Michael. The first conversations we had were on our way to the airport to discuss what we were going to do in Chicago. Rose: I think originally it was Michael's choreographer,, who was going to direct, but Michael was preparing for a world tour and just got too crazy.
When you're at that level, if you want to work with someone that you're a fan of, I'm sure it's quite easy to work out. I know that Michael was a huge fan of Michael Jordan. Rose: Sandy Gallin, manager at the time, was more involved with managing that. We did it in Chicago just because of him.
While he had a few events on the side, Jordan was certainly the hardest. Michael Jackson is really about his music, so he's always sort of available. Kellogg: Michael Jackson lined up Jordan, so we knew already that he was going to be in it.
Here is "Jam" director David Kellogg and producer Phil Rose, who are both still actively working together on commercials, with their vivid memories from the once-in-a-lifetime shoot, which also featured rappers Heavy D and Kris Kross: Twenty-one years later, ESPN Playbook has captured exclusively the many behind-the-scenes moments never shared before from Jordan and Jackson's first and only time working together. When would you ever get an opportunity to get to know him socially for a little bit, and yet at the same time, get to do his video?' So I changed my mind and went on and did it."
Plus, MJ and MJ had a special ring to it.Īt the time, Jordan recalled: "First I said, 'I don't know if I want to do this, because this guy's going to try to get me out there to dance, and that's going to be really embarrassing.' But then I said: 'Well, shoot, it's Michael Jackson. That's when Jordan, the biggest athlete on the planet, collaborated with the biggest musical artist, Michael Jackson, for the video to his song "Jam." When it occurred, not only were music videos in their heyday, but also the entertainment world had never seen a cross-over interaction of that magnitude on a global scale. But perhaps the coolest off-the-court thing he did in his career, back in the spring of 1992, was forgotten. Last month, the world celebrated the legacy of Michael Jordan with his 50th birthday. Oral history: MJ meets MJ for 'Jam' video
#MAIKAL JAKSAN SONG UPGRADE#
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