|
Post by respect77 on Aug 14, 2023 19:19:03 GMT
Nice that he found some time to tweet about... BTS. Still crickets about the documentary.
|
|
|
Post by Snow White on Aug 14, 2023 23:42:31 GMT
^^๐
It baffles me some fans keep defending Taj and making excuses for him considering these kind of comments rude to him when fans who donated have every right to express concern, anger or skepticism.
|
|
|
Post by respect77 on Aug 18, 2023 18:27:34 GMT
I wonder if he'll have another change of concept and now the documentary will be about BTS. SMH.
|
|
|
Post by history2010 on Aug 19, 2023 0:59:29 GMT
Next February will mark the 5-year anniversary of the GoFundMe being launched and Taj has absolutely nothing to show for it. And honestly I don't even want it to come out at this point. The topics he planned to cover have already been explored by other projects that did a better job than Taj ever could.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2023 15:42:09 GMT
Taj could have literally used the case files for the now upcoming trials and have a lot of the spotlight on how ridiculous it all is. He literally had the screenplay done for him by the courts.
What a waste of everyone's time.
|
|
|
Post by respect77 on Aug 19, 2023 17:49:27 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Snow White on Aug 19, 2023 18:11:59 GMT
Can fans have their money back? If so, Taj deserves that, he's a joke with no credibility. ๐๐ค
|
|
|
Post by history2010 on Aug 19, 2023 19:08:08 GMT
Can fans have their money back? If so, Taj deserves that, he's a joke with no credibility. ๐๐ค I've looked into it but I don't think you can refund just because it's taking a long time. If fans make enough complaints to GoFundMe then it's possible they might reach out to Taj and ask to see evidence of progress. The most disturbing thing is that people are still donating. $140 raised in the two last weeks even with radio silence from Taj.
|
|
|
Post by respect77 on Aug 20, 2023 5:33:16 GMT
|
|
|
Post by respect77 on Sept 18, 2023 8:33:41 GMT
In case you are interested.
To me it raises more questions than it gives answers, but judge for yourself.
Some bullet points:
- Taj is now saying that (surprise, surprise) he won't release the documentary this year so that it doesn't collide with the release of the Thriller documentary.
I don't know what the two have to do with one another. In fact, I think if there's a highly successful documentary about someone or something it can only boost interest in other films about the same person/topic, so I don't see how there's a danger of them weakening each other's effect if they are released during the same period. So to me it just seems like yet another excuse, similar to when last year he said in August he would soon give an update then never did citing the Thriller 40 announcement as a reason and that he supposedly didn't want to distract from it.
- He promises to release it before the biopic. Some time in 2024. He says he's not in a hurry because of the writer's strike the biopic probably won't come out in 2024.
LOL, sure, after four years of empty promises, why would you have to hurry?
- Charles is trying to offer him another excuse, namely the upcoming possible trial and asked whether he shouldn't wait until that concludes so that he can have the last word, but Taj doesn't seem to be interested in the trial and says it doesn't affect his progress. He wants to get his documentary released before the trial and if there's something additional to address due to the trial he would just do another film. He says he wants his documentary to be a reference point so that if someone raises questions about the allegations when the biopic comes out they can just point to his documentary for answers.
- He says people twisted his words when they said now he backtracked from the documentary being about the allegations, just because he would also address on MJ's humanitarian work.
- He's now talking about not just 11 episodes, but seasons...
- He wants it to be as huge as the Michael Jordan documentary.
While his fantasies are getting more and more grandiose (Jordan documentary, seasons... etc), reading between the lines doesn't reassure me that this is anything more than a 50 year old child fantasizing. For example, Charles asks him about the funding and he says that he would actually need $20 million dollars for the type of big project he wants to make (like the Jordan documentary) and that the $777k he initially asked for was just for the pilot... He previously claimed that he has some financial backer, but now admits nothing has come out of it (the person apparently never provided the money). Once again, are we surprised?
The way Charles is talking to him, my impression is that he's as much in dark about this project as anyone else. In fact he says at one point that he was on the set once, 4 years ago... Meaning I don't think any substantial work is going on. People used to say Taj is working with Charles, but to me it doesn't look like much work is going on between them. So again, who is Taj working with then? Because it doesn't seem anyone of the known advocates is working with him.
- Once again there's nothing concrete about where he is with his film, how many people he interviewed etc. He just pulls the usual "Oprah is watching and waiting to sabotage me, so I can't say anything more" lame bullcrap on that again.
