The MJCast 172: Mick Garris Special

Mick Garris, renowned producer, director, screenwriter and novelist joins Paul Black for an in-depth interview about his amazing career, including his work with Michael Jackson.

Garris began his journey with Michael Jackson when both he and his wife appeared as zombies in the “Thriller” short film. Years later, because of his work with Stephen King, Garris was pulled in to work on what became the “Ghosts” short film. He co-wrote the story with Jackson and King, and was the original director on the project, then under the title “Is This Scary”. He worked closely on set with Jackson for two weeks, though, later, Stan Winston would take over as director when the project was shelved due to the 1993 allegations levelled against Michael Jackson.

Garris has long been an icon in the film industry, and particularly in the world of horror, having worked with Steven Spielberg on multiple projects, and achieving major success via his many collaborations with Stephen King, including directing the hugely popular series, “The Stand”, the TV adaptation of “The Shining”, and much more. He also directed “Critters 2”, “Psycho IV: The Beginning”, and co-wrote the screenplays for major feature films such as “Batteries Not Included”, “The Fly 2”, and “Hocus Pocus”. In 2005, he created the Showtime anthology series, “Masters of Horror”. Until last year, he also hosted the popular podcast, “Post Mortem”, which features interviews with major filmmakers and other creators.

In this chat, Garris talks about his experiences on the sets of these two iconic short films, and gives insights into working with The King of Pop, as well as his memories of the friendship they developed.

Wishing all our MJ Fam around the world a happy Thriller Night!

Special thanks to Friend of the Show Adam Green for connecting us with Mick.

This episode was edited by Paul Black and Jamon Bull.

Discussion Topics
• 00:00:00 - Intro
• 00:01:57 - Mick's Early Career
• 00:02:52 - Thriller
• 00:11:27 - Is This Scary
• 01:07:35 - Wrap-up

Additional Links
• Mick Garris’s website, Instagram, and Twitter pages.
• Mick’s “Post Mortem” podcast.

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