Thriller (Michael Jackson album) video that would appeal to the mass market ended up influencing the way that professionals now market and release their songs. John Landis' production of a mini-movie, rather than the usual short music video, would raise the bar for other directors and producers. Before the success of "Thriller", many felt Jackson had struggled to get MTV airing because he was black. In an effort to attain air time for Jackson, CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff pressured MTV and declared, "I'm not going to give you any more videos and I'm going to go public and fucking tell them about the
Michael Jackson's Thriller (music video) Dead" (1968). Dendle wrote that the video captures the feelings of claustrophobia and helplessness essential to zombie films. The "Thriller" video was aired alongside a documentary of the making of the video, "Making Michael Jackson's Thriller," directed by Jerry Kramer. It includes home video footage of a young Jackson dancing and footage of his performances from "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "". After a private premiere on 21 November, "Michael Jackson's Thriller" debuted on MTV and Friday Night Videos on 2 December 1983. After each broadcast of the video, MTV advertised when they would next play it, and recorded audience