So my opinion: This whole project is a fantasy going on in Taj's head. Although I don't doubt to a certain extent Taj managed to convince himself of this grand fantasy of him doing a Michael Jordan documentary level work. With his inexperience and all. IMO 250k would be more than enough for this type of documentary if someone has a vision. This type of documentary is just interviews and editing. He doesn't even have to travel as much as others because most people he should interview live in and around LA like he does. Jin has to travel all the way from England, for example, still he has less budget. Taj talking about a $20 million budget is crazy, delusional stuff. (To be clear, he's not asking people to donate it to him, just saying that's the type of money he would really need for it.) Anyway, if he doesn't even have the budget he thinks he needs for the type of grandiose project that's in his head, where can he really be with the progress? So I don't think the Thriller documentary is the reason why he doesn't release anything this year either.
He doesn't give me the confidence that he knows what it takes to get a job done. It takes more than lying around on the sofa and fantasizing. No one should fantasize about it being as grand as the Jordan documentary. It's a completely different type of documentary. If it would be a solid rebuttal to the allegations I'd be satisfied , but no, he has to create delusions of grandeur, while he has (that's my impression) nothing.
I think this time next year we still won't have the documentary and he's going to be on yet another excuse why it hasn't happened in 2024 either.
|
|
|
Post by SoCav on Sept 18, 2023 11:09:07 GMT
^I listened to it too and feel the same way. It's just painful at this point. - Taj is now saying that (surprise, surprise) he won't release the documentary this year so that it doesn't collide with the release of the Thriller documentary. Yeah, this makes no sense. Even if he felt it would be bad timing, why would that affect the development of the project? He could just complete it (or most of it) and delay its release, but it was clear in the interview that it's nowhere near finished. - Charles is trying to offer him another excuse, namely the upcoming possible trial and asked whether he shouldn't wait until that concludes so that he can have the last word, but Taj doesn't seem to be interested in the trial and says it doesn't affect his progress. He wants to get his documentary released before the trial and if there's something additional to address due to the trial he would just do another film. He says he wants his documentary to be a reference point so that if someone raises questions about the allegations when the biopic comes out they can just point to his documentary for answers. Not even another film, but he was indeed (as you later mention) talking about addressing this in a second season (but of course, not in a way where he has a concrete plan for this, it almost sounded like he thought about this on the spot). Charles asked at that point how he can be certain that he would be picked up for a second season, or even that a first season would be picked up by a mainstream outlet. He basically said that MJ's name would be sufficient and that he could always find a different platform if he would not be picked up for a second season. He did not give any indication that he has had talks with possible platforms. By the way, he now says that he never planned to address the Wade/James allegations because he wants to focus on what happened during MJ's life. But that does not match at all with the list of 'example episodes' that is still visible on his GoFundMe page to this day, where at least 3 episodes are focused on posthumous events, including one on Leaving Neverland. While his fantasies are getting more and more grandiose (Jordan documentary, seasons... etc), reading between the lines doesn't reassure me that this is anything more than a 50 year old child fantasizing. For example, Charles asks him about the funding and he says that he would actually need $20 million dollars for the type of big project he wants to make (like the Jordan documentary) and that the $777k he initially asked for was just for the pilot... He previously claimed that he has some financial backer, but now admits nothing has come out of it (the person apparently never provided the money). Once again, are we surprised? I checked the GoFundMe page again, but there is no indication there that the donations would only be to fund a pilot to show to platforms, and this is the first time I have heard of that. It also seems to contradict what he says earlier in the interview, which is that something pertaining to MJ would be picked up anyway. If he's so confident of that, then why would he still need to make a pilot? And why can't he tell us anything about the focus of the pilot? Regarding the funding, he clearly was way too presumptuous last year, because iirc he said the project was fully funded - not that there was potential interest. It's good that he admitted now that this fell through, but you'd expect something like that to be announced to donors directly and at a much earlier stage.. The way Charles is talking to him, my impression is that he's as much in dark about this project as anyone else. In fact he says at one point that he was on the set once, 4 years ago... Meaning I don't think any substantial work is going on. Yes, Charles doing the interview made this quite interesting. It could be that he simply had his interviewer hat on, and therefore did not share any of his own knowledge about the project. It could also be that he could not say anything, because he (and everyone else who has worked on it) had to sign an NDA. But indeed, listening to it, it did sound like he has not been involved much. The on set-experience he alluded to is the one I think he talked about previously