Released in tandem with the video was an hour-long documentary providing candid glimpses behind the scenes of the production. Called Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, it, too, was shown heavily on MTV for a time and was the top-selling home-video release of all time at one point, with over 9 million copies sold. The VHS also included video clips from the songs "Can You Feel It" and "Billie Jean", and audio clips from songs like "Off the Wall".
MTV paid $250,000 for the exclusive rights to show the documentary; Showtime paid $300,000 for pay-cable rights; and Vestron Video reportedly plunked down an additional $500,000 to market the cassette, in "a profit participation."
Filming locations
The music video was filmed at the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, 701 Union Pacific Avenue in East Los Angeles and in the Angeleno Heights neighborhood at 1345 Carroll Avenue. Brief parts in the video show Estherwood as the setting at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY.
Behind the scenes
In an interview that aired December 11, 1999, for MTV's 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made, Jackson spoke about the making of the video:
My idea was to make this short film with conversation ... in the beginning - I like having a beginning and a middle and an ending, which would follow a story. I'm very much involved in complete making and creating of the piece. It has to be, you know, my soul. Usually, you know, it's an interpretation of the music.It was a delicate thing to work on because I remember my original approach was, 'How do you make zombies and monsters dance without it being comical?' So I said, 'We have to do just the right kind of movement so it doesn't become something that you laugh at.' But it just has to take it to another level. So I got in a room with [choreographer] Michael Peters, and he and I together kind of imagined how these zombies move by making faces in the mirror. I used to come to rehearsal sometimes with monster makeup on, and I loved doing that. So he and I collaborated and we both choreographed the piece and I thought it should start like that kind of thing and go into this jazzy kind of step, you know. Kind of gruesome things like that, not too much ballet or whatever.
