Judyhoppsss
Late 1985, early 1986.
A few years earlier, Thriller had turned a twenty-four-year-old Michael Jackson into a phenomenon. The best-selling album in history, blasting through every nightclub, every radio station, every corner of the world.
Now, Michael wanted something different.
Something bigger.
A new album. A new image. One that would leave behind the softness the public had clung to for years. More masculine. More rebellious. More dangerous.
But with a new era came more pressure. More lawsuits. More scrutiny. More people demanding pieces of him he no longer knew how to give.
For Helena Mastroianni, the city of stars holds no cinematic magic.
At twenty-four, her roots are split between the olive groves of Italy and the sun-drenched coasts of Spain, but her present is confined to an office at Epic Records and a suitcase overflowing with stop-motion mockups and miniature worlds.
Helena is... strange.
A mind that only seems to understand fantasy, handmade creatures, and tiny fabricated universes.
While trying to prove to her family that she will not return home empty-handed, her path collides - quite literally - with the most famous man on the planet.
Michael Jackson is in the middle of a creative storm. He is searching for something different, something that pushes beyond the limits of what people expect from his "mini movies."
When he meets Helena, he does not find another obedient fan or the fragile girl the world constantly assumes he wants.
He finds a woman who is expressive, stubborn, unapologetically herself - wrapped in a dark, distinctly European kind of elegance that fascinates him instantly.
And for the first time in a very long time, Michael finds something almost impossible:
A real friend...or more than friend. His Wendy in the middle of Neverland.