By MIKE CAPUTO
Caroline Ledgin, 32, who grew up in Merrick and now switches between Los Angeles and New York, decided to leave law school after one year to pursue a career in filmmaking. The profession already ran in the family - her brother Eric had already produced independent films. She just needed an idea.
The inspiration came to her as she watched the arraignment of Jackson in 2004, who faced several charges stemming from accusations of child sexual abuse.
Ledgin, a 1995 graduate of Kennedy High School in Bellmore, became intrigued as she watched many of Jackson's fans publicly show their support for the pop star, who was about to stand trial in California.
"I saw so many people support him and I had no idea that he had so many fans of so many ages and people from around the world," Ledgin said. "My curiosity just grew."
After discussing the idea with her brother, she decided to pursue it and move to Los Angeles.
Most of Ledgin's first year on the project involved extensive time spent with some of Jackson's biggest fans. Many of those fans spent their days outside the Los Angeles courtroom or even stood by Jackson's famous Neverland Ranch.
"To see people risking their jobs and sometimes risking their marriages, it kind of blew me away," Ledgin said, "because I would never do that."
Ledgin, who says she is not a fan, wanted to offer an objective, outsider's perspective. However, that made it a challenge for the independent filmmaker to develop a trust with the fan base, she explained.
"Not being a fan made it a little easier, but much harder to get in with the fans because they didn't know me and didn't want to talk to me at first," Ledgin said. "It took almost a year to get in with them, which made things easier for me to learn about them and connect with them."
Throughout the trial, Ledgin compiled close to 100 hours of footage that included interviews with supporters of the pop star, who was acquitted of all criminal charges in June 2005. With some help from editors, Ledgin managed to turn that footage into a rough cut of under two hours. To illustrate the fan-focused theme of the documentary, the film was titled, "The Jackson 5 ... Million."
Four years after the trial ended, Ledgin planned a final release date sometime in July to coincide with Jackson's return tour.
On June 25, the day of Jackson's death, her phone filled with missed calls and text messages. That is when she realized how timely her release really would be.
Now, instead of doing promotional work in London during what would have been Jackson's return to the big stage, Ledgin is back in Los Angeles filming a new ending to her documentary. During her phone interview with the Herald on Monday, Ledgin said she had not obtained a ticket for Jackson's Memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, but expected to be near the hoopla.
Ledgin said she has already drawn interest, and interview requests have started to pour in. As she completes her final touches, Ledgin plans to pitch her documentary to networks and submit it to film festivals.
The filmmaker would not reveal much about the documentary itself, but said she believes it answers the main question once sought out about Jackson fanatics in 2004: "Why?" Ledgin did provide one take on her experience with the fanbase.
"There is a certain irony with some of the fans," Ledgin said. "The fans, most of them anyway, try to spread MJ's [Jackson's] message of being peaceful and 'Heal the World.' But some of them can be really violent when it comes to defending their man."
Ledgin posted a promotional teaser of her documentary on YouTube. It can be viewed at the following address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHMDj-pdwY4
Comments about this story? MCaputo@ liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
