Logline:
A television documentary of the King of Pop’s last joyous hurrah before the media, sycophants and conspiracy theorist of the world worked overtime to get a piece of MJ.
Writer / Producer / Editor: Steve Wilburn
Production Company / Distributor: Windy City Images
Plot Summary:
Sizzle reel for the documentary:
Our Vacation With MJ – COMING SOON from Steve Wilburn on Vimeo.
What would you do if the world’s biggest superstar suddenly invited himself on your family vacation? In 1991 this actually happened to the Goldstein family of Orlando, Florida. In a bizarre twist of events Michael Jackson went on vacation to Bermuda with the Goldsteins via child actor Macaulay Culkin. Luckily, Alan Goldstein videotaped part of the trip but never released the footage until now.
In a new one-hour television special Alan, Lynn and their son, Brock, talk about their phenomenal, once-in-a-lifetime experience of hanging with Michael Jackson at the very height of his fame. The program also includes intimate, home-movie footage shot by Alan Goldstein and a wealth of personal photos from the trip.
Our Vacation with Michael Jackson not only shows The King of Pop as we’ve never seen before but provides an intimate glimpse into the troubled yet innocent world he lived in. “I was shocked when he got off that elevator for the first time,” says Alan Goldstein. “I didn’t believe it was really him but, more importantly, where was everyone else? I mean no handlers, no agents, no groupies, just him, all by himself.”
This quiet little get-away turned into an extended fun-filled, escapist dream of an adventure. Money was no object and things got wild when the richest star of his day decided to party—five star hotels, a bottomless shopping spree at a toy store, a stomach-churning speed boat ride with Ross Perot, water gun fights, pie fights, ocean swims, and more. This was possibly Michael Jackson’s last, fully free, innocent time to do as he pleased before his life started to close in on him with mind-numbing accusations of molestation and criticism for his off the wall behavior.
In 1991 Brock Goldstein was ten and an aspiring child actor. He happened to get cast in a Macaulay Culkin film that was shooting in Orlando, “My Girl,” and developed an immediate friendship with Culkin. Several months later, when Brock’s parents announced that the family was going to Bermuda on a vacation, Brock asked if Macaulay Culkin could come along. Then a few days later Brock mentioned that a friend of Macaulay’s wanted to join them in Bermuda. Alan Goldstein explains: “So, I said to Brock—who’s the friend? And he goes, ‘Michael Jackson’ and I thought it was just the fantasy of a ten-year-old. But when we got to Bermuda, who shows up the next day but Michael Jackson!”
Michael Jackson was desperate to re-capture his stolen childhood and escape the non-stop glare of the media. Jackson’s friendship with Macaulay Culkin apparently allowed the child inside him to come out. The Bermuda footage shows a surprisingly unguarded Michael Jackson literally re-living his childhood with two ten-year-olds. “I think that was one of the few times he was able to have that sort of freedom,” says Brock Goldstein. “It seemed like he didn’t want the vacation to ever end.”
Our Vacation with Michael Jackson also explores the motivation behind Michael Jackson’s yearning for childhood play and why he was wary of adults. “Kids are honest,” Jackson told Lynn Goldstein one evening during the trip. “You can trust them. I haven’t been around hardly any adults that haven’t ended up wanting something from me.”