on the MJCast (when he talked about his time in California and doing some work with Taj, visiting Hamid Moslehi etc). I also recall that the previous time Taj was on the MJCast, in December last year, Charles said he was looking forward to working with Taj. That surprised me at the time (and I thought he perhaps misspoke), because I had also had the impression that he had already been doing extensive work with him. But that does not seem to be the case, and I did not get the impression from this interview that it has been the case since that episode came out last year... - Once again there's nothing concrete about where he is with his film, how many people he interviewed etc. He just pulls the usual "Oprah is watching and waiting to sabotage me, so I can't say anything more" lame bullcrap on that again. Yes, this angle is incredibly tired by this point. At first, he hinted that people in the industry have made clear that they do not want the biopic and his series to happen, and that a 'she' (he did not mention Oprah by name, but it was clear he meant her) was one of them. Charles then wanted him to clarify whether he actually knows that she has done stuff to interfere or whether he just suspects it, and he answered with "let's go with number 2 just to be safe." Even if this is true and he does not want to give everything away, he could of course easily still share non-specific updates (e.g. "Interviews have been completed now!"). Instead, he has not given us anything to think that this has moved beyond being a grandiose idea in his mind, apart from some film and research work in 2019. It does not even sound like he has a clear vision of what the series should look like (something concrete, rather than its general goals). Anyway, if he doesn't even have the budget he thinks he needs for the type of grandiose project that's in his head, where can he really be with the progress? So I don't think the Thriller documentary is the reason why he doesn't release anything this year either. Exactly. I also do not understand how he can on the one hand say that there is zero funding (while apparently $20 million is necessary to do it right), yet on the other say he is over 100% sure that he will be able to make progress over the next few months in a way that would allow him to get the project out before the biopic, as planned. If he has only 1/80th of the budget he thinks he needs, then how can he be confident about that? I think this time next year we still won't have the documentary and he's going to be on yet another excuse why it hasn't happened in 2024 either. It has to end at some point though, right? I mean, that biopic will come out at some point, and if he's still not done then, then what? At this point, it just feels like he's postponing the inevitable.
|
|
|
Post by Russg on Sept 18, 2023 11:30:47 GMT
A lot of the people who spent time around MJ spoke with delusions of grandeur. I think because MJ so often had lofty ideas (but had the talent and financial backing to achieve most of them) he would encourage others to pursue their dreams, like Wade and Taj etc, but the trouble is, these guys don't have any particular talent, nor the finances to get their projects off the ground and so really all you are left with is someone with an overactive imagination.
I wanna be mad, as I donated several times to this, but more than anything, I'm just embarrassed for him at this stage.
|
|
|
Post by respect77 on Sept 18, 2023 11:37:22 GMT
Erm, the whole premise of this idea of making a documentary and fans donating to it was that LN needs to be addressed...
Re. the NDAs, wasn't the reasoning behind that there's this big financial backer who requires the NDA? So why does he still hide behind these NDAs now that we know there's no financial backer?
|
|
|
Post by respect77 on Sept 18, 2023 11:48:01 GMT
A lot of the people who spent time around MJ spoke with delusions of grandeur. I think because MJ so often had lofty ideas (but had the talent and financial backing to achieve most of them) he would encourage others to pursue their dreams, like Wade and Taj etc, but the trouble is, these guys don't have any particular talent, nor the finances to get their projects off the ground and so really all you are left with is someone with an overactive imagination. I wanna be mad, as I donated several times to this, but more than anything, I'm just embarrassed for him at this stage. Exactly. I sometimes have the feeling the just being related to MJ makes the Jacksons have unrealistic dreams. When MJ dreamed of releasing the biggest selling album of all time that wasn't delusional because he played in that league where he could have that dream and it wasn't unrealistic. But Taj Jackson, who never made a documentary before, (in fact, I wonder if he ever held a job), who at 50 is a first time documentary maker, talking about it being as huge as the highly successful Michael Jordan documentary and aiming for the same budget is, frankly, ridiculous. He could use a bit more humility, because aiming for a solid, well done documentary would already be enough on his inexperienced plate, rather than aiming for "the greatest ever" because he's a Jackson. Well, he's not Michael Jackson making Thriller. He's just Taj Jackson with zero experience in documentary making. He also seems to hope that whatever he does MJ's name alone would carry it, which is, of course, not the case. There are plenty of MJ documentaries no one cares about.
|
|
|
Post by aazzaabb on Sept 18, 2023 11:48:55 GMT
I was an hour into the interview but after reading here Iโve turned it off. I donโt know anymore. Iโm sort of at a loss for words in that I donโt know how I feel. I guess I donโt feel anything one way or another. I was just at the point where even Charles seems to be questioning the reality of it. Between Manchester Utd and this I have a fierce headache. Serenity now!
|
|