Never in his wildest dreams did composer Chad Hobson think he’d go from eagerly waiting, as a child, for pop star Michael Jackson’s next album to writing the score for Leaving Neverland , the HBO documentary of Wade Robson and James Safechuck narrating the sexual misconduct they allegedly experienced at the hands of the late King Of Pop when they were children at his infamous ranch Neverland.
Directed by Dan Reed, Leaving Neverland made waves at Sundance Film Festival in January and again across televisions around the world when it made its March première on HBO. Now the four-hour documentary is available to stream, too.
During a Skype interview, Chad reveals the intense moments of creativity and practicality. In fact, tell the composer his job is terrifying and he shouts out a laugh and says, “Thank you!” Having just returned from Los Angeles, he recalls the dual reactions of ‘wow and utter shock’ from audiences, adding, “When it aired in the United Kingdom, I got messages from many people... one text stood out: ‘I think the whole country is leaving Neverland’. There was a similar reaction to that of Brexit, as if no one could believe it.”
When I ask how he came across the opportunity to work on Leaving Neverland , he chuckles, “It actually found me! I got a call from Dan, with whom I’ve worked before, when they were editing. I knew there was a project going on but I didn’t know much about it. Dan asked me to come into the edit adding, ‘I’d love you to score this .’ So when I went into the edit, it was all very top secret. Jules, the editor, and Dan sat me down, played the first 20 minutes of the edit they had… and I don’t think I said a word!”
Composing for the taboo
With a fictional feature film, composers — script in hand — come into the picture way before shooting begins. But when the matter is already there, given the what-you-see-is-what-you-get nature of documentaries, the composer works with the actual media. “There’s a little bit of a moving target in the process. I’ve worked on films which go deep into the taboo and blaze the information in front of you; they are difficult, nuanced and require a certain kind of neutral approach to make sure you’re not pushing the audience in any obvious way… but still support and bring life to the story.”
At that point the team intended for the documentary to be two hours long, but as they were editing, they realised there was this whole other side to the story which couldn’t be told in that time frame. Now there are two versions: the three-hour (for the UK) and the four-hour (for the US and India) versions.
- There was the thought that when people watched Leaving Neverland , they’d be talking about what’s on the screen: Michael Jackson and the insidious accusations — but the international reception to the music comprises laudits and appreciation. Just as we’ve anticipated the release of some films’ scores — Wonder Woman , Chariots Of Fire and more — many wanted a release of the score as a soundtrack as well. Chad wasn’t up for this, explaining, “I hadn’t thought of the score being a score like that . People in the United States bombarded me with messages, asking for an audible score for listening. Eventually, I considered it.”
Chad adds — way too casually — that there are roughly 132 pieces of music written, recorded and delivered in just a little over two months. “I was writing around five pieces of music a day and recording them three days after I’d written them. There was a kind of conveyor belt of process. I had a tight deadline to work within; we wanted it all ready before Sundance. But sometimes that pressure is good for focussing.”
‘A magical forest’
“[ Leaving Neverland ] was always going to be much more emotionally-driven. People had their agendas. I remember being in the dub – where you mix all the visuals with the music – and people were already putting stuff on YouTube about the film already!” Dan’s mantra was this to Wade and James: ‘If you’re lying, we will see that you’re lying. And if you’re telling the truth, we’ll see that.’ But you have to question whether you believe Michael’s side of the story or the stories of the now-grown men. You could also say Neverland was the hook to catch the fish. It makes you maybe re-associate what the place was meant for. We all believed, at the time, that MJ was just eccentric. But hindsight makes us see the calculative thoughts and manoeuvring, perhaps.”
Serving as MJ’s residence from 1987 till it shut down in 2006, Neverland, in the Santa Barbara County of California, manifests as a character. In the documentary, it’s obvious people in the 80s and 90s saw the space as a fantastical getaway of fun, colour and more. Chad elaborates, “You could also say Neverland was the hook to catch the fish. It makes you maybe redefine its purpose.”
The music for the documentary is composed to suit the varying moods — from wonderment towards interacting with MJ to music that conveys doubt to music with sinister melodies. Chad likens this to one walking through a magical forest which gets darker as you continue. “I don’t think anybody can quite grasp, especially today, how beguiling and intoxicating that must’ve been for these families who had one of the most famous people in the world in front of them. And now look at these families; the documentary shows how ripped apart they are,” points out Chad.
With Leaving Neverland being narrative-driven, Chad is extremely mindful to not have the score be overwhelming either. There are moments where there’s no playback audio but there’s a score, a monologue with gentle music layered behind it, or a monologue without any music at all – there’s a balance maintained through the documentary. “That’s the tricky part,” he agrees, “One asks, ‘how hard do you hit the story?’ To be honest, some of the music we discussed was a lot bigger than what’s in the film. I really felt the music needed to be a lot lighter with a lot more of a delicate touch than what Dan and the editor Jules were playing with in some significant places.”
The documentary shows parts of a straight-on interview shots of the accusers Wade Robson and James Safechuck which switch between wide shots of the mountains and the mansion. That said, Chad says, the difficult part was to write the music so you’d hit those wide shots — getting the idea of size and width — and then get back to the interview shot.
Dan and Chad have discussed how those watching the two-part documentary may not be the generation, like us, who grew up idolising MJ as Chad did. They have actively, however, left it to the audiences to decide whom they believe.
‘Leaving Neverland’ is available to stream on HBO Now and on Hulu and will soon be available on Hotstar Premium.