Michael Jackson — 'Thriller' Music Video, Palace Theatre, Downtown LA

Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' music video — the most famous music video ever made — was filmed across several Los Angeles locations in late October and early November 1983. The cinema scene, where Jackson and his date watch a horror film, was shot at the Palace Theatre at 630 South Broadway in downtown LA. The zombie dance sequence was filmed on a street set that recreated a run-down urban neighbourhood, and the transformation scenes were shot at various LA sound stages. Directed by John Landis (who had directed An American Werewolf in London), the 14-minute video cost approximately $500,000 — unprecedented for a music video at the time.

The 'Thriller' video transformed the music video from a promotional tool into an art form with its own narrative ambitions. Rick Baker's prosthetic makeup (the werewolf transformation) and Michael Peters's choreography (the zombie dance) set standards that have never been surpassed. The video premiered on MTV on December 2, 1983, and its impact was immediate and permanent: it broke the colour barrier on MTV (which had been reluctant to play Black artists), drove Thriller album sales past 40 million copies, and established the music video as a legitimate creative medium.

The Palace Theatre at 630 S Broadway is a historic theatre in LA's Broadway Theatre District. The 'Thriller' video was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2009 — the first music video to receive that honour. The zombie dance sequence remains the most replicated choreography in music history.