Ep. 79 Darrin Roberts (Editor "All Things Must Pass" Tower Documentary & "Thriller 40")

2500 DelMonte Street: The Oral History of Tower Records

Darrin Roberts grew up in Southern California with a “Kevin Arnold-Wonder Years” type upbringing. After a neighbor suggested his mother take her 3 year old to a recently released “war movie”, he became obsessed with all things cinema.
After getting his degree at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts he began working on a series of music film projects as both a camera operator and a film editor.

In May of 2014 an Oscar winning producer suggested he meet with Colin Hanks and Sean Stuart regarding a documentary about the rise and fall of Tower Records, a film the two had spent several years making. As a customer of the El Toro Tower Records, it was a dream job.

On today’s episode Darrin walks us through much of his process working on “All Things Must Pass” and gives us some insights as to what made the film, what didn’t make it and why, the relationship between a film editor and a director, how much film and audio he waded through to cut the “Tower Doc” down to a tight, cohesive 95 minute film, the aftermath and the opportunities presented to him since completing that project.

We also spend a nice chunk of time talking about Darrin’s latest project “Thriller 40”, a documentary he edited with famed music critic Nelson George directing. “Thriller 40” sheds all of Michael Jackson’s personal baggage (hard to do) and focuses on the early to mid-80’s when Michael and Quincy Jones were at the top of their creative powers. An interesting through line to the film is the Grammy Awards virtual snub of “Off The Wall” and how it drove Michael Jackson to create “Thriller”. Like “All Things Must Pass”, “Thriller 40” is a tight 90 minute story that tells a fascinating behind the scenes story of a cultural zeitgeist, the likes of which we may never see again.